Empire - User contributions [en]

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:33:47Z

Vsabo: /* The Greatest War */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from the territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them seem to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes the [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:33:21Z

Vsabo: /* The Greatest War */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from the territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them seem to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|the Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:32:53Z

Vsabo: /* The Greatest War */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from the territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them seem to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes the [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|the Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:31:44Z

Vsabo: /* The Greatest War */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from the territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them see to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes the [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|the Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:26:41Z

Vsabo: /* See That We Fight */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from the territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them see to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes the [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|the Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Push for victory

2026-05-28T21:24:28Z

Vsabo: /* See That We Fight */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:388YE Spring]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Imperial Address]]
<ic>
Cousins,

We stand on the precipice of completing our work in the Sarangrave. Already our heads turn to settling and building up the lands we have won there.

The Druj wither in our grip. The final throes of a dying regime. All that remains is to keep the boot on their necks, to keep the momentum we have won. They know the truth as well as we do. We are inevitable. It will not be today, it will not be tomorrow, but in the coming months, our day will come.

This is only possible through further militarisation. Progress is only possible through growth.

To that end, I am proud to announce the completion of the second army raised by my hand. These armies keep my promises to you. The Lions of Adelmar are my heart in the East, realising my Ambition to reap destruction on the Druj. This League army is my hand in the West, answering my oath to leave no Imperial hearth undefended.

The West needs forces to guard their homes. Not in a year, not soon. Now. I have been able to fund this army two seasons early to meet that need. The Jotun will see that we fight for what is ours from Bregasland to Sermersuaq to Tassato.

I promised not to leave the West undefended in our push for victory against the Druj. I keep my oaths.

The glory is not all mine to claim. The people of Navarr have acted in incredible prosperity. The Senate did not elect to give Navarr public funding. Navarr currently does not have any national bourse seats. This army was funded with boot leather and the prosperity of individual citizens. They faced every challenge and met it head on.

This work is nothing short of exemplary. There are those with much more who have done much less.

The work continues. We can build more armies in the Marches, Navarr, Wintermark and Varushka. And we will.

The Empire is the largest it has ever been. We are waging the greatest war our Empire has ever seen with the greatest military force we have ever built.

The stars say that the age of resurgence is over. The stars are not my master. We decide what our future holds. Victory is our choice, it belongs to us.

This season I would like to commend:<br>
Herminius of the House of the Wanderer, without whom expediting the third League Army would not have been possible.<br>
Jack Ashton of the Tusks and Tager ‘Defender of the Fallen’ Tyrshalt of the Bloodcloaks for their impressive military strategy in the West.<br>
The Brokers of Navarr for their work in funding the third Navarr army.<br>
The brave Imperial Heroes who prevented the riling of the Vallorn in Eastring. In particular the Vallornguard and Ser Rhydian de Rondell who led and funded the skirmish respectively. <br>
Ematius Ankarien for his years of exceptional service as Archmage of Winter.

Inextricable. Indefatigable. Inevitable.<br>
Emperor Vesna<br>
Empress of the Hearth, Crowned in Thunder.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 350px; clear: right; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Push for victory.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
[[The Throne]] has the power to [[The_Throne#Address%20the%20Empire|nominate a single Imperial citizen who can deliver a message to the people of the Empire]] at each summit. [[Emperor Vesna]] has used their power to [[The_Throne#Address_the_Empire|address the Empire]], sending a message to all Imperial citizens.

The civil service ensure the message is heard by citizens across the Empire and beyond. The impassioned speech, calls on citizens to rally in support of the Empire's military as they seek to break the strength of the [[Druj]] once and for all. Only the very coldest hearts fail to stir to the Throne's moving oratory. Could it be true? After centuries of war, does the Empire finally stand at the threshold of an almost unimaginable victory? There are precious few who do not want to believe.

In truth, it is not simply Emperor Vesna's indefatigable suasion that is causing citizens to rally to the cause. There is a tension in the air - everyone can feel it. The stars have all aligned... as if a new page of history was being turned. Magicians across the Empire argue about what any of it means. Is this moment portentous because of the grand conjunction, or have the stars simply chimed out the hour? On one thing they do agree - this momentous hour is laden with peril. The greater the opportunity, the greater the danger. The pages of the future are written not by fate, but by mortal hands.

All the more reason, people say, to take up arms and push for victory. And push they do.

==See That We Fight==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBBrassCoast.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
* '''A corsair has presented a daring plan to take advantage of the turmoil in the lands of the Druj'''
* '''The plan would see Freeborn fleets use the established smugglers cove in the Salt Flats of Sanath to free as many slaves as possible'''
* '''If the raid happens then the existence of the cove would be exposed to the Druj who would immediately destroy it'''
* '''The Imperial Spymaster can announce that the attack should go ahead as part of their announcement in the Senate'''

Inspired by the recent efforts to map the eastern sea, ''Aracely i Bejarano i Erigo'' has spotted an opportunity to make use of the [[smugglers cove]] to undermine the Druj rule in Sanath. ''Aracely'', corsair and veteran of the raids on both [[Mosaic|Chalonsio]] and [[Burning|Rachensgrab]], has her eyes on [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen|Leen]]. Leen, specifically [[Salt_Flats_of_Sanath#Leen_Rarckan|Leen Rarckan]], is home to thousands of slaves toiling under the malign cruelty of the [[Druj]]. Aracely is looking to gather support among the various Corsair families to try and pull off a daring raid to free as many of them as possible.

The plan is not without cost; if the raid goes ahead, then those who maintain the smugglers cove in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] will have to abandon any hope of remaining hidden. If all goes to plan, the [[The Brass Coast|Freeborn]] can take the Druj by surprise, but as soon as the dust settles, the Druj will be on them like rats on a pie. The corsairs will evacuate everyone from the cove with them when they go, get them out before the Druj inevitably discover it, and tear it down. Because the plan guarantees the destruction of Imperial property, it will need the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to [[senate announcement|announce]] that the Smuggler's Cove is being [[Smugglers_cove#Decommissioning_a_Smugglers_Cove|decommissioned]]. There will be no charge if that happens - the Druj will take care of destroying the structure - after the Freeborn take what they can from territory.

If the attack is sanctioned, then fleets from [[the Brass Coast]] will be able to take part in the '''Raid Leen - Rescue Slaves''' [[voyage]] following the Spring Equinox 388YE. A standard fleet taking this [[Fleet#Raiding|raiding]] voyage will receive six random [[herb|herbs]] and four [[Military unit#Random Resources|random resources]]. A fleet that is [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#Upgrades|upgraded]] receives more, and may also acquire some '''Druj Potions''' as part of their loot, usually representing a captured [[potion]] or two useful to warriors.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=250}}
Rescued slaves that are former Imperials from the eastern nations or their descendants can return home. With the help of the ''Proffered Hand'' network, they will either be welcomed back to their nations or find space in Navarr where they can be helped to find their place in the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]]. Of course, where the rest of the rescued slaves should go is a separate question entirely. There could be hundreds, potentially even thousands, of liberated slaves to house, feed, and support in the coming season if the raid is as successful as Aracely hopes.

Each standard fleet assigned adds 100 strength to the opportunity. The voyage is a raiding action, so any ritual that benefits a raid will help. If the raiders achieve at least five thousand strength in total, then the raid will be a success and the corsairs and their allies will free hundreds of slaves, mostly former Imperials, from the clutches of the Druj. If there is less than a thousand, then the raid will be botched; few if any slaves will be freed, and the raiders will be lucky to get away with their lives.

If enough fleets support the raid to achieve seven and a half thousand strength or more, then the attack will be a triumph, and those freed will also include scores and scores of individuals who have never been part of the Empire. That will be a problem, of course, but surely a better problem than leaving them languishing in Druj chains, says Aracely? Whatever happens, the raid won't impact the Druj's ability to fight the Empire, Aracely's conceives of this raid as a symbolic gesture, one that will demonstrate Imperial commitment to doing the right thing and hopefully set the tone for freeing the rest of the Mallum.

Six months ago, however, the Freeborn national assembly [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_77|upheld a judgement]] warning their people to beware the false virtue of [[Malign_spiritual_presences#Anarchy|Anarchy]] (also known as Freedom). In the past, raids such as this have seen those involved - no matter how virtuous their intent - come away with some form of spontaneous aura. Many of those auras have had overtones of Anarchy. While the assembly resolutely did not uphold a [[387YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_79|mandate raised last season]] that would encourage the Freeborn to reject Anarchy, some cautious voices question whether now is the right time to take such potentially precipitous action.
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBLeague.jpg|align=right|width=150}}

==My Hand in the West==
* '''The staff at the Barossa School of Imperial Strategy are eager to support the logistics of an Imperial army'''
* '''A Senate motion could draw on the expertise to change the quality of a single army, changing its quality to fast'''
* '''Changing an army's quality in this way would cost 10 wains of mithril'''
* '''It is not possible to change the quality of the Argent Sword in this manner'''
* '''This opportunity is available until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
The League is readying itself for the third army to finish mustering in [[Tassato]]. If nothing changes, the [[general]] will be available for [[General#Appointment|appointment]] at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. Inspired by the army having been fully funded, and its place as the western hand of '''Emperor Vesna''', the staff at the [[Tassato#Barossa_School_of_Imperial_Strategy|Barossa School of Imperial Strategy]] have worked with ''Delphysius, Polemarch of Strategy'' (a [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of [[Zakalwe]]) to make an offer to the Senate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Zakalwe001.png|align=right|width=150}}
As Emperor Vesna points out, "The Empire is the largest it has ever been". That creates strategic problems for the [[Military Council]] as they try to sustain a war on fronts that are increasingly further apart. To address this problem, the School propose to work with the quartermasters and logisticians of a single Imperial [[army]] to see what improvements could be made; what could be sacrificed in the name of haste. To approve the proposal, the Senate would need to pass a [[Senate motion|motion]] naming a single Imperial [[army]]. The chosen force would lose its existing quality and become [[Army qualities#Fast|fast]] instead, at the start of the next summit.

Sadly, due to the magical nature of the [[Argent Sword]], it is not possible for the Tassatan strategists to help that army.

==The Greatest War==
* '''Three Hands has written to the office of the senator for Holberg to offer the assistance of the Sand Fisher sept'''
* '''The orcs are offering to approach a single sept languishing under Druj rule, to try to persuade them of the Empire's good intentions'''
* '''The League National Assembly can decide which sept the Sand Fishers should approach.
When Three Hands came to [[Anvil]], various League luminaries asked him for help approaching the orc septs languishing under Druj rule. The lives of the Sand Fishers have been transformed by their friendship with the League - could the sept not help them carry that message of hope to those who were forced to labour for the enemy.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_League.png|align=right|width=175}}
It's an appealing thought on the face of it. The [[Conflict_in_the_Barrens#Diplomatic_Outreach|slave rebellion in the Barrens]] was devastating for the Druj - they lost three armies in a single stroke. They never recovered their martial strength and look what has become of them now! Still, as Three Hands pointed out, look what happened to those who rebelled. Their treatment at the hands of the Empire was so deadly, that the Black Wind ended up bending the knee to the [[Druj lore#Buruk Tepel|Buruk Tepel]] as the only way to survive. The elderly orc was clear he thought that any plan to try and persuade the septs of the Empire's good intention was doomed to fail. Anyone the Sand Fishers spoke to would be bound to ask about the events in [[the Barrens]] and Three Hands was very clear that they wouldn't lie about what happened. Hard to see how that conversation could possibly end well... and so he encouraged those he spoke to, to let it drop.

Technically, Emperor Vesna is not the Emperor of the Sand Fishers. They're foreigners in a legal sense - though you'd be hard pressed to know it, based on how Loyal many of them see to be to [[Holberg]] at least. However, the Throne's words reach every part of the Empire and that includes the [[Merchant_Prince_of_Misericorde_Market|the Misericorde Market]]. The Sand Fishers have little they can contribute to support the fighting against the Druj - they have almost no skilled warriors. Still, the sept is determined that they should do what they can to help the Throne that has done so much to help them (they don't seem to distinguish between [[Empress Lisabetta]] and Emperor Vesna in that regard).
{{CaptionedImage|file=Actuallythebest001.png|align=right|width=175}}
Three Hands ''still'' thinks it will all end in disaster, but he quotes the guidance with the fervour of the convert. "It is better, by far, to try and fail, than fail to try." So he, and other members of his sept, are now resolved to try. If the League National Assembly upholds a statement of principle which names a single sept or group of orcs suffering under Druj rule, a handful of Sand Fishers will try to sneak into Druj lands, to approach them, and to see what might persuade them to consider the idea of trusting the Empire. In the event that two or more statements of principle are raised naming different septs, then only the judgement that was upheld with the highest margin would be acted upon by the Sand Fishers.

The Sand Fishers are at pains to keep expectations low. They want to disabuse anyone of the notion that the Sand Fishers turning up and saying "Look it worked out great for us" is going to suddenly convince orcs who have heard what happened to septs in the Barrens to trust the Empire. ''"Dreamers hope for the best, the wise fear the worst, but all the dreams die in the Mallum"'', as Three Hands puts it. The Sand Fishers approaching a sept is bound to work better than anyone, bar perhaps the Imperial Orcs, making the attempt, but the best possible outcome is that the party comes back with a list of demands. The worst possible outcome is nobody comes back at all.

There is just one catch: Three Hands is coy in his letter, but it is clear that he is concerned that this could go wrong in other ways too. If the Sand Fishers reach out to successfully embrace one of the septs of the Mallum, but that sept ends up getting slaughtered by the Empire anyway, that will inevitably cause lasting damage to the Empire's otherwise excellent relations with the orcs of Holberg.

==Greatest Military Force==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Dawn.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
* '''Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark have been inspired to support the military units of their nation'''
* '''The assemblies of the three nations could enact mandates to encourage their citizens to embrace national traditions and support the Empire's wars'''

The people of [[Dawn]], the [[Imperial Orcs]], and [[Wintermark]] have been inspired by the Throne address to do what they can to support the captains of their nations. If the Empire is to finally end the threat of the Mallum, then one way of securing victory would be to encourage those in the three nations who own smallholdings such as farms, forests, or mines, to make ready for war and take up arms against the barbarians.

Dawn, the Imperial Orcs, and Wintermark all elect their Bourse seat holders through [[Tally of the Votes]] of [[military unit]] captains - a reflection of the strong martial traditions of these nations. Indeed, the Imperial Orcs only get votes when supporting an army.

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; gap: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
{{mandate|mandate=Where they have sown fear, we will make flowers grow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Dawn to take up arms. Glory is there for the taking.|assembly=Dawnish Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=When faced with the choice between death or protecting what is worthy, we face no choice at all. We send {named priest} with 15 crowns to encourage the Unshackled to bring death to the Druj. We have one life; we must make it count.|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}
{{mandate|mandate=A good death awaits us. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Wintermark to ready themselves for war. A hero has a name.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}
</div>

If these mandates are passed in the relevant assemblies, then it will create an opportunity for the coming season for any character of that nation to change a [[business]], [[farm]], [[fleet]], [[herb garden]], [[mana site]], [[mine]], or [[forest]] to a [[military unit]] ''in the same territory'' without incurring a cost. Crucially, the new resource will be the same level as any resource they give up to make the change - reflecting local support for their efforts to embrace their national traditions and support the Empire's war efforts.
==Nothing Short of Exemplary==
{{CaptionedImage|file=NBHighguard.jpg|align=right|width=175}}
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: Pink;">'''Known Benefactors'''</tr>
<tr><td>Asael of the Reumah's Redoubt</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dagon Barossa of the Shattered Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Dantee </td></tr>
<tr><td>Edni Adomait </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ehud of Reumah's Redoubt </td></tr>
<tr><td>Eli of Jerico's Haven </td></tr>
<tr><td>Enoch Cobroc </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezekial of Adina's Charge </td></tr>
<tr><td>Ezra of Cantiarch's Hold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Gideon of the Suns of Couros </td></tr>
<tr><td>Hannah Lleweuraidd of the Coven of Barabbas </td></tr>
<tr><td>Icarus of the Silent Tide </td></tr>
<tr><td>Leah, born of Leah of Ebon's Hall </td></tr>
<tr><td>Magistrate Abraham of the Constitutional Court</td></tr>
<tr><td>Melkior of Balthazar’s Vineyard </td></tr>
<tr><td>Miriam Daughter of Esther of the Suns of Couros</td></tr>
<tr><td>Mordecai of Storm's Fury</td></tr>
<tr><td>Yakob of the The Flame Beneath The Earth</td></tr></table></div>
* '''The Highborn have been inspired by Emperor Vesna to fund ''any'' commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors can redirect twelve wains a season, currently going to the Grand Inspiration of the Way to any commission'''
* '''The Council of Benefactors meets at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday of the summit'''

Inspired by the Throne's exemplary [[Vigilance]] and [[Ambition]], the wealthy Highborn who support the decisions of the Council of Benefactors have gone even further than [[A_peerless_sacrifice#A_Virtuous_Benefaction|last year]]. Where before, the [[benefactor|benefactors]] have been limited to providing twelve wains each season to a [[Commission#Civilian_Commissions|civilian commission]], the citizens of Highguard have acknowledged the challenge the Throne has thrown down. After much discussion, the chapters have agreed that for the coming year at least, they will find the resources needed to support ''any'' project, providing up to twelve wains to a single commission each season. They are more than happy to continue funding the construction of the [[Construct Grand Inspiration of the Way|Grand Inspiration of the Way]] in [[Bastion]] if that is the will of the Council of Benefactors - but inspired by the Empress' words they will support any commission, regardless of nation or purpose.

There are two formal meetings of the Benefactors' Council at each summit, at 11:00 on Saturday and Sunday morning. They are likely to be held in the main tent of the [[Highguard_groups#The_Shattered_Tower|Shattered Tower]]. If the Council want to change where their nation's donations are going, then they must ensure that their [[egregore]] is present when they make the decision. The egregore will make a note of the decision and pass word on to the other benefactors in the nation. If there is some debate over the decision, then the egregore will expect a decision to be taken by a simple majority vote of those present who are well known for their role as benefactors. The list above contains all the eligible benefactors currently known to be attending Anvil. Whichever commission is chosen, the people of Highguard will donate twelve wains towards it, each season, until it is complete. They will continue to support that commission until the Council of Benefactors nominates a new commission to receive the support of the nation.

==No Imperial Hearth ==
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBMarches.jpg|align=right|width=175}}</div>
* '''The Marches have been buoyed by the raising of the third League army, and the imminent destruction of the Druj'''
* '''The alders of Wayford have set aside ten wains of weirwood for the expansion of the Breadbasket into Mournwold'''
* '''Ten more wains of weirwood will be provided by the alders of Wayford in exchange for 30 thrones'''

During the Autumn Equinox 387YE, the Marcher Assembly upheld a statement of principle raised by '''Brother Rhaego''' that declared that it was the solemn duty of Marchers to work the land and nourish its people. This highest calling of the Marches led to calls to expand the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket|Marcher Breadbasket]] into the [[Mournwold]]. Several wealthy citizens [[Search_high_and_low#A_Stitch_in_Time|came forward]], to offer to contribute what they could, for a cost.

A group of [[Alder|alders]] from [[Mitwold#Wayford|Wayford]], hard-working merchants who import salt, cloves, and other spices from [[Faraden]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|the Delves]], had a tip for a cheap consignment of [[weirwood]] from a Sarcophan merchant. The ten wains of the precious golden wood were too expensive for the alders to make use of the opportunity themselves, but one of them, ''Anne Craig'', passed on the tip to the wealthy of Anvil. '''Orson BogMyrtle''', newly reelected as the [[Keeper of the Breadbasket]], paid the full cost of 28 thrones, and the wains are awaiting the commission of the breadbasket's expansion.
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orson.jpg|caption='''Orson BogMyrtle''', Keeper of the Breadbasket|align=right|width=175}}</div>
Inspired by Anne Craig's success, a group of alders from [[Mitwold#Hay|Hay]] has been on the lookout for further opportunities to acquire weirwood for the project. They have managed to negotiate with a merchant from the Sarcophan Delves for another shipment of weirwood. Originally destined for [[Foreign_ports#Caitun|Caitun]], the merchant family who agreed to the contract were discovered to have been trading with certain seedy elements in the Iron Confederacy and have been stripped of their wealth by the Court of the Five Winds. The Sarcophan merchant is willing to sell the full shipment of weirwood at the original price agreed with the Faraden, but it is another all-or-nothing trade deal that needs to be completed by the start of the Summer Solstice; otherwise they will have to look elsewhere. The alders of Hay look to the Keeper of the Breadbasket, '''Orson BogMyrtle''', to provide funds for the trade.

'''OOC Note:''' The player of Orson BogMyrtle can engage in the trade by ensuring the 30 thrones are in their pack and emailing {{plot}} to confirm the trade by the end of downtime.

==Boot Leather==
* '''Urizen have been inspired to look towards the future
* '''The Urizen Assembly can enact a mandate that would encourage citizens to invest in upgrading their mana sites
* '''The Urizen Assembly could enact a different mandate that would also track the amount of mithril spent on upgrading mana sites and building structures that produce mana crystals across the nation
* '''These mandates are competing with each other
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Urizen.png|width=200|align=right}}</div>
Inspired by the completion of the [[Construct Roads of the Sky|Bridge of the Air]], Urizen have looked at how they might respond to '''Emperor Vesna's''' call to action. The nation has gained an increased presence in the Military Council in recent years, fielding both the [[Argent Sword]] and the [[Citadel Guard]] when the nation can only [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|support]] a single army. Changes to the way the [[Warmage]] is appointed have given them an additional voice in an Imperial house of power that traditionally saw limited involvement from Urizen. Instead of warfare, then, the nation looks to what they excel at: magic and the cultivation of [[Game_items#Mana_Crystals|mana crystals]].

There will always be a dearth of crystallised mana. Adherents of [[Prosperity]] teach that there should be no magic that goes unused, and the ritualists of the Empire keep that particular tenet close to their hearts. Rituals that create shrouds, enchantments, and curses have been performed in Anvil thousands of times over the past year alone. There are more mana crystals gathered in Urizen than anywhere else in the Empire, as the [[Sound the bells|spate]] of curses from two years ago showed. It is possible that the Senate, or the [[Crystal Architect of the Spires]], could begin a renaissance of establishing [[sinecure|sinecures]] that produce mana crystals for the people of Urizen. But everyone who takes part in the [[Tally of the Votes]] of the nation owns a mana site, and ''that'' is where the focus of the nation has landed.

The Urizen Assembly have been presented with two competing mandates. The first encourages Urizen citizens to do what they can to upgrade their own [[mana site|mana sites]].

{{mandate|mandate=The seeds of today will be the crops of tomorrow. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to consider what tomorrow might bring. We must all do what we can to better our tomorrow.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen characters will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE.

A second mandate is presented for the assembly, one that goes further and is in part inspired by the life of [[Adelmar the Lion]] whose [[Prelate_of_Adelmar%27s_Shrine#Academy_of_Arms|Academy of Arms]] has become a place of [[Ambition|ambitious]] pilgrimage in the mountains of [[Redoubt#Siluri|Siluri]]. It calls for a civilised contest between the great territories of Urizen to see which territory will see contribute the most to the war against the Druj.

{{mandate|mandate=Nothing is beyond our grasp. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to encourage Urizen to invest in the nation's future. Let us aim high and show there is no limit to what we can accomplish.|assembly=Urizen Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, then the cost to upgrade mana sites owned by Urizen will be reduced by one wain (to a minimum of one) until the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE. In addition, the civil service will keep track of which territory receives the most investment in terms of mithril being used to both upgrade mana sites and any commissions built to increase production of mana. Whichever territory saw the most investment would see an [[opportunity]], in a similar manner to [[The greatest city in the world|competition]] between the cities of [[the League]].

==The Work Continues==
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Raise Navarr Army'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Army</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Miaren or Hercynia</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 200 mithril and 75 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Can substitute weirwood in place of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' This opportunity is available for one year. The army must be raised before the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE to take advantage of the ability to spend weirwood.</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Restriction:''' This cannot be used in conjunction with the opportunity to raise an army of vates in Miaren.</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''The Great Forest Orcs have been inspired by the promise of the end of the Druj'''
* '''Some of the apothecaries rescued from Thornsong House want to take the fight to the Druj'''
* '''An army can be raised in any Navarr territory that allows the substitution of some or all of the mithril for weirwood'''
* '''The third army of Navarr has received all due funding; it will finish mustering at the Autumn Equinox 388YE'''
* '''Navarr's supply will drop by one if a new army is not raised by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE'''
<div style="float:right; width: 175px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBNavarr.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
The [[Raise Third Navarr Army|third army]] of Navarr has almost finished mustering in Hercynia; the general will be first at the Autumn Equinox 388YE. The nation's appetite for the final battle against the vallorn continues, but it is not inexhaustible. If a new Navarr army does not begin raising by the end of the Autumn Equinox 389YE, then the nation's enthusiasm will wane, and the [[Army#Maximum_numbers_of_Imperial_Forces|Navarr supply]] will drop by one. Some of the Navarr who managed to escape from the destruction of [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] - many only thanks to the [[Crimson_and_green#Conjunction|intervention of Imperial heroes]] - want to make sure that doesn't happen. They want to help take the fight to the Druj; earnestly believing that once the Druj are defeated, the Empire will turn its attention to the vallorn next.

Word of the address has spread to the [[Great Forest Orcs]], and they too are eager to see the end of the Druj. A year and a half ago, the orcs of the Great Forest [[The_first_shot#Therunin|offered to support]] the raising of an army in Therunin in recognition of the [[Poetry_and_prose#Great_Forest_Orcs|solemn and binding oath]] made by the Navarr to protect the sept as if they were family. That oath, that powerful ''geas'', still stands and the Great Forest Orcs have once again pledged their support for an army centred on the apothecaries and herbalists who escaped Thornsong House.

If the Navarr chose to raise an army centred on those who escaped Thornsong House, they could also count on the support of the Great Forest Orcs. These people are masters of working [[weirwood]]. The Empire has seen their skills with growing, harvesting, and shaping the precious wood, but the Navarr's allies are also skilled at making weapons of war with it. Any Navarr army raised in the next year could draw on the skills and experience of the Great Forest Orcs to substitute weirwood for mithril on a 1:1 basis. Unfortunately, such an army couldn't also incorporate an unusually large number of [[vate|vates]]. It is not possible to raise an army with the aid of the Great Forest Orcs which also [[The_first_shot#Miaren|benefits]] from an [[eternal]] patron.

==All Mine To Claim==
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin: 15px;">{{CaptionedImage|file=NBVarushka.jpg|align=right|width=200}}</div>
* '''A consortium of Delev merchants has offered to sell mithril to Emperor Vesna for the purpose of raising armies'''
* '''Each season Empress Vesna can purchase up to forty wains of mithril'''
* '''The Delev consortium will make the mithril available, starting at three thrones per wain until at least the start of the Spring Equinox 389YE'''
''Milena Vukovna Delevki'' is a [[Pride|Proud]] resident of [[Karov#Delev|Delev]], and with the [[Ward Little Boyar's Welcome|wards]] on the [[Karov#The_Little_Boyar's_Welcome|Little Boyar's Welcome]] completed, her consortium has been working to negotiate a deal to sell mithril to a contact in the [[Commonwealth]]. However, the merchant, inspired by the words of the second Varushkan ever to sit on the Imperial throne, would much rather see the mithril go towards raising Imperial armies. ''Milena'' proposes that she could instead sell the mithril from the scattered vales and outposts to the Throne, for the purpose of raising an army.
<div style="width: 350px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible"><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:LightYellow;">'''Precious Mithril'''</td></tr>
<tr><td>240 crowns</td><td>10 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>660 crowns</td><td>25 wains of mithril</td></tr>
<tr><td>1140 crowns</td><td>40 wains of mithril</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
There is a great deal of discussion of how they ''could'' work, but it soon becomes clear that part of the reason for their enthusiasm is a desire to support the Empress personally. The Throne almost always begins their rule with a degree of popularity with their home nation, and Emperor Vesna is no different. Every tavern in Varushka that Vesna ever stayed at, or passed through, or had a friend pass through, now sports a plaque hanging behind the bar celebrating their connection to the nation's new favourite Emperor. People are openly comparing Vesna with [[Empress Varkula]] in terms that in Varushka at least are considered flattering. Yes, Empress Varkula was terrible, but it was the good kind of terrible. She had steel in her veins! She brought terror to her enemies, and Prosperity to the Empire.

For at least the next year, '''Empress Vesna''' can purchase up to forty wains a season at a price starting at three thrones per wain.

'''OOC Note:''' Emperor Vesna will gain access to a [[ministry]] after the Spring Equinox 388YE that will allow them to purchase wains of mithril at a set price.

==And We Will==
{{WingedMessenger|address=''General Utmar of the Rahvin, The Fangs, Bitter Strand, The Barrens'' will receive letters.}}
* '''The Rahvin have an opportunity to ''deal'' with the Karass'''
* '''To be legal, it would require the Empire to either cede the Bleaks to them, or declare war on, the Karass'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] and the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] do not exactly see eye-to-eye. The Rahvin hate the Karass every bit as much as the Druj; indeed, they consider their enemies to be inseparable from the Druj. It's hard to imagine the contempt isn't mutual, but the Rahvin have repeated over and over to the Empire that the Karass are loyal servants of the rulers of the Mallum and that they are simply waiting for the right moment to betray the Empire and the Barrens to the Druj.

According to the yeofolk who support the [[Merchant of the Fangs]], the Rahvin are intrigued by the words of '''Emperor Vesna''' promising that the end of the Druj is close. If it is true, then it is news worth celebrating. But the Druj won't really be gone until every trace of them is wiped from this world. "We will be a black wind that sweeps the Druj into the Abyss" is a common refrain among members of the sept. They don't just want to see the Druj defeated; they want to see every trace of them uprooted from this world. It is good news indeed that the Empire has the Druj armies on the defensive... but what about the Druj traitors here in the Barrens? What about the Karass?

The Rahvin army is still being raised in [[The_Barrens#Bitter_Strand|Bitter Strand]], and while it is not yet ready to take the field, some of the recruits are itching for a fight. As a result, there is an [[opportunity]] to assault a small sept, like the Karass, and overpower them. ''General Utmar'' understands enough about Imperial law to know that leading his warriors against a foe enjoying the protection of [[Imperial law]] will not end well for his people. But if the Senate - or Empress Vesna - were to declare war on the Karass, then the Rahvin would seize the moment, just as the Karass did to the Vendarri, and wipe them out. Those that didn't flee back to their Druj masters in the Mallum would be slaughtered.

Alternatively, the Senate could cede [[The_Barrens#The_Bleaks|the Bleaks]] to the Karass, and the Rahvin could then attack once the region had been claimed. That would also avoid Imperial law being a problem. It seems complicated and unnecessary to General Utmar; he'd rather the Throne just declared war on them and then let the Rahvin ''deal'' with the situation.

This opportunity is only available for a single season - the Druj armies are on the back foot now - so they can't come to the aid of the Karass if they are threatened. That might not be the case in the future. General Utmar is eager to fight the Druj, but he's not going to throw away the lives of his soldiers.

{{Imperial Addresses}}

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T22:09:11Z

Vsabo: /* At the Gate of Despair */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 40%; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Monstrous Geographies.jpg|caption=Even without the Druj miasma there is plenty to fear in Sarangrave. The bottomless lakes and the creatures that dwell in their depths; the marshes and the woods that hide Druj assassins; and the shadow of the past that hangs over the entire wetland.|align=left|width=2000}}</div>
==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 40%; width: 600px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Centipede General.png|align=right|width=150}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=IrrahHurrah002a.png|align=right|width=240}}
There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
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<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
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Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralGryphonsPride.png|caption='''Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose''' (centre), General of the Gryphon's Pride|align=right|width=400}}
When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connecting the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to darken the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was.jpg|caption='''Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was''', General of the Citadel Guard|align=right|width=200}}
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A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinder. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
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But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
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==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=Regal, noble, and terrible in anger; Eleonaris is the Lion of Summer and her soldiers bear many of her traits.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T22:04:04Z

Vsabo: /* At the Gate of Despair */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 40%; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Monstrous Geographies.jpg|caption=Even without the Druj miasma there is plenty to fear in Sarangrave. The bottomless lakes and the creatures that dwell in their depths; the marshes and the woods that hide Druj assassins; and the shadow of the past that hangs over the entire wetland.|align=left|width=2000}}</div>
==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 40%; width: 600px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Centipede General.png|align=right|width=150}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=IrrahHurrah002a.png|align=right|width=240}}
There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 40%; width: 600px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GryphonPride_Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralGryphonsPride.png|caption='''Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose''' (centre), General of the Gryphon's Pride|align=right|width=400}}
When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connecting the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to darken the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dame Katelyn.jpg|caption='''Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco''', General of the Lions of Adelmar|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Neve Agra.jpg|caption='''Neve Agra''', General of the Quiet Step|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was.jpg|caption='''Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was''', General of the Citadel Guard|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=EasternSky Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=LionsAdelmar Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=SummerStorm Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=QuietStep Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=CitadelGuard Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
</div>
A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinder. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows, has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta_Colour.webp|align=right|width=200}}
But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Regions of Sarangrave.png|caption=Sarangrave is mapped, but parts of the territory remain unknown.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=Regal, noble, and terrible in anger; Eleonaris is the Lion of Summer and her soldiers bear many of her traits.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T22:01:30Z

Vsabo: /* At the Gate of Despair */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 40%; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Monstrous Geographies.jpg|caption=Even without the Druj miasma there is plenty to fear in Sarangrave. The bottomless lakes and the creatures that dwell in their depths; the marshes and the woods that hide Druj assassins; and the shadow of the past that hangs over the entire wetland.|align=left|width=2000}}</div>
==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
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<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Centipede General.png|align=right|width=150}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=IrrahHurrah002a.png|align=right|width=240}}
There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
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<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GryphonPride_Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralGryphonsPride.png|caption='''Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose''' (centre), General of the Gryphon's Pride|align=right|width=400}}
When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connecting the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to darken the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dame Katelyn.jpg|caption='''Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco''', General of the Lions of Adelmar|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Neve Agra.jpg|caption='''Neve Agra''', General of the Quiet Step|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was.jpg|caption='''Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was''', General of the Citadel Guard|align=right|width=200}}
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</div>
A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinders. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows, has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta_Colour.webp|align=right|width=200}}
But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
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==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
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* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T22:00:06Z

Vsabo: /* At the Gate of Despair */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
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==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
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<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
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There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
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<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
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Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
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When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connecting the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to dark the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
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A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinders. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows, has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta_Colour.webp|align=right|width=200}}
But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Regions of Sarangrave.png|caption=Sarangrave is mapped, but parts of the territory remain unknown.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=Regal, noble, and terrible in anger; Eleonaris is the Lion of Summer and her soldiers bear many of her traits.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T21:33:00Z

Vsabo: /* Wall Like A Dam */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 40%; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Monstrous Geographies.jpg|caption=Even without the Druj miasma there is plenty to fear in Sarangrave. The bottomless lakes and the creatures that dwell in their depths; the marshes and the woods that hide Druj assassins; and the shadow of the past that hangs over the entire wetland.|align=left|width=2000}}</div>
==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks to the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 40%; width: 600px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
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There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
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<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
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Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
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When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connect the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to dark the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
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A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinders. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows, has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
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But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Regions of Sarangrave.png|caption=Sarangrave is mapped, but parts of the territory remain unknown.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=Regal, noble, and terrible in anger; Eleonaris is the Lion of Summer and her soldiers bear many of her traits.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Other monstrous geographies

2026-05-27T21:31:58Z

Vsabo: /* The End of Winter */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:388YE Spring]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 40%; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Monstrous Geographies.jpg|caption=Even without the Druj miasma there is plenty to fear in Sarangrave. The bottomless lakes and the creatures that dwell in their depths; the marshes and the woods that hide Druj assassins; and the shadow of the past that hangs over the entire wetland.|align=left|width=2000}}</div>
==The End of Winter==
The [[Rivers of Life]] flow through the [[Sarangrave]]. [[Spring magic]] in the clouds, in the streams, the ponds, in the water-bottles of the soldiers. In the Feverwater, in unplumbed depths of the lake of [[Sarangrave#Kroll|Kroll]]. They bring with them the promise of life, of wounds that will swiftly heal. They bring a threat as well - the blood-sucking, stinging insects of the Druj-corrupted wetlands swarm and bite in unprecedented numbers. There is a balance of a kind, though, to this indiscriminate magic. Wounds are less likely to fester in the filthy marshes, at least. Sickness less likely to spread. The rains of life fall on the just and the corrupt, equally.

The Druj have kept their stronghold in the south. The massive [[Sarangrave#Tower of the Skink|Tower of the Skink]] looms over the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]]. The Marshlizard Clan remains the final sept of the Druj still holding out against Imperial armies. To the south of the titanic castle, the [[Axos|Axou]] of [[Axos#Gates_of_Ipotavo|Ipotavo]] continue their own assault. They batter the massive fortified gate from which the [[orc|orcs]] of [[the Mallum]] sent out their raiders to attack [[Axos#Axou Territories|Kabanja]]. The portal is firmly closed, at least for the moment.

Of the forces engaged with the Druj last season, only the [[Boyar's Hasta]], the [[Summer Storm]], and the [[Lions of Adelmar]] have remained. The [[Granite Pillar]] and the [[Golden Axe]] have pulled back to [[Dawn]], to recover perhaps from the horror of the Sarangrave. The [[Druj miasma]] still hangs heavily over the entire territory, of course, stronger and thicker than anywhere the Empire has encountered it before. It is no surprise that those who fight under such conditions need to fall back, to recover from wounds not just physical but spiritual as well.

In their place come the [[Eastern Sky]], [[Gryphon's Pride]], and [[Citadel Guard]] out of [[Semmerholm]], and the [[Navarr]] of the [[Quiet Step]] from [[Astolat]]. They pass swiftly through [[the Barrens#The Bleaks|the Bleaks]]; the Karass mark their passage silently, their faces unreadable. From there, across the [[Sarangrave#Turan Flats|Turan Flats]] to the wreck of Thornfen.

Last season, the Druj [[Fire_and_the_flood#Jarangir's_Levy|broke Jarangir’s Levy]], unleashing a flood that scattered attackers and defenders alike. The waters have subsided now, for the moment at least, but they have washed away the few roads, as well as wrecking farms and smaller settlements across the northern region. It is in the wake of that flood that the Empire renews its assault against the Tower of the Skink.

==Wall Like A Dam==
The Tower has weathered the joint Imperial and Axou attack so far. Even with their [[Fire_and_the_flood#Shield_of_Our_Ancestors|martial "necromantia"]], the ability of the allies to work together is limited thanks the the massive castle that lies between them. Spectral messengers still flit back and forth through the impassable hills, bearing messages and allowing the separate forces to coordinate, but it is no substitute for actually fighting together. The Empire, likewise, makes use of magic to help the disparate forces [[Clarity of the Master Strategist|adapt their strategies]] to the ever-shifting battlefield, and the wicked cunning of the Druj.
The garrison of the Tower itself is massive, well-equipped with potions and blade venoms, supported by the desperate residents of the fortress and those who fled the town of Sephals to that uncertain sanctuary. Five armies of the Empire move to lay siege to the place.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 40%; width: 600px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky">Soldiers of the Eastern Sky, we stand now before the tower of the Skink. Our path is clear: A Glorious charge to bring an end to the taint of the Mallum. We will pay a heavy price but I will be there at your side and I will be the first over the walls and the last out. Fight with courage, gird yourself in pride and look to your loyalty. Glory to Dawn and Glory to the Empire.</quote>
<quote by="Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco, General of the Lions of Adelmar">Our Lions of Adelmar, for nine months we have pushed into the Mallum, stood proud against the venoms of the Druj and had the Courage to not only take on their most vicious cruelties, but to keep pushing and to keep winning. Resolve yourselves, our work amidst the Druj is still at hand. May your Swords turn to claws as you rip and rend the tower's stone. Even in their cruel desperation, let us show them what a lioness can do. May the knights of the Summer realm who join us repeat our tales. Now, hold your Virtues at heart and hand, and let them guide you back into war again.</quote>
<quote by="Stormsteel Skorr, General of the Summer Storm">Legionnaires, last season we did well repelling the Druj from Sanath and the Tower of the Skink. This season we keep pushing to take that tower. Be vigilant, we do not know where we will find Druj In the Swamp. Eyes up and open. We are after the slave masters and true Druj, leave the slaves be. Be careful, keep pushing and use pit fights to keep spirits up. We can do this.</quote>
<quote by="Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was, General of the Citadel Guard">My earliest memory is of the lightstone in my bedroom failing. I thought the Druj were coming for me. My cousin, a few years older than me, had told us stories she'd heard about the Druj. I'd asked my mother about them, and she told me as she thought I could bear. I had to get out of bed, feeling through the dark, and down two flights of stairs to find the light. I thought monsters with poison knives were chasing me the whole way. For years, people - Young and old, human and orc, Urizen and Dawnish and Highborn and sept - have woken up in the night and thought the Druj were coming for them - and been right. The fear they spread is anathema to virtue. There is no place for them in Utopia. We stand halfway up the mountain of their destruction and must only finish the climb. Sentinels. If you would bring light to their darkness. If you would save every child terrified of the night. If you will climb this mountain with me. Consider the Drowned Man.</quote>
<quote by="Neve Agra, General of the Quiet Step">Quiet Step, we advance into the Sarangrave and engage Druj forces. Support allied lines, protect the forest and drive the enemy out. Use the terrain to strike fast and act with ambition. Do whatever it takes to secure victory. Sarangrave must be clear of Druj forces. For us, for Urizen, for the Empire to grow and flourish. Listen for the Whispers of the forest and the trods will guide those who move with purpose. If the wind shifts, heed its warning. If the silence deepens, Prepare. You are Navarr. You are the storm in the leaves, the shadows between the branches and the voice that answers intrusion with fury. Go to the Sarangrave and ensure that when this war is over, the forest still stands and our enemies do not.</quote></div>

The Eastern Sky are in the fore, leading the way for a great host of warbands under the command of Imperial [[military unit|captains, champions, and heroes]]. They are inspired by the [[Army_qualities#Favoured|favour]] of [[Eleonaris]], the [[Summer magic|Summer]] [[enchantment]] flowing through and around them guided by a half dozen courtiers from the demesne of the ''Queen of the Pennants''. Utterly committed to victory, no matter what it might cost, they pay a heavy price for their zeal even with the healing power of the waters this season.

Fortunately these knights of Dawn do not fight alone. The Lions of Adelmar are at their side, their shield raised, ready to [[Army_qualities#Guardian|guard]] their fellows from the barbed arrows and envenomed spears of the Druj. The favour of Eleonaris is with the Lions, as well. Under the command of the stag-headed Ser Helvennan fight a cohort of warriors from the [[Knights of Glory|Fields of Glory]]. Resplendent in gold-and-scarlet chain, the warriors of the Fields of Glory, they inspire all who battle the Druj this season, their wroth waxing greater and greater each time they encounter another sign of the corruption of the Mallum. Love and Glory together, at the heart of the fray, the bright banners of Dawn undimmed by the mud and blood that surround them.

Dawn at the heart then, against a grand stronghold of the Druj (and if there is an echo of [[Cost|that terrible battle]] two years past when the [[Hounds of Glory]] paid their ultimate price, it is spoken of with Pride). The Unshackled and the Urizen move more [[Army orders#Steady Conquest|steadily]], refusing to risk the lives of their soldiers more than necessary. Trapped like this, desperate, the tyrants of the Mallum are at their most cruel. They remain alert to the wiles of the Druj ensuring the stealthy guerrillas of the Sarangrave do not have leave to ravage the baggage trains or the flanks of the Imperial force.

The General of the Citadel Guard has invoked the stars, reminded the sentinels and war-magicians of the lesson of [[the Drowned Shepherd]]; that <i>things end</i>. That the Druj, ultimately will end - and if there are [[astronomancy|astronomancers]] who worry about the invocation of a [[Astronomancy#Constellations|constellation]] in such time they speak only in whispers with their heads close together. The constellation that many still remember was once called the Drowned Man is an omen of ending, and it is dangerous to assume one knows what ''exactly'' is going to end when it is invoked.

Finally, the Navarr of the Quiet Step. They are the storm in the leaves, fighting to ensure that the forest stands but the enemy does not. Where the Lions of Adelmar protect, the Navarr bring death. The cruel barbarity of the Druj is met with [[Army_qualities#Cunning|merciless cunning]], blow for blow. One cannot betray one’s enemies, after all. They exploit the forest and the marshes, not only in the Thornfen but in those other parts of Sarangrave where pockets of Druj assassins gather. A second war, quieter than the grand battle at the Tower of the Skink, is waged in the marshes this season.

The Tower alone would represent a significant threat to all the forces in the Sarangrave this season. Its garrison however is also supplemented by three Druj armies - the corrupt witches of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]], the desperate guerrillas of the [[Druj_armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], and the relentless malice of the [[Druj_armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]]. These armies, their septs scattered, have nowhere to go; they <i>must</i> resist the Empire or risk dissolution.

And resist they do.

==The Battle of Sephals==
Sephals is a ramshackle, spreading town. The floodwaters released by the broken levies have not been kind to it. The <i>Path of the Tail</i>, the road that runs down toward town and tower, has been partially washed away. Regardless, that is the route the Empire follows. The Druj, again, launch a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|desperate defence]] of Sephals; they have not entirely finished moving the supplies of rice and grain and smoked meat out of the warehouses into the cellars of the Tower. In the past, the Druj have shown themselves more comfortable striking and withdrawing to attack from a different angle, from stealth, while their enemies are distracted. Here they have no such luxury, they must stand, and fight. The Poison Crane at least is prepared for the reality of being utterly outnumbered and outclassed; the Hidden Snake are experts at using the terrain to their advantage; the garrison of the Tower of the Skink know these streets, these defences, like nobody else. But there is only so much they can do. Perhaps if the Tainted Basilisk had been here to bring their magic to bear? But they are conspicuous by their absence.

The fighting rages across Sephals for two days before the Druj break. Their withdrawal is disorganised, closer to a rout than a retreat. As a final spit in the face, the Poison Crane try to start a fire in one of the abandoned grain stores, packed with flour, knowing it will spread quickly.

But even here the Druj are stymied. It begins to rain, just as the fire begins to spread. A thunderous downpour that not only extinguishes the flames, but restores attackers and defenders alike as the Empire attempts to mop up. The rain, after all, is full of cursed healing magic.

“Even the weather hates the Druj!” The joke spreads quickly, even as tired soldiers deal with their wounds and gather their fallen. It is grim humour, almost Varushkan, and not everyone laughs. The astronomancers of Urizen, the witches of Dawn, the vates of the Quiet Step, the spiritweavers and the oathwrights are less certain. They look to the skies, and the muttering becomes a murmur. Does anyone remember when people started calling the Drowned Man by a different name? Can anyone else feel the magic in the rain, stronger than it has any right to be? Where is this going to end?

This concerns are not dismissed, but what can be done with them? There is a town - a small city really - that must be administered. Several thousand orcs, a few hundred humans. The majority certainly slaves of the Druj but <i>all</i> of them? Even among the Druj, “slave” has different meanings as the [[Ossium#Ketsov|Ketsov]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Menrothat|Menrothat]] or the [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] could tell you. There are surely Druj among these wretched folk, and they introduce all the risk that come with allowing assassins and saboteurs to move around behind ones lines. If the [[Iron Helms]] were here some of them might make an unhelpfully pragmatic suggestion as to how to deal with that problem.

The Axou have been very clear about their plans - once they claim Thornfen they will simply evict every orc living there without exception. For now, the Empire cannot safely simply let them go. A part of the town is set aside for the surviving folk of the Mallum, with Summer Storm soldiers doing their best to maintain order and ensure the Druj that are surely among them do no harm. They can do little to prevent scores being settled, and it is a rare morning that passes without a dead body found floating face down in a pond or an open sewer, arms spread as they drift lazily in the currents.

==The Defence of Nesustak==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Centipede General.png|align=right|width=150}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=IrrahHurrah002a.png|align=right|width=240}}
There are folk in Sarangrave who might be able to offer some aid to the Imperial forces in Sephals, but their attention is unfortunately elsewhere. While the bulk of the Druj forces are corralled in Thornfen, the tyrants of the Mallum are always unpredictable. Not long after the Winter Solstice, a significant force made up of Banded Snake sept survivors and members of the Thornwasp clan isolated from Thornfen by [[Sarangrave#Bendol|Bendol]] and Imperial armies, attack the rebels of the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]]. Reinforced by supplies smuggled south from the Salt Flats, these counter-insurgents are hell bent of slaughtering as many of the rebels as they can. This is not an unfamiliar strategy by the Druj; they hate those who escape their clutches even more than they hate the Empire. So many times they have sought to make an example of those who throw off their yoke, in [[the Barrens]], in [[Ossium]], even in [[Holberg]]. This assault is no exception. It seems likely that they assume the Empire’s attention will be focused entirely in the south-east, at Thornfen. Their attack is double-pronged like an assassin’s blade. On hastily constructed rafts, surviving members of the Thornwasp paddle across the wide expanse of the Feverwater. The Banded Snake gather in secret in western Turan Flats and cross the river under cover of a moonless night.
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<quote by="Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose, General of the Gryphon’s Pride">Soldiers of the Pride! Three years ago, I stood with you as we marched forth through the mud and blood of the Steel Causeway and fell in behind the Hounds of Glory to break a dark and terrible bastion. The Hounds' story ended there, but the tale they began there on the Plains of Teeth finishes its next chapter this Winter. Now, the Tower of the Skink will fall in turn. Another monument to wickedness will be laid low. In seasons to come, the pillars will fall as well. The pall of dread and despair that hangs over this land will fade. But that is not our foremost duty. Not this time. If the Druj strike out we will answer them. But there is only one thing the free peoples of Sarangrave have asked for, of our Empire, and they have asked it of us. Make for Nesustak. We will reach out to the Bloodwater Spears and aid them in raising watchtowers to defend themselves. We will show them that the Empire are not the monsters that they think we are. Only we can do this. We are called and so we come. A new dawn is breaking over the Sarangrave. We will make flowers grow here, too.</quote></div>
The rebels are not caught sleeping; they are vigilant for counterattack from the Druj. Indeed, they are in the midst of preparing their own defences. Barricades and palisades to protect their rickety settlements; watch towers against the threat to their borders; armed patrols to root out the remaining threats of the land they have claimed. They are supported in this by a few dozen [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] of the [[Irra Harah|Shacklebreaker]], whose swift feet and keen senses prove invaluable at keeping the loose alliance of survivors united. Their boons of health, healing, and [[Calls#Shatter|war]] are equally welcome. Unfortunately, with the Druj attackers comes a small host of heralds of the <i>[[Arhallogen|Centipede General]]</i>, the <i>King of All Spiders</i>. This stealthy assault, set on murder and mayhem, clearly suits the temperament of the <i>Scorpion Queen</i> - and it can barely resist an opportunity to strike against those <i>Ward of the Young</i> seeks to aid.
Unfortunately, as they have so many times before in this war for the Sarangrave, the Druj have miscalculated.

The Gryphon’s Pride came down through the Barrens with the other armies, but it did not accompany them to Thornfen. Instead, they struck camp in the western Turan Flats, and sent heralds of their own - mortal heralds - into Nesustak Forest. Under the quiet gaze of Irra Harrah’s childer, a cautious negotiation took place on the banks of the river. By all accounts, the Bloodwater Spears, one of the renegade septs of former Druj subjects, have reached out to the Dawnish army for support and the general has answered. Unfortunately, there are also many among the rebels who see the arrival of a Dawnish army on their borders as a thing of terror rather than reassurance.

They have heard the stories of the Druj, of events in the Barrens, of the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendarri]], the slaughter of the [[Not_to_conquer#Montanians|Montainians]], the brutal murders of the [[Not_to_conquer#The_Black_Wind|Black Wind]] and the attack by <i>this very army</i> against the rebel heroes under the old banner of Rahvin. They have been told over and over that everyone who ever trusted the Empire has paid the ultimate price for it. So they do not welcome five thousand armoured warriors, no matter if they come beneath a banner of parley or not. Some few yeofolk are allowed to cross into Nesustak, to offer their expertise in constructing defences, but no knight is invited to join them. It is arguably more than might be expected; the Empire is used to the hammer-blow of the Druj miasma but its presence and its constant subtle creeping fingers of suspicion and fear make it very difficult for people to trust one another. That these septs have been able to come together at all is little short of a miracle.

It would be easy for the Pride to crash across the river and force their will on the rebels of Nesustak, but their orders are clear. They are here to protect, not to conquer, and their presence in Turan will at least mean they are in position to intercept any attackers from the north.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GryphonPride_Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
Then the Druj attack, and the Gryphon’s Pride acts. The Druj clearly expected the Dawnish to leave the rebels to their fate; the Banded Snake are taken by surprise when the knights and war-witches erupt into the forest to their rear. They are caught between the anvil of the defenders and the hammer of Glory, smashed and broken and left with little recourse but to flee.

The Thornwasp from the south are more of a problem. As the knights march through Nesustak Forest, some of the rebels sadly scatter or seek to intercept them as an invading force. Wherever possible, the Dawnish seek to minimize losses to the confused warriors, their fellow defenders, but these people are <i>frightened</i>. Even with the words of the Bloodwater Spears, there are accidents to be grieved. Yet these accidents cannot risk slowing the Dawnish response.

The septs do their best to fight off the Thornwasp but they are not well armed, not as used to fighting as the tyrants of the Mallum even in their scattered state. Conversely, these ambushers are in no position to face the fury of an entire Dawnish army. At first they press inland, with some minor victories, but even so their actual aim - to slaughter the rebels - proves difficult to achieve. The heralds of Irra Harrah are no match for those of Arhallogen, but they do not attempt to fight. Instead, they serve as guides, getting people to safety - or helping defenders into positions where they can fight back.
{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralGryphonsPride.png|caption='''Ser Guy of the Twisted Rose''' (centre), General of the Gryphon's Pride|align=right|width=400}}
When the Gryphon’s Pride reaches the shores of the Feverwater, the Druj who once claimed Bloodwater Marshes have nowhere to go. Those who take to their rafts are easy marks for archers - orc and human alike. Those who stand and fight are quickly slain. When the first heavy rains of Spring begin to fall, the shores of the Feverwater are choked with dead Druj, their blood staining the drowning waters muddy red.

After this, the rebels of Nesustak are more inclined to trust those who suggest the Pride is here to help not harm. Grudgingly, carefully, a detente is built. As the rains continue to beat down, the majority of the Dawnish forces withdraw back across the river to remain on watch but those who remain are, if not welcomed, at least tolerated. Few can deny that their aid has saved countless lives from the venom of the Druj, this time at least.

Yet there are also difficult questions asked. What does this mean in the long run? The Empire has conquered Sarangrave and given these lands to strangers from the south to be their domain. What does this mean for the people left in the marshes? How is this better than being the slaves of the Buruk-Tepel? These are orc lands, the homelands of the Bloodwater Spears and the rest. What happens if they do not accept this Imperial domination? Where will the Gryphon’s Pride be when it is the Empire’s warriors looking to kill the free orcs of the Sarangrave - of the Mallum? There are impassioned exchanges, arguments on both sides, but no resolution is reached. The forest is safe for now but what of the future?
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<quote by="Vasiliki Terricos, General of the Shield of Ipotavo">When Ipotavo was besieged, when Kaban was lost, the Druj took many of our beloved away as slaves and prisoners. Many assume them lost to the wicked wills of the Mallum. Yet the Sorcerer-Queen Ipotavo used to say: those who truly oppose the False Divinity with all their heart and all their soul and all their might are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Though we know not whether our loved ones still dwell on this side of the abyssal dark of the Labyrinth, we fight as if they do. We will take the Tower, and every moment we fight to do so we will fight as if we will hold them, warm and living, in our arms once more: but between us and them are many Druj: they die, unmourned.</quote></div>
What of the future indeed…

==At the Gate of Despair==

Through curtains of rain the Imperial force marches south to the Tower. Few are prepared for the sheer size of the fortification; it spreads across the horizon occupying the space between the foothills connect the Mallum and the lands of Axos to the south. Its towers are immense, dwarfing those of the Spires of the Dusk in their immensity. This is a chaotic structure of stone and weirwood, and mithril spikes, and ironbound ramparts. This is the last true stronghold of the Druj in Sarangrave, shouting defiance of the forces of virtue to the heavens.

Not that it is easy to feel for its size through the sheets of rain falling all around. Its towers scrape the clouds, but to be fair the clouds are very low at the moment weighed down with water. The banners of the lizard and the snake hang limp and bedraggled, soaked through, cheap dyes running down the wall in streams of sickly green and bloody red.

The walls are defended three ranks deep with Druj archers, but the rain makes it difficult for them to dark the sky any more than it already is. The Eastern Sky has great covered rams to manoeuvre into position, to assault the gates, but even they are a little taken aback at the sheer ''size'' of the things. Not of wood, not even weirwood, but of white granite these doors must need a team of slaves straining on a net of ropes to open and close. The rams of the Empire will struggle to do more than dent them.
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{{CaptionedImage|file=Aurum8565.png||caption=Dame Aurum De Castellan, General of the Eastern Sky|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dame Katelyn.jpg|caption='''Dame Katelyn Quinnell De Cordraco''', General of the Lions of Adelmar|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Neve Agra.jpg|caption='''Neve Agra''', General of the Quiet Step|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was.jpg|caption='''Andronikos of the Lighthouse-That-Was''', General of the Citadel Guard|align=right|width=200}}
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{{CaptionedImage|file=LionsAdelmar Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=SummerStorm Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=QuietStep Colour.png|align=right|width=200}}
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A long siege suits the Druj better than the Empire, of course. The longer the Imperial forces are held here in Thornfen, the more time there is for the armies of the Mallum to rally their strength and return to squeeze them against the walls of the Tower, as the Banded Snake in Nesustak are being squeezed against the Feverwater by the Gryphon’s Pride.

A triumphant charge can only take an army so far; to simply rush the Tower of the Skink would be to throw lives away pointlessly. A council is convened to discuss how best to assault the castle, to defeat the enemy sheltered within. A single ranking Axou, a <i>Toxatai</i> war-necromantia, cousin of the Grand Ilarch of Ipotavo, has come at great risk through the foothills to attend in person.

As the rain pounds the canvas above their heads, captains and commanders argue back and forth, seeking some solution to the walls and the gate. The opportunity to starve the defenders out is there, but there is no telling how well provisioned they are to withstand such a siege. The presence of two extra armies inside must be putting their supplies under pressure, but how much is difficult to say. There were many storehouses in Sephals and most were empty by the time the Druj were forced to abandon their position there. Worse, the healing power of the waters of life will help maintain the strength of the Druj just as it maintains the strength of the Empire.

The heavy rains help, but also hinders. While it protects from long-range attacks, if it continues for much longer the Imperial armies risk becoming bogged down. And it shows little sign of letting up. Indeed, runners from the forces left behind in Sephals warn that the streets of the town are already starting to flood as the waters released from Jarangir’s Levy are deepened by a week of unrelenting rain.

In the end, the decision is made to try and take the Tower while the opportunity still remains. A second heavy battering ram is constructed. Rather than being made of wood, it is formed from a white granite column ripped from a Druj palace in Sephals, carried south through the downpour by orcs of the Summer Storm, and shaped by Urizeni engineers. At the last moment, a contingent of Navarr arrive from elsewhere in Sarangrave with a quartet of [[Great Forest Orcs]] freed from the weirwood grove in Whisperwood. They set to work shaping a weirwood frame to carry the ram, with the aid of their Navarr friends. The Boyar's Hasta contributes an amount of looted mithril armour and weapons which, when swiftly melted down by Dawnish smiths, serve to bind and reinforce it with the snarling face of a great maned lion.

The morning of the attack, the waters are already lapping at the walls of the Tower in places. The <i>Tail of the Skink</i> holds the marshwaters at bay - where it approaches the walls it is raised up in a manner that puts some in mind of <i>Otterway</i> back in [[Bregasland]]. The Druj know that this is the key moment, that they will have to face this attack and stand against it. The defenders continue to loose arrows, but the main source of danger are the catapults positioned atop the ramparts. Massive rocks hail down, interspersed with filth, dead bodies, and effluent. Some are bound in iron, but its clear the Druj supplies of catapult stones are also waning slightly. A few barrels of pitch are launched, but the rain quickly extinguishes their threat.

With the Eastern Sky at the forefront, the massive battering ram is slowly maneuvered into position. The armoured covering protects those within from missiles thrown from the walls, but the pounding of rocks and arrows almost drowns out that of the rain - almost. Again and again the great fist smashes against the northern gates of the Tower of the Skink. The defenders are not content to simply sit and trust to the sturdiness of their door however.

The Druj are monstrous, but they are cunning. It becomes clear that they have created their own ways to get troops into and out of the Tower. Without warning, two thousand warriors erupt out of the marshes to the east and west of the <i>Tail of the Skink</i>. They fall on the Imperial forces on the flanks, fighting with bloodthirsty ruthlessness. It quickly becomes apparent that there are hidden tunnels under the walls that emerge nearly a quarter mile from the fortification itself and that for days now, the defenders have been carefully moving their troops into position.

With the garrison come another thousand or so guerrillas of the Hidden Snake, and five hundred Poison Crane. All are equipped for killing, with venoms and poison, many dosed up on the battle-drugs the Druj call [[Double-sided_Blade#Warming_Armour|warspice]] and [[Double-sided_Blade#Weakning_Sun|corpse skin]] that grant near supernatural vitality but overwhelm the common sense and survival instinct of those who use them. This is a suicide attack, one aimed at breaking through the Empire's line to destroy the great ram.

As the assault begins, the skies ''truly'' open. The wind rises, howling around the ramparts, driving the rain almost horizontal. Fighters struggle in the mud, their footing suddenly treacherous on the rainslick ground. Visibility plummets, a massive battle between Empire and Druj, between virtue and hate, reduced to a hundred scattered skirmishes by the walls of water. Thunder rumbles, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Yet the deafening beat of the ram is louder still, ringing out across the battlefield like the heartbeat of some terrible beast of war. Orc and human, Druj and Imperial, alike fall in the sucking mud and the rising tides, eyes and lungs choking with earth and drowning with filthy water.

And then, with the storm at its height, the lion-faced battering ram of stone and mithril hits something within the solid stone of the gate. A point of weakness that had endured for hundreds of years, since the doors were first raised. A fracture line buried in the rock where only a mighty blow would uncover it. Perhaps the terrible rhythm of the blows, has weakened the gate. Perhaps it is something else. But whatever the reason, the hammering blow causes the stone first to crack and splinter, and then with a terrible roaring noise, to break.

Another blow, another, battering against that point of weakness, opening the hole, pounding through the feet-thick stone. The flaw exposed, the gate begins to fragment apart. A terrible cry of despair goes up from inside the Tower of the Skink. The door is falling! After centuries of defiance, one of the two great doors of the Tower of the Skink is falling!

The Lions of Adelmar are first through the breach, shields at the ready. Behind them, the soldiers of the Eastern Sky, and after them the rest of the Imperial forces pouring into the gatehouse of the Tower, as the waters of the flood poured over Jarangir’s Levy.

Outside and inside, bloody slaughter leaves waves of blood on the stone, that mix with the mud to create a grim quagmire. Another cry goes up, another cry of despair. The Quiet Step erupt from the forests of the east, Navarr spears tearing into the Druj attackers assailing the flanks of the army. With spell, and spear, and sword, and axe, and unbreakable shield, the Empire fights the Druj at the Tower of the Skink under the roaring heavens, amid the thundering rain.

The battle is not over simply because the gate has been breached. There are still two armies, and a garrison to match them, inside the castle who must be dealt with. There are screaming, fleeing orcs and humans in rags who will not fight. Sometimes the Druj use them to bait traps, or as shields of meat that cry and wail when forced toward the Empire’s soldiers. Even here there are traps, old and cunning, built into the stonework. Blades that snap from floor or ceiling if one moves the wrong way down a hall; walls that fall to allow defenders to attack from the side; chemicals that in a confined space blind or choke or assail the mind with terrible visions. All these and more the Druj have built into their home, driven by the fear that grips their own hearts. Fear of their enemies, of each other, making even their sanctuary a place where no-one is ever truly safe.

Then the Axou are there, fighting their own way through the defenders. A small, fast moving group has slipped through the halls and courtyards of the castle to take the southern gate. The guards slain, they have managed to throw it wide and let the blades of Ipotavo go to work on the tyrants of the Mallum.

Even here, the clarity granted by Day magic helps ensure that the attackers are able to mount the most efficient assault they can, preventing allies harming each other. For the better part of a day the fighting rages on and on, turning the Tower of the Skink into a charnel house. Whoever wins here, it will be Death that holds dominion when the day is done.

In the end, though, the day ''is'' done. The Tower of the Skink still stands, but the banners of the Empire, of Dawn and Navarr, Urizen and the Unshackled, are raised over its ramparts. The fighting is not over - there are still Druj here in the nooks and the crannies - but the battle is won. The Tower of the Skink has fallen to the Empire and their allies, and with it the Thornfen. And with that victory, the dominion of the Druj over the Sarangrave is brought to a conclusive end.

==Flight and Shadow==
The tower falls, the garrison scatters, but in the end the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow are not entirely accounted for. They have taken significant losses, for sure, but the power of Spring magic protected them just as it did the Empire. When it is clear that the Tower is lost, many of the soldiers escape through the hidden tunnels beneath the fortification into the marshes. Scattered and hunted, they are forced to flee as best they can. They make their way north to the dubious safety of the Salt Flats, and they pay a heavy price for doing so. Easily another thousand Druj warriors fall as part of the rout, but in the end the armies manage to cross the border north through Kroll. It is a temporary sanctuary for the Druj; with the Sarangrave under the dominion of the Empire, they cannot help but begin to collapse. Soldiers will desert, no matter how much they fear the Buruk Tepel. The writing is on the wall for the armies of the Thornwasp, the Banded Snake, and the Marshlizard.

As in Sephals there is the question of what to do with the orcs and humans left behind in the Tower. The Axou do not want them; the Empire cannot trust them. Arguments break out almost immediately, as outside the rain begins to fall. Yet even these arguments take second place to a more pressing question.

Where are the magicians of the Tainted Basilisk?

==End of All Songs==
Last season the Druj [[Each_age_a_lens#The_Mallum|sent an ultimatum]] to the Empire from the city of Leen in the Salt Flats. Quit the Sarangrave, or the Tainted Basilisk will release the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]]. It seemed inconceivable to many that even the Druj would do such a thing. Others questioned whether even the Tainted Basilisk could achieve such a thing. What would it profit them to destroy the Sarangrave, their own people, likely themselves? What would it profit them indeed.

Those who hoped the ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk might not be equal to the task of rousing Béantal Dol clung to false hope. These foul corrupted wizards have shown themselves not only capable, but willing to unleash the uncontrollable horror of the vallorn in Therunin. They have been exploring, examining, studying the matter for years - a pattern of odd encounters and inexplicable events slowly starting to come together into a skein of secrets and atrocity. They are also more than capable of moving through the Sarangrave under the shadow of [[Night magic]], avoiding those who might seek the stop them, bypassing the defences set against them. And it seems that this is exactly what they have done.
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<quote by="Serafina Semenov, General of the Boyar’s Hasta">Hasta! You have worked like the bee at summers head, watched like the Spider watches its web. Let's now use that vigilance to spy on the Druj, To see what vallorn waking tactics they may use. But before the road calls us, raise a tankard high to our cousins in Ossium slaying peelers where they lie. With Hounds Hall, new forces ride along our own, and the best heckle from me earns a throne. With Courage, there is not a line that cannot break, there is not a thing the Druj hold that we cannot take.</quote></div>
When Sephals fell, they were already in motion. An army of Druj [[Night magic#Obfuscation|obfuscated]] beneath a shroud. The thunderous rain must have seemed a boon to them, making it even easier for them to move east from Thornfen to the edges of Bendol. To where the great ring of Terunael warding stones holds in the floodtide of this ancient terror. A vallorn with the full power of a [[Brocéliande]] or a [[Axos#Axos Territories|Visokumo]], packed into a single region of verdant ruins.

Unmarked, the Tainted Basilisk come to Bendol and as the gates of the Tower of the Skink begin to splinter, they begin their terrible work.

Unmarked? Oh no, not wholly unmarked. For while the Gryphon’s Pride fought in Nesustak Forest, and the armies of the Empire assailed the Tower of the Skink, the Varushkan army of the Boyar’s Hasta wove its own strategy in the Sarangrave. Where the Navarr of the Quiet Step hunted the Druj, Varushkan scouts helped them uncover their boltholes and hidden lairs. In Nesustak they helped the Dawnish root out the assassins of the Thornwasp and the Banded Snake. And as the armies moved south it was their scouts and spies who warned of the threat from the Poison Crane and the Hidden Widow in time to allow the Quiet Step to reach the battlefield.
{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta_Colour.webp|align=right|width=200}}
But mostly what they have been doing is watching for the Tainted Basilisk. Watching the eaves of Bendol. Watching the pathetic Grynbor as they honoured the aberration at the heart of Sarangrave. When the ghulai make their move, the Varushkans are ready to oppose them at every turn.

Observation indicates that the Tainted Basilisk have splintered as they moved, still hidden under their Night magic shroud. They spread their forces around the outskirts of Bendol, at key positions about the circumference of the warning stones. Their shroud protects them only while they are moving; the longer they stay in one place the easier it is to see where they are, to see the mists that hide them from prying eyes gather. When their agents reach the outskirts of Turan, the Boyar’s Hasta strike. A sudden ambush, a vicious fight of scouts and [[Arkad#Vikari|vikari]] that leaves most of the Druj dead. Most, but not all. Some of the ghulai are taken alive, interrogated, forced to reveal their intent.

They plan to breach the warding stones, to undo what the Terunael did in those last days after the disastrous ritual that brought the vallorn into being. They will unleash Béantal Dol, and it will wash across the Sarangrave, devouring armies and rebels alike. A fitting retribution, laughs one half-mad sorcerer. The folly of ancient humans, killing and consuming their distant heirs.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Serafina Semenov.jpg|caption='''Serafina Semenov''', General of the Boyar's Hasta|align=right|width=200}}
Immediately the Hasta start to move - sending messengers and mobilizing their forces to scour the outskirts of Bendol for more groups of ghulai. A second encampment is intercepted in Thornfen with the aid of the Navarr, but they are much better defended. As the Empire consolidates its hold on the Tower of the Skink, another battle erupts on the outskirts of the vallorn. The magicians of the Druj hold nothing back; unleashing spell and ritual alike to try and drive the Varushkans and the Navarr away. They are supported by Dawnish and Urizeni from Sephals, and together they risk everything to disrupt that final desperate ritual of destruction. [[Spring magic]], aimed at rending the ancient standing stones apart with the power of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]].

In the end though, despite this valiant effort, it is too late to stop the Tainted Basilisk from achieving their goal. There is simply too much ground to cover, and the Druj have laid their plans too well. Even as they retreated from the Imperial advance, they left their agents behind to prepare for this unlooked-for day. Ghulai, vikkari, warriors of every Arkad, left behind on the outskirts of the vallorn itself to facilitate one final strike against the Empire should the defence of the Sarangrave fail. And fail it has.

Three days before the Spring Equinox, the deluge that has fallen uninterrupted from the cloud-choked sky since the liberation of Sephals ends as suddenly as it began. In that instant, every head in Sarangrave, no matter where they are in the marshlands, turns to look toward the heart of the territory. Whether arguing with Mallum orcs in Sephals, scouring the Tower of the Skink for remaining Druj, discussing the matter of freedom and security in the Nesustak Forest, or fretting about the Drowned Shepherd and the wisdom of invoking constellations in times such as this, everyone feels it. Like the air changes before a storm breaks, but this comes at the end of the storm. For a moment it overpowers even the banal humdrum thrum of the Druj miasma. An awareness in a split second of a profound finality, of an ending that has been waiting for a thousand years to come to fruition.

The last great working of the Terunael has been broken. The vallorn of Béantal Dol rises, shaking off the remnant of its chains. Fattened by months of Spring-infused waters, it stretches, rousing itself in a way it has never, ever done before since it was first trapped.

And it begins to spread.
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==Game Information : Dominion==
* '''The region of Thornfen, and the Tower of the Skink, have fallen
* '''An administrative motion related to their disposition will be raised during the Spring Equinox
* '''The Hidden Widow and Poison Crane have fled the territory taking serious casualties
* '''The remaining garrison of the Tower of the Skink has scattered across southern and eastern Sarangrave
The Empire has captured the region of Thornfen, and with it the Tower of the Skink. The entire territory save for the Nesustak Forest and Bendol are Imperial now. They achieved their goal with the aid of the Axou army of Ipotavo, and while that contribution was valuable it was relatively minor next to the impact of the Empire. There is an existing treaty with the Axou, signed when they joined the war in the Sarangrave, that indicates the intent to not contest Axou claim to Thornfen, including the Tower of the Skink, and the settlement Sephals. During the Spring Equinox, the Civil Service will raise an administrative motion during Saturday afternoon Senate session to confirm that this is still their intent. This motion, if it passes, will be available for the Urizen assembly to [[veto]], as it effectively involves the concedence of a region under their control.

The Gryphon’s Pride spent the season defending, specifically offering aid to the rebels of the Nesustak Forest. Without their intervention, it is likely the rebels would have eventually repelled the attacking Druj but they would have suffered serious losses in the process. The Gryphon’s Pride ensured that the vicious Mallum septs were unable to enact their revenge, and while this has not lessened the rebels desire to see Sarangrave as a free land under their control it has helped to establish the Dawnish army as allies, albeit allies that many are still suspicious of.

The Boyar’s Hasta committed themselves to supporting the other armies, but specifically to watching for signs of the Tainted Basilisk. Thanks to their vigilance, the ghulai of the Druj magical army were only partially successful in their goal. Further details are discussed below.

The armies of the Hidden Widow and the Poison Crane were badly damaged during their defence of the Tower of the Skink, but not destroyed. They have managed to use the confusion to escape back to the Salt Flats of Sanath, but both armies took an additional 500 casualties each during their desperate retreat through Imperial-held Sarangrave, pursued and harried by the Empire. More troubling is the garrison of the Tower of the Skink. While the tower has fallen, and the garrison been seriously damaged, the orcs that make up the garrison have likewise managed to desert the sinking ship. As such Thornfen, Turan Flats, Kroll, and the Whisperwood have all gained the ‘’Outlaw Druj‘’ qualities. Until these outlaws are dealt with, any settlement of those regions are in danger. In addition, any commission built in the territory will have its labour costs increased by a fifth for each region under Imperial control with that quality.

==Game Information : Drowning==
* '''The Drowned Shepherd constellation has exerted unexpected influence in Sarangrave this season
* '''The name of the constellation has changed; nobody is sure where this change originates
This season, the influence of the [[The Drowned Shepherd|Drowned Shepherd]] constellation in Sarangrave has been unmistakable by those who know what to look for. It's unlikely that this is due to its invocation by the general of the Citadel Guard. More likely it is simply that events in the Sarangrave have foreshadowed a profound ending. The constellation is strongly associated with curses, and for all its perception as being generally helpful, [[Rivers of Life]] is still a [[curse]].

There are two elements to this influence that are worth noting. The first is that the constellation appears to have a new name; the Drowned Shepherd. Previously known as the Drowned Man, there has been a notable shift in awareness over the last few months. Much as with the way the understanding of the names of the stars has shifted over the last year or two, so too has awareness of its name shifted. It's up to individual characters how to respond to this. Some will continue to call it the Drowned Man, but this name will feel increasingly archaic and old fashioned. It won't impact magic to use either name, but the name on the wiki has been changed. Speculation about the difference between what a Drowned Man and a Drowned Shepherd symbolise is encouraged.

The other element is that the catastrophic rainstorm has caused water to rise all over the territory. In time that water may subside, but it has resulted in breached dams and ruined farms, herb gardens drowned, and even some structures collapsing. At the same time the unnatural vitality the Rivers of Life bring has been heightened - not only by preserving the lives of soldiers and civilians alike, but also resulting in an explosion in the population of creatures of the Sarangrave including bog octopuses, mosquitos, wasps, spiders, and other small fast-breeding creatures few of which are wholesome in their interactions with humans and orcs.

==Game Information : Béantal Dol==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Blood for Poppies.jpg|caption=The vallorn is the most monstrous of all geographies.|align=right|width=500}}
* '''The vallorn of Béantal Dol has been unleashed
* '''The Tainted Basilisk have been only partially successful and only two regions are seriously threatened
* '''There are opportunities to try and stem the flow of vallorn power in uptime and downtime following the event
* '''The warding stones that once surrounded Béantal Dol are gone
The ghulai of the Tainted Basilisk have breached the circle of warding stones that contains the vallorn of Béantal Dol. Thanks to the Boyar’s Hasta their efforts have been only partially successful. Unfortunately, where the vallorn is concerned “partially successful” is still a significant threat.

Two regions are directly threatened by the expanding vallorn - Nesustak Forest and Bloodwater Marsh. Had the wards simply collapsed, the vallorn would have burst forth towards the nearby fortification, the Tower of the Skink. Sadly, this release is no accident. The magicians of the Tainted Basilisk have seized an [[opportunity]] to deliberately weaken the wards in such a way as to direct the threat against the Empire and the rebels and away from their allies. There is a single [[#Battle_Opportunities|narrow window]] to take action and save one region or the other from desolation.

The actions of the Boyar’s Hasta may still have saved the rest of the territory. They have managed to save most of the warding stones - not enough to hold the vallorn back, but enough to have a vital effect. The vallorn will wash over the stones, as it attempts to expand and in the process the magic that sustains them will be overwhelmed, and destroyed. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the warding stones will be no more - there is no way now to stop them being destroyed. However, they will serve to protect against the vallorn for one final time. In doing so they will absorb some of the devastating verdant power of the vallorn. By the start of the Summer Solstice, the vallorn of Béantal Dol will be to all intents and purposes a “normal” vallorn. It will still be disproportionately potent, but it will no longer present the threat of expanding to completely fill the Sarangrave that it previously did. That threat, like the warding stones, is ended.

What happens to Nesustak Forest and the Bloodwater Marshes, however, will depend on [[#Battle_Opportunities|what the Empire chooses to do]]…

==Participation : Power of the Druj==
* '''Any character whose military unit supported an army in Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering wound
Any character whose military unit supported an army fighting in the Sarangrave this season will receive a lingering [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|traumatic wound]] in their pack. These wounds represent serious injuries or lingering [[curse|curses]] sustained during the fighting that the [[Rivers of Life]] have been unable to restore. Some of these wounds are potentially lethal if they are not treated before the end of the Spring Equinox, so those bearing them may wish to consult a [[surgical skills#Physick|Physick]].
In addition, however, every military unit that fought in the Sarangrave this season has been in a position to secure a small trove of [[herb|herbs]] and [[potion|potions]], and potentially other things as well. If your character would not have approved of your soldiers taking things from the defeated Druj, you can simply drop these additional items back at GOD when you pick up your pack.

==Participation : Lions of Adelmar==
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=Regal, noble, and terrible in anger; Eleonaris is the Lion of Summer and her soldiers bear many of her traits.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''The Lions of Adelmar continue not being able to take the cautious advance or give ground orders'''
* '''Any character whose military unit fought alongside the Lions of Adelmar may be inspired by the Knights of Glory'''
The Lions of Adelmar last fought alongside the Knights of Glory during the Summer. As [[Even_darkness_must_pass#Sarangrave|mentioned then]], the use of Knights of Glory is having an unexpected effect on the armies relying on it. The Lions of Adelmar cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders until a year has passed - even if Dawn were to put aside their [[Dawn_military_concerns#Army_Orders|commitment]] to Glory.

On the other hand, stag-headed ''Ser Helvennan'' and their warriors from the Field of Glory take every opportunity to inspire the glorious soldiers of the Lions of Adelmar. A character whose military unit supported this army may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to the glorious heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you receive a bonus hero point during the Spring Equinox. This bonus increases their maximum number of hero points for the duration of the summit.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you receive a single temporary hero point, which is lost once it is used. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Spring Equinox, regardless.

Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Spring Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to attempt great deeds that invite attention You take particular pleasure in approval and adulation; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper. If you enter battle, you feel driven to prove your worth and show everyone your strength.''

==Battle Opportunities==
* '''Two major conjunctions to Sarangrave have been identified for the Spring Equinox but the Military Council can take advantage of only one of them
The prognosticators have identified two '''simultaneous''' opportunities in the Sarangrave during the Spring Equinox. The first will allow the Empire to intercede in Nesustak Forest and fight the vallorn here. The other will allow them to do the same, but in Bloodwater Marsh. If the Military Council choose this battle, they will be forced to pick <i>one</i> of these two conjunctions.

The vallorn of Béantal Dol can also be combatted following the Spring Equinox, but it will require a significant commitment of [[army|armies]] to prevent it consuming one or both of the threatened regions. Due to the long storing up of power, it will be attacking both regions separately with a strength of 30,000. To prevent it claiming the region and devouring almost everyone and everything in it, the Empire would need to ensure it did not get 10 victory points. Fewer than that and it is likely the region would still be left with a quality similar to [[region qualities#Infested|infested]].

The good news - and there is some good news - is that the brave actions of the Boyar's Hasta and the destruction of the remaining warding stones means that the vallorn will become quiescent again after this season, whatever happens. In addition, the explosive speed with which the vallorn is unfolding into the two regions means that any downtime fighting will ''not'' be taking place under the influence of the [[vallorn miasma]].

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:34:39Z

Vsabo: /* Diplomatic Delegation */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly disinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, alternative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecrate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawal of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root out any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.

===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.

===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factions within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard to ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nation's interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:30:24Z

Vsabo: /* Investment of Sea */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly disinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, alternative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecrate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawal of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root out any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.

===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.

===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factions within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard to ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:29:21Z

Vsabo: /* Investment of Salt */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly disinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, alternative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecrate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawal of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root out any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.

===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 Thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 Thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.
===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factions within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard to ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:22:35Z

Vsabo: /* Spies */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly disinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, alternative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecrate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawal of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root out any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 Thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.
===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 Thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 Thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.
===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factions within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard to ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:21:37Z

Vsabo: /* Spies */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly disinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, alternative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecrate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawal of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root our any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>

==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 Thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.
===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 Thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 Thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.
===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factions within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard to ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:10:23Z

Vsabo: /* Virtuous Possibilities */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly distinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, althernative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecreate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen by the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawl of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root our any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 Thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.
===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 Thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 Thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.
===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factios within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyardto ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

Each age a lens

2026-04-19T16:02:21Z

Vsabo: /* Jotun */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]][[Category:Druj]]
{{CaptionedImage|file=Advisor Frith.jpg|align=left|caption='''Frith''', Advisor on Orc Affairs|width=300}}
==Overview==
* '''Five orc nations have engaged in diplomacy of one kind or another with the Empire'''
Many of the nations that border the Empire are [[orc]] nations. Not all are barbarians; the Empire has a long-standing peace treaty with the Thule for example (see the '''[[Invited with asperity]]''' wind of fortune for more details on Thule diplomacy this season). There are also communities of orcs within the Empire's borders. Some are part of Imperial nations - the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], the former [[Grendel]] of [[the League]], the free [[Jotun]] thralls of [[the Marches]]. Others maintain a degree of independance while still being at least ambivalent to the Empire - the orcs of [[Mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] and the protectorate of Morasjasse - while still others keep to themselves and have an uncertain relationship with their Imperial neighbours - the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] in [[the Barrens]] for example, the septs of [[Mareave]], or the remaining orc septs in [[Ossium]] who declined to move to [[Skarsind]] when the offer was made.

In most cases, diplomacy with most of these disparate orc groups is technically the responsibility of the [[Imperial Consul]], currently '''Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason''' of [[Wintermark]], perhaps advised by the [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]], '''Frith''' of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. In practice, many of these orc groups prefer to deal with members of certain nations with whom they have ties - the Jotun prefer to talk to the folk of Wintermark for example, while the Great Forest Orcs consider the Navarr to be their close allies.
==Jotun==
* '''The Jotun remain at war with the Empire'''
* '''Responsibility and authority for diplomacy with the Jotun falls to the Imperial Consul'''
The [[Jotun]] are a powerful, martial nation lead by the Jarl of Jarls - Queen Yrsa Jansdóttir of [[Jotun#History|Kallsea]] and King Gudmundr Arason of [[Jotun#History|Narkyst]]. The Empire has been at war with them for most of its existence, although there have been numerous short periods of peace during that time. They encroach into Imperial lands - having conquered [[Bregasland]] and [[Liathaven]] (which they name ''Ashvale''). The Empire responds with an [[Rubies in the snow|attack on Skallahn]] that threatens to take control of [[Hordalant#The_Kongegőr|the Kongegőr]], the bridge that connects the northern and southern territories of the sprawling barbarian nation.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotunarmy.jpg|title=Jotun banners often show the skulls of powerful creatures.|align=right|width=300}}
There is no ambassador to the Jotun. They seem never to have been especially interested in such a formalised relationship with the Empire. That is not to say that they are incapable of engaging in diplomacy or negotiation, merely that they tend to prefer to deal with individual nations rather than the Empire as a whole. Over the centuries they have had a "close" relationship with the folk of [[Wintermark]], for example, for all that the two nations clash constantly along their borders. In recent times, they have also shown a similar degree of respect for [[the Brass Coast|the Freeborn]]. When the Empire as a whole must deal with the orcs of Kallsea and Narkyst, however, the responsibility falls to the [[Imperial Consul]].

===A New Meeting Place===
* '''A new Meeting Place has been constructed on Gull Isle, a tidal island in the Gullet.'''
* '''The Wintermark National Assembly have encouraged their people to use this opportunity to build bridges with the Jotun.'''

While they are unreceptive to the more formal structures of an [[embassy]], there is nonetheless a long tradition of peaceful meeting on neutral ground between the Jotun and Wintermark. Once there was a [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] just outside the borders of [[Sermersuaq]] where such meetings too place. Sadly in 382YE it was destroyed and defiled by a renegade [[Varushka|Varushkan]], infuriating the Jotun.

In recent years careful negotiations have been taking place regarding the creation of a new meeting place. The old stone is gone, but something new has been raised, with assistance from the Wintermark [[mystic|mystics]] and their "opposite numbers" among the Jotun, the ''[[Elite_Jotun_characters#Ghodi|ghodi]]''. A little common ground has been found, and there the Empire has helped build a great meeting hall where, it is hoped, Jotun and Imperial might be able to speak without the shadow of violence falling across them. This initiative had extensive support from the Wintermark National Assembly as seen in the [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_146|statement]] raised by Hayrin at the Summer Solstice, and supported by the Wintermark Assembly.

[[Construct Meeting Place|Construction]] has taken nearly a year, but it is finally complete. A meeting hall now stands on a wave-swept island in the waters to the west of [[Kallavesa]] where barbarian and human can meet one another to talk. There are still some decisions to be made about the place, however.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="For Ustigar Jarl of Keirheim, by Iron Osric, Hammer of the West">
Where march the war-bound, the bold-hearted brethren?<br>
Where flew the banners, the fire-bright spears?<br>
Far from the fray, he stood steadfast in duty,<br>
Bound to the crown, while his kin bled and fell.<br>
Steel-fast in service, he stayed through the seasons,<br>
Honour his harness, though hunger for war<br>
Burned in his breast like buried bright ember -<br>
To rise, to reckon, to rest in the red.<br>
But fate is a falcon, fierce in its turning,<br>
It flew to his field in the fullness of time.<br>
Sword-slung and shouting, he'll stride into battle,<br>
And die with the day, as doers of old.</quote></div>
===Rules of War===
* '''Iron Osric has spoken to Igya Olgafsdottir about a meeting to better define terms of war with the Jotun'''
* '''The message has been well received and a meeting proposed for the Spring Equinox honouring Tromsan traditions'''
* '''Negotiations will occur at the new meeting place, Osric, the Golden Jarl and the Imperial Consul are invited'''
* '''The thane and the jarl are both invited to bring a small entourage; the meeting will take the form of a feast where anger is put aside'''

Shortly before the Winter Solstice, a messenger leaves the Jotun territory of ''Ashvale'' (which the Empire calls [[Liathaven]]) and makes camp at the base of the burial mound that was once [[Kahraman#Fort_Braydon_(destroyed)|Fort Braydon]]. She sits under a flag of truce and waits. The [[the Brass Coast|Freeborn]] who speak to her learn that she is bringing a message from ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', hero-engineer and warleader of the Jotun. The message is quickly communicated to [[Tassato]] and to the office of the [[Imperial Consul]].

Apparently [[general]] [[Heroism#Iron_Osric|Iron Osric]] of the [[Green Shield]] has requested a parley to discuss the terms of the on-going war. In particular, "to try and agree what magic we will not employ, the banning of poisons or other foul things, the protection of innocents, where our armies will clash, the number of forces and how long the conflict will endure before the feasting time." There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether Osric is speaking only on behalf of Wintermark, or for the Empire as a whole.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Iron Osric.png|caption=Iron Osric, General of the [[Green Shield]]|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra.jpg|caption=Avisena i Ezmara i Guerra, the Golden Jarl|align=right|width=300}}</div></div>
What's clear from the reply is that the Jotun continue to view Iron Osric and a figure they refer to as "the Golden Jarl" in particular as exemplars of what it means to be an honourable warrior. As such they are minded to take his request very seriously. Igya proposes that it is long past time for such a meeting, and that she is eager to attend one as a representative of her Queen. A second representative will come to speak with the voice of the King, and each will bring a <u>small</u> honour guard of champions and godhi to speak for the warbands and champions of the west.

Olgafsdottir has called the meeting under the laws of hospitality of her home. In [[Tromsa#Tromsdalen|Tromsdalen]] when feuding warbands can stand one another no more and only blood will settle their anger, they engage in the ''hetjuveisla'' - the feast of heroes. Both sides bring food and drink, and bards to play music and tell tales. For a time the price of blood is set aside, so that a negotiation may be held in good faith to determine precisely how the battle-to-come will go. When the feast is over, the sun must rise and set again before violence resumes allowing both sides to safely return to their homes.

As long as Iron Osric agrees, she proposes that at the Spring Equinox - at the start of the year - Iron Osric, the Golden Jarl, and the Imperial Consul come to the new Meeting Place. Igya proposes that Osric and the Jarl each bring a small honour guard and the Consul an assistant. Both sides should bring food, drink, and bards. A negotiation will take place there that will bind both sides in agreement, and they will part peacefully.

News of this meeting is not met with universal approval. Both the Imperial Consul and Iron Osric are [[Wintermark|Winterfolk]]. The Jotun refuse to name the Golden Jarl, but it is definitely a reference to one of the Freeborn. Of [[the Marches]] in particular there is no mention - where the Jotun still dominate [[Bregasland]] - there are rumbles of discontent that Winterfolk and Freeborn will negotiate how war will take place between the Empire and the western barbarians. They're not alone - in [[Navarr]] there are a few undercurrents of unhappiness about this. While it is easy to see the sense of a general representing the [[Military Council]] and the Consul representing the [[Senate]], no-one is sure if this "Golden Jarl" even speaks for the Brass Coast. And who will speak for the other nations that must fight the Jotun?

===Virtuous Possibilities===
* '''The Jotun have constructed an ancestral shrine as part of the Meeting Place, and assume that the Empire will dedicate a space to the Way'''
* '''The Synod could pass a writ of consecration to create a true aura at the Meeting Place'''
* '''The effect would be dependant on the aura chosen, and whether it was a sacred site or a memorial'''
* '''The Jotun have requested that the Wintermark National Assembly endorse any such Consecration to soothe the worries of the Ghodi'''
* '''A true consecration will not lead any Jotun to convert to the Way of Virtue'''

With the new Meeting Place constructed, the Jotun have wasted no time in making themselves at home. Along with the wall-hangings, feasting tables, treasured ancestral weapons and other creature comforts they have brought with them, they have swiftly established dedicated spaces for their religious practice. One room of the Meeting Place has been established as a shrine to the ancestors, and is already being filled with small idols, painted images and relics of the honoured dead. As well as this, an outdoor space has been marked out as suitable for ritual combat. While raising a hand in anger against a guest or a host would be a terrible breach of hospitality, two or more warriors choosing to test their strength against one another in honour of their ancestors is not only accepted but encouraged as a demonstration of strength and piety.

Soon, word reaches the Meeting Place of a letter sent by '''Thane Erlend Gunnulfson''', who identifies himself as the person responsible for gathering the Empire's contribution of [[white granite]] towards this project. The letter bears a suggestion that the Empire might [[Consecration|consecrate]] part of the site. While most Jotun are broadly distinterested in the Way of Virtue (despite the best efforts of the Lasambrian orcs), the suggestion seems reasonable. If the Jotun can honour their ancestors, why not allow the Empire to honour their Virtues? There is agreement with the offer, at least in principle.

In practice, there are several ways that this could be done. The simplest would be to claim a specific space in the Meeting Place as a space for religious observance, and to consecrate it normally with a little [[liao]], renewing it season by season. This is how consecrated areas are maintained across the Empire, after all. This would incur no costs, lead to no downsides, and would allow the aura to be changed from season to season.

Of course there is a more costly, and more impactful, althernative. [[Liao#True Liao|True liao]] could be used to create a [[Consecration#True_Liao|true consecration]] within the new Meeting Place. One of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue Assemblies]] would need to uphold a [[writ of consecration]] as normal, and that judgement would need to be upheld by a [[greater majority]] of the relevant assembly. While multiple assemblies could attempt to pass a writ to consecreate the Meeting Place, such judgements would be considered to be [[Mandate#Competing_Mandates|competing]] with one another; only the greater majority judgement with the highest margin of success would be upheld.

There are limits to the effect of such a consecration. Jotun living in, or visiting, the Meeting Place might visit the Imperial shrine out of curiosity or a desire to learn, but such things would have no wider effect on the Jotun as a nation - this would not convert the Jotun to the Way. However, a true consecration would reinforce how the Empire view their relationship with the Jotun. An [[Auras_of_Loyalty#A_Peerless_Kinship|aura of Loyalty]] for example, would remind everyone of the importance of service to others, and perhaps communicate that the Empire will always stand by their friends and allies. An [[Auras_of_Pride#Partner_of_Greatness|aura of Pride]] would encourage rock-hard self esteem, and remind Imperial visitors that they are the foundation on which future relations with the Jotun will be build, perhaps resonating with Jotun ideas of honour and integrity. There would be a degree of interpretation involved on both sides, especially since the Jotun would react to the ''actual aura'' rather than the symbolism of the virtue. But such a potent site would be seen the the Jotun as demonstrating the kind of future that the Empire desires with them.

Normally a writ of consecration would be passed with the intention of creating an [[Inspirational location]] dedicated to a [[paragons and exemplars|paragon or exemplar]]. With the Meeting Place, the writ could identify the Meeting Place as a [[Inspirational_location#Sacred_Sites|sacred site]] - significant but not associated with any particular individual, or as a [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|memorial]] dedicated to a renowned inspirational figure.

Consecrating the Meeting Place as a memorial could not help but send a much more specific message to the Jotun. The barbarians would interpret a shrine commemorating a specific figure from the Empire's past through the lens of their own faith, and likely see the inspirational figure chosen in such a way as an "honoured ancestor" of the Empire. This possibility was apparently met with a great deal of interest by the ''godhi'' visiting the construction of the Meeting Place. Some, more open-minded ghodi, would be very curious about what figures the Empire looks to for guidance, and while some elements will doubtless be lost in translation, the Jotun will look to any memorial as a statement about who the people of the Empire desire to be. Any greater effect would be highly dependent on the figure chosen, but it will doubtless be deeply meaningful.

There is a note alongside this talk of open-mindedness, however. The ghodi are as divided and cantankerous as any group of Synod priests, and while they often show unity in the face of outsiders their internal debates are just as heated. More conservative voices are already raising criticisms of allowing the Empire such leeway in the practice of their faith. The missionary zeal of the Empire is well known, and some fear that this may be the thin end of the wedge. Indeed, there are undoubtedly Imperial citizens who would love nothing more than to spread the Way among the peoples of the Jotun, whether the Jotun wanted them to or not. In order to shut this debate down before it starts causing problems, the Jotun have suggested that their neighbours in Wintermark act as guarantors of the Empire's honour. The Wintermark National Assembly could pass a suitably-worded [[statement of principle]] endorsing a writ of consecration regarding the Meeting Place. Such a statement would need to be raised before the consecration was carried out, but if passed with a greater majority it would address the fears of the more suspicious Jotun.
{{CaptionedImage|file=shark.png|align=right|width=400|}}

==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
* '''The Ambassador to the Grendel is Starlight Starchaser of Urizen'''
The Grendel are the dominant power on Attar and the Broken Shore, and they remain at war with the Empire. They have conquered parts of Redoubt, and continue to fight Imperial forces defending Mareave. The [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] plenum offers significant support to the Grendel in the form of warships and resources, using them as proxies for their own war with the Empire.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.
===Misapprehensions===
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
A single [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] arrived at the offices of the Ambassador to the Grendel, '''Starlight Starchaser''' of Urizen. The letter begins by welcoming the new ambassador, but then immediately goes on to correct a misapprehension. [[Bedight in veils#Peace and Storm|Last season]], Morna simply pointed out that any discussion of peace between Grendel and Empire must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel. This has apparently been misinterpreted as a sign that the Grendel desire an end to the conflict with the Empire. That is not the case - Speaker Morna was simply reminding '''Abel the Rounder''' of how diplomatic relations between nations must take place.

If the Empire wishes to put forward their own plan for peace, they are welcome to do so. As long as the Empire's opening offer is serious, Morna will present it to the Salt Lords for consideration. At the ''absolute minimum'' it will need to include the complete withdrawl of Imperial forces from Mareave and Redoubt. The Grendel Ambassador will not waste the Salt Lords' time with anything less.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''The Grendel controlling Morajasse have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
* '''They have asked that the Imperial Consul handles communications with them rather than the Ambassador to the Grendel'''
While Feroz has mosly been liberated from the Grendel occupation, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - his partner and a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers, they control the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]]. They carefully protect the borders of Morajasse, and apparently have sufficient supplies to endure a drawn-out siege if needed.

They are not just protecting their own borders. They have shown themselves more than willing to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the battle at [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oran]], the [[Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. So far, they seem to continue to be independent of the Grendel. Indeed, the protectorate has requested that all negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] speculate that this request reflects a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council... yet there are certainly other possibilities some of them quite intriguing. Given Wind Lord Saoirse has clearly mastered the art of commanding [[Call Winged Messenger|magical couriers]] its hard to believe they have not at least been in contact with the Salt Lords, but for now they appear to be operating in line with their agreement with the Senate.

Not long before the Winter Solstice, such a magical courier arrives at the Consulate in Tassato, again sent by Wind Lord Saoirse. The message is short and sweet. Commander Gallum is considering the invitation of '''Atte Arrowtongue''' to Anvil but at this time thinks he and his supporters should be focused on Feroz. Spring might be a better time to send emissaries. This would also present an opportunity for his partner to send one of her covenmates to speak with '''Khalil i Carno i Guerra''' and the Artisan's Guild.

More importantly, he wants to be clear to the Consul that while he and his soldiers only agreed to protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks, they are also prepared to fight against the invading [[Iron Confederacy]] forces that [[Red_skies#Swords_of_the_South|currently occupy]] the islands of the [[Feroz#Cazar_Straits|Cazar Straits]], provided they are well paid. While there may be something of a ''détente'' between the Salt Lords and the Suranni Dukes, Commander Gallum Fiersach apparently sees no "legal" impediment to fighting as mercenaries against all comers.

===Ramparts of Sand===
* '''Wind Lord Saoirse is prepared to again enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks or Iron Confederacy'''
Last season, Wind Lord Saoirse offered to support Feroz by drawing allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. Indications are that she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. The Imperial Conclave declined to [[Endowment|endow]] her with the mana she requested, but she wishes them to know that the offer is still open. If the Empire is at all concerned about the intentions of the Suranni, or the risk of the Children of Wrecks retaliating, she will enchant the [[fortification]] to enhance its garrison as it protects the territory.
{{SOP|statement=The Grendel on Mora's Rock have stolen the wealth of the Brass Coast. As thieves, they are to be despised. To trade with them harms the Prosperity of the Empire. It should not happen. Let them wallow in their ill-gotten gains, shunned by the Empire. Trade instead with the Freeborn. Help the honest to earn an honest living, and build the Prosperity of the Coast.|by=Dragonet de Gauvin, Prosperity Assembly|vote=137-38|when=Autumn Equninox 387YE|size=small}}
===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock have been attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura'''
* '''The entrepreneurial Freeborn remain suspicious and uncooperative'''
For several months now, the orcs at Mora's Rock have been making attempts to trade with their Freeborn neighbours in [[Segura]] and Feroz. To date, however, they have had limited success. It is hard for the people of the Brass Coast not to see the "protectorate" and remember the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They were, after all, still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. While the garrison merchants have crowns to spend, their wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz one way or another.

At the Autumn Equinox, '''Dragonet de Gauvin''' proposed a statement of principle condemning the orcs of Morajasse as thieves. The Prosperity assembly upheld the judgement, but not with a greater majority, so its impact has been negligible. However, given that the majority of the Freeborn seem broadly disinclined to trade with the Grendel, the status quo sees Commander Gallum's forces continue to find it next to impossible to engage in peaceful relations with their neighbours. The Freeborn of Feroz may, perhaps grudgingly, accept their protection but they do not accept their coin.

===Spies===
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo.jpg|caption='''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''', Imperial Spymaster|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GMShutteredLantern.jpg|caption='''Tyburn Weaver''' (changeling), Grandmaster of the Shuttered Lantern|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly_Vigilance.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
* '''There is concern that the Protectorate of Morajasse is being used as a base for Grendel spies'''
* '''A spy network could be used to gather information about both the Protectorate and the Iron Confederacy in the Cazar Straits'''
* '''If the Conclave sends mana to Morajasse, then the Shuttered Lantern could be employed to inveigle their way into the Protectorate'''
* '''A scouting army could investigate rumours of espionage rings and assess the military disposition of Gallum's forces'''
* '''The Silent Bell could be used to root out any collaborators in the area'''

Suspicion of the Protectorate of Morajasse is not restricted to matters of trade however. The Grendel are known to employ [[Rings_and_crowns|espionage rings]] throughout the [[Bay of Catazar]]. They spy on Imperial territories but they are also capable of taking direct action - a Grendel espionage ring aided the attack on [[A beacon of smoke|Siroc]] for example. Not much is actually known about the so-called Protectorate, and it is entirely possible that Commander Gallum is protecting Feroz simply to let a Grendel espionage ring dig themselves into the territory in advance of the orcs of the Broken Shore launching another attack.

There are any number of ''other'' conspiracy theories - some are looking at the request to be treated as a separate entity to the Grendel as a sign that perhaps Gallum and his forces are fractured from the Salt Lords for example. This is most likely wishful thinking but perhaps its noteworthy that they have not tried to seize ships and return to Attar.

Regardless of what one believes, there are rumblings in Feroz that what is needed is a better understanding of this Protectorate. So far, they have been reticent to travel to Anvil, and their borders are largely closed. Only the very small number of Freeborn prepared to deal with them are allowed entry and then only to a trading camp just over the border. Further information might help the Brass Coast, and the Empire, get a better idea of how to approach the Protectorate.

The [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' (or the Senate) could of course create a [[spy network]] in Feroz. There are, after all, two non-Imperial regions in the territory now. If at least 1,000 strength were committed to the spy network it would be enough to get a general feel for not only the Protectorate, but also the Suranni presence in the Cazar Straits. If at least 5,000 strength were committed, it would be sufficient to get detailed information about what is going on in these regions and an insight into the politics of the two foreign groups. The drawback is that this is a slow process - building a spy network takes time as does using it to uncover information. If the Spymaster began immediately, there'd be no report before the Summer Solstice at the absolute earliest.

If the Empire wants information more quickly, then there are three potential opportunities any one of which would give some insight into the Protectorate, and each of which could provide additional information.

The [[Military Council]] could direct an army to the territory to take the [[Army qualities#Scouting|Guard the Gates]] [[army orders|order]]. As long as the general indicated in their orders that the army was particularly interested in the Protectorate, they could take advantage of opportunities to speak to the [[fortification#garrison|garrison]] of Mora's Rock as they patrol outside Morajasse. This would give insight into the Grendel, their attitude to Feroz, and the broader plans of the Commander. If that army were also enchanted with [[Bound by Common Cause]], they could also work with the people of Feroz to get a better sense of their attitudes, or become aware of any underhand activity sponsored by Gallum and his supporters.

Another possibility would be to look to the wizards of the [[Conclave]]. The [[Shuttered Lantern]] are adept at negotiation and infiltration where wizards are involved, but the Grendel are too canny to just welcome them into their homes. However if the Conclave passed a declaration to send mana to the Wind Lord, then members of the the Shuttered Lantern would have the perfect cover they need to inveigle their way into the Rock. In that case, the [[Grandmaster]] could [[Concord#Guiding_an_Order|guide their order]], urging Freeborn and other members to visit Morajasse and try to get a feel for what is going on. This would require 20 mana from the font as usual, and would provide insight into feelings in the Protectorate and may reveal something of their plans. Salt-Lord Saoirse is a powerful magician, supported by a coven of adepts, so they are sure to have things to talk about.

Finally, the Synod could engage the [[Silent Bell (Sodality)|Silent Bell]] to root our any collaborators in the area. If there is an espionage ring here, it would at least confirm that, and may even provide some leads to help shut it down. If there are merchants profiteering from trade with Morajasse, it would enable the Synod to put a stop to that, if they so chose. If the Empire plans to isolate the former Grendel, then the Silent Bell might be the most effective tool in the long run.

Normally these opportunities might be exclusive, too many spies in one area would simply reveal the Empire's interest. As it happens, though, the three possibilities are each focused on different priorities. Each additional opportunity taken would provide less information overall, but would focus on different parts of the Protectorate and so still have some potential value.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheeling gulls.jpg|caption=Beoraidh is a tiny "nation" with great big ambitions.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Beoraidh==
* '''Beoraidh is a city state on the coast of Mareave that allegedly aims to remain neutral in the conflict between the Empire and the Grendel'''
* '''The Senate has recognised the orcs of Beoraidh as foreigners'''
The city state of [[mareave#Beoraidh|Beoraidh]] in [[Mareave]] is apparently committed to neutrality between the Empire and the [[Grendel]]. The former-Salt Lord Eshan rules from the city there, and sees the place as a "free port" where traders from everywhere are welcome - provided they bring money or goods to trade. Recently, as discussed in the '''[[A_wild_night_and_a_new_road#Polite_Correspondence|A wild night and a new road]]''' wind of fortune, Beoraidh has come [[All_the_night-tide#Beoraidh|under the protection]] of the [[Sarcophan Delves]] - something that has not sat entirely easily with their Imperial neighbours. Exactly what this protection means - and how much influence the Sarcophan actually have - is not entirely clear. At the last it implies that anyone attacking Beoraidh - Imperial or otherwise - will incur the wrath of the Delves and their warships.
===Prosperity===
* '''Beoraidh has aligned itself with the Sarcophan Delves, accepting the protection of the powerful mercantile nation'''
As an independent nation, recognised by the Senate, the city-state of Beoraidh falls into the purview of the Imperial Consul. A messenger arrives at the Consulate in Tassato bearing greetings from former-Salt Lord Eshan. The first thing the missive announces is that the ruler of Beoraidh has taken the title "Eshan, Lord of Sand". This is likely an attempt to mollify the Salt Lords of the Grendel, among whose number he is no longer counted.

The meat of the letter addresses the alliance with the Sarcophan Delves. Eshan presents the decision to accept the protection of the Delves as a perfectly reasonable one prompted by reality. The Empire's Senate can be quite volatile, as can the Salt Lords. To accept the protection of one side or the other would be to risk being seen as aligned with them - something detrimental to the desire of Beoraidh to remain neutral. The Sarcophan Delves however are renowned for their refusal to pick sides, and the orcs of Beoraidh find that they have more in common with them than the Unshackled. Perhaps if the Empire had been more enthusiastic about the invitation to establish the [[I_wish_you_would#Shrine_of_the_Virtues|shrine of the virtues]], or had been more welcoming to the gladiators seeking Imperial investment, or had more decisively dealt with the armies invading Mareave, Eshan might have waited a little longer. Whatever his reason, it is clear he feels the Sarcophan are simply offering his city the best deal going.

As such, Eshan, Lord of Sand, wishes to formally inform the Imperial Consul that they have agreed a treaty with the Delves. An attack against their city, or the plains of [[Mareave#Sinfoyard|Sinfoyard]], will be treated as an attack on the Delves. However, the treaty is very clear that this agreement is not be an "exclusive" partnership. Both Beoraidh and the Delves are free to continue to pursue their own ambitions in the Bay of Catazar, with the Empire and the Grendel at the bare minimum. The tribute sent to the Empire, and the Grendel, will continue until such time as it can be renegotiated - as an assurance of Beoraidh's good faith as much as anything else. Yet the Lord of Sand is not shy about suggesting that Beoraidh will, eventually, want to discuss that tribute.

If the Consul is still interested in investing in Beoraidh, Eshan lays out three possiblities.
===Investment of Salt===
* '''The opportunity to build a temple or basilica in Beoraidh is still available'''
* '''A previous Imperial Consul agreed to purchase land for the shrine of virtue'''
* '''Even if commissioned, work cannot begin until the money for the land is paid'''

The previous Consul proposed an agreement with Lord Ehsan to [[I_wish_you_would#Beoraidh|build a Temple of the Way]] in the city-state. If the new Consul is still interested in that, opportunities to do so remain available. Eshan and his council have no interest in turning money and prosperity away, wherever it comes from. The invitation to build the shrine of the virtues remains. Either a temple or a grand basilica, depending on the level of investment the Empire wishes, can still be built. Provided the agreed on 20 Thrones for the purchase of land is delivered, of course.
===Investment of Sea===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Investment in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Mareave </td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 30 weirwood, and 108 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:''' Opens the port of Beoraidh to Imperial fleet captains</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Raises taxation in Mareave by 3 thrones and taxes from tariffs by 7 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Until the end of the Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''The Empire is welcome to invest in the docks of Beoraidh'''
The Sarcophan are interested in investing in Beoraidh's docks, and Eshan feels it would be remiss not to offer a similar opportunity to the Empire. He has, indeed, already offered this opportunity to the Grendel and his former colleagues in the council of Salt Lords seem cautiously interested. If the Imperial Consul is interested, then Eshan proposes that the Empire participate in the expansion of Beoraidh's docks with an eye towards creating docks specifically for Imperial vessels to dock, and for their merchants to do business in the marketplaces of the city. Beoraidh still produces goods of its own, but the real draw perhaps will be the opportunity to gain access to goods imported from the Broken Shore.

A standard fleet visiting Beoraidh will be able to secure assorted valuable goods worth 72 rings, as well as two doses of consumable available to the orcs of Beoraidh, the Delves, or the Grendel trading there. An [[enchantment|enchanted]] or [[fleet#upgrades|upgraded]] fleet would receive proportionally more.

Eshan intends to apply what he calls "[[Tariffs#Mercantilist|reasonable tariffs]]" and anticipates the Empire will apply the same tariffs to any Beoraidh ships visiting Imperial ports. Once the docks are completed there will certainly be Beoradhi merchants eager to do so. The [[Civil Service|civil service]] estimates that investment in the docks would also raise the taxable income of Mareave by 3 Thrones each season - increased prosperity for Beoraidh will slowly trickle across to the businesses of the territory as a whole - and bring in an additional 7 Thrones per season to the Senate treasury in the form of tariffs.
===Investment of Stone===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Imperial Consulate in Beoraidh'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Embassy</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Beoraidh, Sinfoyard, Mareave</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 25 white granite, and 90 crowns (modified by under-developed)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 Thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Provides the Empire with some information on the factions in Beoraidh, local politics and recent developments
* Allows the Consul to purchase goods from Beoraidh
</td></tr>
</table>
</div>
* '''Eshan proposes an Imperial consulate be built in Beoraidh'''
* '''This would not involve the appointment of a new ambassador'''
* '''The consulate would provide some limited information on the factions in the city and their machinations'''

Eshan is not naive when it comes to diplomacy; he has decades of experience as a salt lord after all. After some discussion with his advisors, and with the Sarcophan representatives, he offers the Empire the ability to establish a consulate in Beoraidh if they wish to do so. This will give them a presence in the city, and cement diplomatic relations between the city-state and the great power. They don't want embassy - they'd rather continue to deal with the Consul. But a small cadre of civil servants in Beoraidh would be able to ease representation to Beoraidh.

The Grendel have already been approached, and now Eshan makes the same offer to the Empire. A structure in the Imperial style, built near the ''[[Mareave#Palace_of_Chains|Palace of Chains]]'', with lodging for a dozen civil servants and visiting diplomats. The proposal is much more compact than a traditional Imperial embassy - only 25 white granite - but the labour costs are a little higher due to the limitations of Beoraidh.

If the new consulate were completed, it would not require the appointment of an ambassador to deal directly with Lord Ehsan. Instead the civil servants there would report to the Imperial Consul and could be instructed to acquire local goods for a small fee (assuming such things are [[The_circle_game#Diplomatic_Ministries|still acceptable]]). Perhaps more importantly, the Empire would have civil servants on the ground in Beoraidh who could assess what was happening in the city. It would provide some idea of factios within the city, what they want and any options that might exist to influence or antagonise them. It might also help the Empire to be more aware of what the Grendel and the Sarcophan were up to in the city...

===Retribution===
* '''A group of Beoraidh orc gladiators claim they were assaulted while visiting Anvil'''
* '''They are coming to Anvil to confront those they say attacked them'''

During the Summer Solstice, representatives of the Diamant Drakes [[I_wish_you_would#That's_Entertainment|visited Anvil]], to discuss opportunities for Imperial citizens to invest in the gladiatorial arena at Beoraidh. According to these orcs, while they were in Anvil they were assaulted by members of the [[Sannite]] sept of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], accused of engaging in slavery. When the forces of law and order intervened, members of the militia flat lied about what had happened.

This obvious corruption of the Anvil militia doesn't particularly bother them - this group seem to have a very low opinion of those who enforce the laws and this has only enforced that. What the Diamant Drakes are angry about, is the beat down they claim they received at the hands of the Sannites. As news of it has spread through Beoraidh interest in visiting the Empire has declined significantly. The fact their attackers were [[Imperial Orcs]] has also soured some who were intent on seeking closer relations with their neighbours in Mareave.

After stewing on the matter for a few months, the Diamant Drakes have announced their intention to seek [[Grendel_religion#Retribution|retribution]] at the Winter Solstice. They haven't addressed exactly what this means but they're expected to reach Anvil around three in the afternoon on the Saturday of the summit, and head to the Unshackled camp to confront the Sand Vipers they are apparently holding responsible for the assault.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=GeneralSeventhWave.jpeg|caption=Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=AmbassadorSarcophanDelves.jpg|caption= Dino i Riqueza, Ambassador to the Delves.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Pathfinder Gaddak.jpg|caption=Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave.|align=left|width=250}}</div>

===Diplomatic Delegation===
* '''A delegation from Beoraidh led by Emissary Harailt intends to visit the Imperial Orcs at 11.00am on Saturday'''
* '''They are keen to speak to Pathfinder Gaddak, Senator for Mareave'''
* '''Eshan has asked the Imperial Consul and/or Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyardto ensure no unfortunate incidents happen'''
* '''Bedelaar Huisbaas Annike has also asked the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves to help ensure the meeting goes smoothly'''
During the Winter Solstice, a delegation from Beoraidh plans to visit Anvil. Their main intent is to speak to the Imperial Orcs within whose territory they live, and are especially keen to meet '''Pathfinder Gaddak'''. Gaddak is [[Senator]] for Mareave but was one of those involved in ensuring an endangered Beoraidh vessel safely returned to port. Their invitation to the folk of Beoraidh to visit Anvil was reasonable, and encouraged Eshan that the experiences of the Diamant Drakes need not be representative.

Obviously the story of the Diamant Drakes makes them a little concerned about the kind of reception they will receive. In part this has inspired their decision to ask representatives of the Sarcophan Delves to accompany them given that nations interest in smoothing relations between the city state and the Empire. To be on the safe side, Eshan asks that the Imperial Consul meet the delegation either in person or via a trusted lieutenant to further ensure that there is no repeat of the recent assault. Alternatively or additionally, '''Melkior of Balthazar's Vineyard''' could serve a similar purpose - their sensible missive contributed to the decision to undertake this delegation after all. On behalf of the Delves, Bedellar Huisbaas Annike has asked the [[Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves]] to use their influence to ensure things progress smoothly.

The delegation has been entrusted to the leadership of ''Emissary Harailt'', an experienced negotiator and merchant and one of Eshan's distant cousins. They anticipate reaching Anvil around eleven in the morning on Saturday of the coming summit, but a lot depends on their confidence with regard to their potential reception.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Druj Flag.png|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==The Mallum==
* '''The Druj demand that the Empire withdraw all troops from Sarangrave or they will unleash the vallorn of Béantal Dol
Unexpectedly, a message has also been received at the Consulate that appears to be from the [[Druj]]. If it is taken at face value, it is a message from a buruk tepel named ''Inkagoch'' who resides in the city of [[Salt Flats of Sanath#Leen|Leen]] in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. It is fairly terse and wastes no time with clever language. According to this missive, the rulers of [[the Mallum]] demand that the Empire withdraw all of its forces from the [[Sarangrave]]. If they do not, then the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|Ghulai]] of the [[Druj_armies#Tainted_Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] will destroy the warding stones of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and unleash the [[vallorn]] to claim the marshes. If the Druj cannot have the Sarangrave, nobody can...

The civil service advising the Consulate have no idea if the Druj are capable of making good on this threat but... the Tainted Basilisk are adept at [[Night magic]] so the fact the territory is largely under Imperial control may not present an obstacle to their ghulai reaching the stones. Everything the Empire knows about the [[Into_Béantal_Dol#The_Warding_Stones|warding stones]] that contain the vallorn suggests that if too many are destroyed the boundary will fail and the vallorn will explode out across the marshes like an unwinding spring. The Druj have clearly advanced their understanding of the vallorn in the last few years, as evidenced by their work in Therunin.

If they are not bluffing, the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]] is likely to be able to hold off the vallorn at least for a while but... the loss of life would potentially be apocalyptic. The vallorn would not spare anyone - rebel orc, Druj, or Imperial. This would be an absolute disaster for everyone in the Sarangrave and would mean the Druj could never recover the territory themselves. Are they really that desperate? Surely not even the Druj would be prepared to unleash such a catastrophe?

Surely?

==Further Reading==
* [[Advisor on Orc Affairs]]
* [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

* [[Invited with asperity]] 387YE Winter wind of fortune specifically dealing with the Thule

In harmony and unison

2026-04-18T22:43:21Z

Vsabo: /* Dreams come true */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
<ic>"And this, children, is the ''exact site'' the paragon Atun landed with the first Highborn all those years ago. From here the First Empress would go on to found the Empire at Anvil in Casinea and introduce all the other peoples of the continent to the seven Virtues of the Way. Now, who thinks they can name all seven Virtues for me?"

"Uhm, Steward Shem?"

"Yes, Master Japheth?"

"Did, um. Was Ah-toon very afraid of the water?" Japheth had been standing notably further away from the shore-line than the rest of the children, some of whom had already been dipping in their toes during lunch-break.

"She may well have been, Japeth, but remember that Virtue can give us the strength to face our fears! Now, about-. Yes, Japheth?"

"Even with all the bad eternals in the sea like Sha-ka and Kobe...Kobe, um, Salty-Lungs?"

"Yes Japeth, but the Empire and the Imperial Conclave will protect you from all the bad eternals, there's no need to worry."

"Does, does that mean Mr Syrup is a good Eternal?"

One of the two greatsword-wielding warriors stood a little behind the group smiled and spoke up. "Oh yes Japeth, ''Prince'' Surut is a <u>very</u> good eternal. So good that your Senator and the Conclave expressly arranged for us to come and make sure you were all safe from all the bad ones." Steward Nimrod was not best pleased and re-asserted himself.

"Thank you, Warden. This is ''NOT'' magic class with Magister Shem, Japheth, this is our class field trip to Sanctuary Sands. I think it's just about time we packed up for the day anyway. Your homework is to draw a picture of Paragon Atun, including at least one of the tenets and symbols of Wisdom. Run along everyone!"

The rusted warden inclined their head to Steward Shem and continued their dutiful watch over the children and the coastline.</ic>
<div style="float: left; width: 250px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=OrderSevenfoldPath.jpg|caption=Let all power be guided by virtue.|width=300px}}</div>
==Overview==
<div style="float: right; max-width: 400px; margin-left: 10px;">
<quote by="Grandmaster Elagabala, on behalf of the Sevenfold Path">
The Conclave asks for plans for a Grand Lodge of the Sevenfold Path in Sanctuary, Sanctuary Sands, Necropolis. It would stand in remembrance of the magician-paragon Atun and their Virtue in voyaging to the continent, and looking to the horizon as a promise that this Empire will bring the light of Virtue to everyone, everywhere.
</quote></div>
The ongoing project to create a grand lodge for each of the [[Conclave order|Conclave orders]] proceeds apace. The recently completed grand lodge of the [[Golden Pyramid]] in [[Mareave]] was briefly in danger from the orcs of the [[Grendel|Broken Shore]], but, thankfully, the intervention of the Military Council has secured it. At least for now.

There can only be two ongoing projects at any one time, and with the completion of the first grand lodge, the [[Conclave]] declared that the [[Sevenfold Path]] would be next in line while the recently [[The shape of things to come|upgraded plans]] for the [[Silver Chalice]] are yet to be commissioned by the [[Senate]]. For the next set of plans to be prepared by Conclave, either the Silver Chalice or the Sevenfold Path must commission and finish building their grand lodges. Of course, the potential for an [[appraisal]] is still available.

==Homecoming==
The people of Sanctuary Sands are ''delighted'' to hear that the Grandmaster of the Sevenfold Path decided that the site of the landing (or at least, a little inland) would be the order's chosen place for their grand lodge. Virtuous magicians from across the Empire heard the call of '''Elagabala''' and began scouting out the prime location, with the best view, to prepare the designs. So what if it's directly on the coast? So what if it's an obvious target for the Grendel? So what if the heralds of [[Siakha]] find priests delicious aperitifs? This place is to be a beacon for the light of virtue! The gleaming fortress of [[Necropolis#Reumah's_Rest|Reumah's Rest]] stands overlooking the cliffs in Coursmouth! Besides, the Military Council have protected the grand lodge in [[Mareave#Clisearn|Clisearn]], they will surely manage any lesser concerns of the material world.
__TOC__
==Dreams come true==
There are seven true virtues, and not one of them is Subtlety. Plans for an enormous [[weirwood]] vessel come together, one large enough to host a full cadre of order magicians along with not one but two small shrines to the Virtues. The vessel will sit in the water next to a small but [[Edifice#Grandeur|impressive basilica]] dedicated to [[the Way]]. A pier extends out a little further into the Catazar for pensive walks along the shoreline while meditating on the paragon-magician Atun. Two masts of [[mithril]] are to protrude from the structure, displaying sails showing the emblem of the order, ever lit by lightstones strategically placed along both the masts.

Unsurprisingly, the presence of the grand lodge would provide a big benefit for the people of [[Necropolis]]. Such a powerful reminder of the crucial role of the Highborn in bringing Wisdom and the Way to the world would benefit every [[congregation]] in the territory. More it would remind the Highborn of their naval history, that their people were once masters of the oceans. That would spark renewed interest in Highborn naval endeavours, permanently raising the capability of the nation to support one additional navy.

As with the first two lodges, the Grandmaster would gain better rates for their ministry (unless, of course, the Senate were to abrogate it as discussed in the '''[[The circle game]]''' wind of fortune) and the Conclave would see a healthy increase in the mana crystals available in the [[font]].
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Grand Lodge of the Sevenfold Path'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Great Work (Grand Lodge)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Sanctuary Sands, Necropolis</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 20 white granite, 15 mithril, 65 weirwood and 300 crowns</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' 5 thrones</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Adds 15 mana crystals to the Conclave font each season
* Incorporates a [[Edifice#Grandeur|grand basilica]] dedicated to the Way
* Reduces the cost of mana purchases by the Grandmaster
* Raises the level of investment of congregations in the territory by one
* Allows Highguard to raise and support one additional navy over the current limits
* Provides a dose of true liao to the order's vaults at the Summer and Winter solstice
* Provides every member of the order with a single dose of liao for a year
* Adds the Voice of the Paragons to Imperial lore for as long as [[Net of Gossamer Chains]] is interdicted
* Can request a single relic linked to an important historical figure for the Winter Solstice after the grand lodge is complete
</td></tr>
</table></div>
What excites everyone the most, however, is what a confluence of the Empire's most advanced minds of the intersection of magic and virtue might achieve. By using a combination of the divinatory magics of the [[Day]] and [[Night]] realms and the experienced hands of those who spend a lifetime handling the [[liao|purple substance]], the able to examine Imperial [[liao]] production to find doses with the potential spark to be developed into [[true liao]] that might otherwise be discarded. As a result, a single dose of true liao would be handed over to the Grandmaster at Summer and Winter Solstice, to use as she and her successors see fit. There would also be a little extra normal liao for everyone in the order for a year following the completion of the grand lodge.

==Props==
* '''Voice of the Paragons is a ritual focus that helps magicians cast Mantle of the Golden Orator, Silver Tongue of Virtue, and A Light That Moves'''
* '''The Paragon's Voice Chapter will add the focus to Imperial lore for as long as Net of Gossamer Chains is interdicted'''

Some enterprising benefactors from the ''Paragon's Voice Chapter'' are keen to encourage and reward this endeavour and have come to the magicians of the Sevenfold Path with an offer for when the lodge is completed. They specialise in a unique [[:category:foci|focus]] that aids in the casting of rituals that enhance one's ability to [[Congregation#Downtime_Options|preach]], specifically [[Mantle of the Golden Orator]], [[Silver Tongue of Virtue]], and [[A Light That Moves]], though they've not had the opportunity to test that one yet.

They'd be willing to allow Imperial artisans to visit their chapter house to learn how to create this item in exchange for one concession. They are strongly of the belief that while the practice and mastery of mortal magic can be be pursued and celebrated as part of one's path to transcending the Labyrinth, no [[eternal]] has any place in the consecrated halls of a [[congregation]]. They will teach any Imperial artisan who wishes to learn how to make the foci for as along as [[Net of Gossamer Chains]] is [[Interdiction|interdicted]] by the Conclave. Provided [[Callidus]] cannot seek to corrupt and manipulate the teachings of the [[Synod]], the focus will effectively be in Imperial lore - it just couldn't be disseminated to anyone.

==Duets==
* '''The Black Tablet will seek out a single relic connected to a chosen historical figure suitable for casting Whispers through the Black Gate'''
The ''Paragon's Voice'' are not the only ones to have an offer for the grandmaster for choosing to build her grand lodge in the Necropolis. The ''Black Tablet'' have for some years now supported the work of the [[Imperial Necromancer]], and see their work as validation that magic that is often treated with suspicion and trepidation (that of the winter realm) can still be used for virtuous ends. Once the lodge has been built, if the Grandmaster is willing and able to pass a [[declaration]] of [[concord]] in support of the practice of necromancy, they will aim to provide some help to the magicians at Anvil.

In return for this support, they will look to the Conclave for direction towards a single past historical figure of great virtue for whom they may have some remnants in the Necropolis. They will see if they can find and prepare a relevant relic for someone who was in some way cotemporaneous, connected with or may have insight into that figure (if not the figure themselves) that is a valid target for [[Whispers through the Black Gate]] and provide it to the Grandmaster of the Sevenfold Path at the start of the next Winter Solstice following the completion of the grand lodge. If multiple declarations are passed, they will default to the first one raised by the Sevenfold Path.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atun.jpg|caption=Atun; paragon of [[Wisdom]] and magician, who led her people to safety when it seemed there was no sanctuary to be found.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Makeover==
* '''The impressive basilica could be consecrated with true liao, either as a basilica or as an inspirational memorial to Atun'''

The designs for the grand lodge include an impressive basilica. In theory, the plans could be expanded even further, but another 25 white granite would be needed to expand the central house of worship into a bona fide cathedral ('''OOC Note:''' Any Senate motion or announcement must be explicit if they plan to do this). Even a basilica would be impressive however, especially if it were consecrated with true liao. If that happened, there would be the potential for the Senate to create a new Imperial title to lead the worship in the basilica and minister to the needs of the magicians of the order. Such a position could be on a par with the archbishop of Capodomus Cathedral, though the Order would have to choose the virtue carefully... such a decision would naturally impact the whole Order.

The alternative might be to create an [[Inspirational_location#Memorials|inspirational memorial]] to Atun. The Paragon of Wisdom led her people to safety at Sanctuary Sand, she didn't remain here with them. According to the legends she never left her ship. On the fourth day she set sail again, allegedly alone, although most people believe that part is probably an ahistorical story. The new basilica could be consecrated to create a memorial to Atun's legendary status as a [[Paragons and exemplars|paragon]] of [[Wisdom]].

There is no requirement to use a precious dose of true liao in this manner - it is simply that the potential exists to do so, once the grand lodge is complete. The inherent grandeur of the structure would make a suitable housing for ether plan.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Elagabala Preaching.jpg|caption='''Elagabala ''', Grandmaster of the Sevenfold Path|align=right|width=500}}</div>

==Movin' out==
* '''The shipwrights propose to name the vessel Elagabala's Vision'''
* '''It could set sail and travel anywhere on the Bay of Catazar in a single season'''
* '''It would be vulnerable to attack while at sea'''
* '''The vessel would move the level of investment in congregations to the territory the season after it arrived'''

The design for the grand lodge is built around the idea of massive sea-going vessel, in a style the architects imagine captures the historical tradition of Highborn seafaring. It is much bigger than a normal Imperial [[fleet]], closer in size to one of the Asavean warships currently threatening the Empire's coasts. The original idea was that the grand lodge would be built in the ''shape'' of a ship, but as soon as someone suggests that the rejoinder from one of the Order's Freeborn magicians is "Or... we could include an actual enormous ship!"

The designers propose to call the vessel ''Elagabala's Vision''. In fairness, it's not an uncommon strategy for architects and shipwrights who are eager to find a powerful patron who will authorise their work being built. The truth is that the vessel they have sketched would be ungainly and clumsy. It would be utter folly to risk it on an actual voyage in open waters far away from land, but it could waddle around the Bay of Catazar, clinging to the coastline, if it needed to. It would be vulnerable if the Grendel attacked (although the Grendel are often loathe to destroy valuable things), and it certainly wouldn't be a lot of use in battle. That said, it could accompany a Highborn navy if one were ever launched, providing spiritual succour to the sailors and soldiers fighting for the Empire. And if Sanctuary Sands were ever seriously threatened, the vessel could put to sea to save the lives of order magicians and local inhabitants if needed.

Once complete the grandmaster of the Sevenfold Path could give orders for ''Elagabala's Vision'' to sail to any territory on the Bay of Catazar currently under Imperial control. It would take a season to get there - it couldn't do anything in the season it was sailing and it will always be vulnerable to Grendel navies while at sea. But once it made landfall, it would allow the order to project their power and influence in whatever territory they had sailed to. There are few practical benefits to this arrangement - the only one the prognosticators can find is that it would move the benefits the grand lodge provides to congregations to the new territory in the season after it arrived. But half the grand lodge would definitely be mobile and who knows when that might come in useful?

==Further Reading==
* [[Sevenfold Path]]
* [[Lit_up#Grand_Lodges|Lit up]] - 386YE Winter wind of fortune introducing the concept of grand lodges

Every day of your life

2026-04-18T16:41:47Z

Vsabo: /* The Writing on the Wall */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
<ic>Bonesung Reller swayed back and forth in time to the music that was ringing in his ears. His fellow mystagogues blew on their wind instruments, the disconsolate sound blowing around the mystagogue like wind in a tunnel. The mood in the room was tense, the onlookers anxious, excited but nervous, straining to hear through the thickening of fear.

The bitter taste of aniseed filled his mouth like bile. He could hear the voices getting louder and louder, but the din in his head was too much. Blood makes noise his teacher had warned him the first time he ever tasted Hope. This was what she had meant... his heart racing, his blood pounding, shouting through the roar.

For a moment he thought he heard a new voice. Discordant, disjointed, rising and falling. He reached for it, but his blood denied the memory of the acts.

Crestfallen he knew he had failed. The moment was gone. He'd have to try again after the silence returned. All that was left was a bitter taste in his mouth.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=ImperialOrc.jpg|align=right|width=350|caption=All orcs hear voices, and the Unshackled believe they are those of their ancestors, reaching out across the Howling Abyss to guide those who have come after.}}</div>
==Overview==
The [[Imperial Orcs]] Assembly, in the words of '''Bloodcrow Knott''', have stated that their [[The_highest_calling#The_Highest_Calling|highest calling]] is the creation of an "Assembly of the Ancestors" to receive the same status as any other [[assembly]] of the [[Synod|Imperial Synod]]. The judgement was controversial - attracting almost as much opposition as support. What it did get was the attention of every orc in the Assembly and so it passed narrowly - but with a greater majority. It was supported by a [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_168|similar statement of principle in the General Assembly]] however, raised by '''Matteus with the Woodwych Harts''', suggesting that such an assembly could explore the role of the Virtues in how orcs become ancestors.

One of the reasons the judgement may have proved controversial is the legal challenges it poses. It calls on the [[Civil Service|civil service]] to provide the same recognition and support for the Assembly of Ancestors as any other Assembly. But no assembly of the Synod has any particular ability to influence the civil service - they are there to support the Synod in the legal execution of its powers, they're not there to change the legal framework. To do so, in response to a request from the Synod would be profoundly unconstitutional and very dangerous.

The judgement cannot affect the civil service, but it has affected many Imperial Orcs, reminding them of the importance that many place on their ancestors and encouraged them all to look for ways to build on lost traditions and revitalise the links to those who have shown they have the strength to return over the Howling Abyss. With the help of the [[Illarawm]] in particular, Imperial Orcs are looking for new opportunities to embrace their ancestors.
{{Judgement|Size=small|Judgement=As the Empire grows and more orc septs are freed, we must face a hard truth. Despite Doctrine affirming the importance of the Ancestors’ guidance in the orc soul’s journey, Synod holds no place for them. If we are truly an Empire of Liberation, an Empire that breaks chains and gives voice to the once-subjugated, we must create a new Assembly. An Assembly of Ancestors. A place where every orc within the Empire and those still hesitant to join it, can know their Ancestors’ voices will be heard. An Assembly to share guidance through those voices, led by our own spiritual leaders - those who hear the Ancestors most clearly. The Unshackled call for the creation of the Assembly of Ancestors, with the same recognition and support from the Civil Service as any Synod Assembly - this is the highest calling of our Assembly.|Raised By=Bloodcrow Knott|Assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly|Outcome={{GM}} 60-46|When=Autumn Equinox 387YE}}
==Constitution==
* '''The current legal framework offers no basis to support such an assembly'''
* '''It is not clear who would join the assembly other than Imperial orcs'''

The civil service passed a copy of Bloodcrow Knott's message to the Constitutional Court to see if there were any recommendations that they could offer. Unfortunately, they have been unable to provide much in the way of encouragement. The [[Imperial Constitution|Constitution]] defines the broad structure of the Synod - its interpretation has always confirmed the requirement for the [[Assembly#The Virtue Assemblies|virtue assemblies]] and the [[Assembly#The National Assemblies|national assemblies]], as well as the [[Assembly#General Assembly|General Assembly]] and [[Assembly#Assembly of the Nine|Assembly of Nine]]. When the Imperial Orc Assembly was [[Establish_Imperial_Orc_Assembly|established]] in Winter 377YE, some scholars opined that the motion may not have been necessary - that the Assembly should have come into existence the moment the Imperial Orcs became the tenth nation of the Empire.

The Constitution does not leave room, however, for the creation of any further assemblies outside of this structure. Despite the calls for an Assembly of the Ancestors to be made, there is no way to create such an Assembly within the framework of the Synod. The [[Tribune of the Synod|Tribune]] and magistrates have also opined that is profoundly unclear what legal remit and powers such an Assembly would or could have - how its membership would be defined, which judgements it would have access to, and what moral authority it would wield.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 50%; width=300px; margin-left: 10px; clear: right;"><quote by="Imperial Constitution"> The Synod will establish assemblies that each may know their virtue and select the most virtuous amongst them to lead. Voting in the Synod will be performed by such assemblies as are rightfully able to weigh the virtue of an action or individual, in accord with their nationality and authority.</quote></div>
Even if that were not so, there would be considerable problems trying to establish an Assembly of the Ancestors in the Synod. There are orcs in [[the Marches]], but none of them attend [[Anvil]], and so they are not active in the Synod. There are a small number of Apulian orcs in [[the League]], but only a tiny number of them attend Anvil. Most orcs in the League have eagerly embraced the Virtues rather than focus on their [[Grendel]] ancestors. It's worth noting that a companion judgement in the League Assembly supporting this goal, [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_179|submitted by Chessia Gordost Von Temeschwar]] ''was'' upheld, but not with a greater majority. As a result, any Assembly would consist almost entirely of Imperial Orcs. At which point the obvious constitutional question it begs is how this new assembly would be any different to the existing Imperial Orc Assembly.

Ultimately, any change would be a matter for the [[Senate]] - there is no possibility that the civil service could simply institute such a thing - it could only be as a result of a [[Senate motion]]. The Court advise that such a motion would require a [[Senate_motion#Constitutional_Vote|constitutional vote]] to pass and [[The Throne#Ratification|ratification]] by [[the Throne]]. It would need close [[scrutiny]] by the Court, and they are clear that they see few ways it might pass. Whether a motion passes or not ''always'' depends on the exact wording, but in this case, the prospects are dim.

Given the problems raised by the Court, most Imperial Orcs have focussed their efforts on searching out opportunities for what they might achieve instead.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Illarawm.png|align=right|width=200}}
==The Writing on the Wall==
* '''The Illarawm propose the creation of the Annals of the Ancestors'''
* '''The sept will carve the name, deeds and words of the ancestors onto the walls of their ossuary'''
* '''The Imperial Orc Assembly can use a statement of principle to select a single ancestor to be honoured each season'''
Two and a half years ago, the Empire completed the construction of the [[Construct_Ossuary_Temple|Grand Ossuary]] in [[Skarsind]]. This massive [[edifice]] gave the [[Illarawm]] a home, a place to store their sacred bones as well as a stake in the nation. The gift, asking nothing in return, was enough to persuade the Illarawm to embrace their new home and join the Imperial Orcs.

Now it seems they stand ready to return the favour - they have proposed that the Ossuary could be used to create annals of the ancestors. The plan is simple, building on similar approaches that other assemblies have already adopted. The [[Wintermark]] Assembly maintains the [[Heroism#Chronicle_of_Heroism|Chronicle of Heroism]], the [[Prosperity]] Assembly compiles the [[Roll of Benefactors]]. Surely the Imperial Orc Assembly could be called on to do likewise?

[[Imperial_Orcs_culture_and_customs#Writing|Writing]] holds a special importance for many members of the Imperial Orcs. The idea that someone's words could inspire or advise orcs generations down the line is incredibly compelling - particularly for the [[Sunstorm]], who for many decades were unable to create such records. One way to find a place for the ancestors would be to take steps to record their insight - to document their advice for any orc of the future who needs it. Such an act would be the ultimate expression of the power of the written word. If the Imperial Orcs can immortalise the words of an ancestor, they could serve to create a bridge between them and those who come after, allowing their words to echo through the ages.

But where to store such important writing? A thing of invaluable worth, it would need to be protected against damage or theft. Rather than raise a new library, the Illarawm present a solution that meets with the approval of many. Rather than use paper or vellum, they would inscribe the words in stone, creating a record that would last centuries. Rather than raise a building and line it with tablets of stone, arrayed on shelves, they propose to use an existing structure and etch the message on the bones of the building itself.

Once each season, the Imperial Orc Assembly could use a [[statement of principle]] to name an important ancestor, describe their ancestor and provide a record of the most important words the Ancestor has spoken since passing over the Howling Abyss. If the statement achieves a greater majority (if there are multiple statements raised in the same season, only the one with the greatest margin will be successful), then the Illarawm will carve the ancestor's words into the stone walls of the Ossuary. Illarawm mystagogues will ensure knowledge of the ancestor is spread far and wide, and help others to hear their voice.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Yerende.png|align=right|width=200}}

==Rookery Without Crows==
* '''The Legion's Rookery could be amended to produce one or two less liao, and instead provide doses of Hearkeners Hope'''
* '''Imperial Orc congregations could be amended to produce one less liao, and instead provide a dose of Hearkeners Hope'''
* '''Hearkeners Hope allows an orc to hear their ancestors' voices more clearly for a short time'''
* '''The egregore has six doses of Hearkeners Hope for their fellow orcs to examine'''
* '''The Imperial Orc Assembly can accept the offer with an appropriately worded statement of principle that passes with a greater majority'''
With the attention drawn to the discontinuity between orc religious beliefs and the framework of the Synod, members of the [[Yerende]] have pointed out the problem with [[liao]]. The civil service distributes liao to [[Member of the Synod|Members of the Synod]] to enable them to tend to their [[congregation|congregations]]. Since orcs can make no use of liao, many preachers see it as little more than a trade good, useful for exchanging for coin or political favour, but of no great significance to the congregations of Imperial Orcs who seek spiritual counsel.

''Black Tillers'', a band of Yerende living in [[Skarsind#Gildenheim|Gildenheim]], point in particular to the [[Skarsind#Legion's Rookery|Legion's Rookery]]. The Imperial Orcs revere the [[worth]] of this building, it having stood for over two centuries, and its true consecration to [[Ambition]] inspires many within the Unshackled to strive even harder to build their nation up to ever greater heights. Yet as a [[great work]], its sole benefit is to provide the congregations of [[Skarsind]] with yet more liao that they can make little use of.

The skilled herb-tenders of Black Tillers have a proposal to fix that. If backed by the Imperial Orc Assembly, they will trade away some of this additional liao - there is plenty of demand, particularly in [[Axos]] - and use the proceeds to prepare small quantities of a powerful narcotic they call ''Hearkeners Hope''. There are no valuable [[herbs]] in the concoction - rather it is a preparation created using various rare plants, not unlike those found and employed by the [[mystic|mystics]] of [[Kallavesa#Regions|Kallavesa]]. The Tillers will not disclose the secret of its production, but they are prepared to use the bounty produced by the Legion's Rookery to share the results with their fellow Imperial Orcs, and theoretically any Navarr who make use of the [[Navarr wayhouse|wayhouse]] in [[Skarsind#Skogei_Glens|Skogei Glens]].

Hearkeners Hope is a reddish-brown syrup with a taste of aniseed that is noticeable by anyone who so much as smells it. An orc who ingests it feels a powerful sense of communion with their ancestors, which can last as much as an hour. Though it is not fully effective for everyone, many orcs claim it allows them to hear the voices of their ancestors more clearly for a time, and some [[shamans]] report that the voices of ancestors can separate, making it easier to distinguish one from another. It can be uncomfortable to use; however, some orcs claim that making their ancestors louder is not always a pleasant experience. ('''OOC Note:''' Please be aware that Hearkeners Hope is not liao that can be used by orcs, it is a consumable that has a roleplaying effect. As we've said previously, there is no way for orcs to use [[religious skills]]).

If given leave to produce Hearkeners Hope, the Black Tillers will commit to sharing a single dose of it with each Imperial Orc who tends to a congregation in Skarsind. In practice, this will alter the Legion's Rookery great work such that each congregation receives one fewer dose of liao, but instead a dose of Hearkeners Hope each season. If the Imperial Orcs wish to adopt the proposal, they will need the Assembly to submit a simple [[statement of principle]] thanking the Tillers for their work and instructing them to trade for one dose each of Hearkeners Hope.

Alternatively, the Assembly could commit to this and use their statement to ask the Black Tillers to trade ''all'' the liao from the Rookery. If that happened, the Rookery would produce no liao but would instead provide two doses of Hearkeners Hope to every congregation in Skarsind. If pushed, the Yerende could go further - the Assembly could use their statement to ask them to trade ''as much liao as possible''. If that happened, the Rookery would produce two doses of Hearkeners Hope instead of liao, and every Imperial Orc congregation would produce one less liao than normal and receive one dose of Hearkeners Hope instead.

One potential hindrance is the recently completed [[Construct Sorrowful Tunnels|Sorrowful Tunnels]]. It is possible that the Legion's Rookery could be used to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#Sorrowful_Tunnels_(Skarsind)|support]] the funding of additional workers in the mine, if it is assigned as a National seat of the Imperial Orcs, at the cost of additional liao for congregation owners in Skarsind. If the Senate motion to redirect the Rookery's production asked the ''Black Tillers'' to draw up plans for a structure to provide Hearkeners Hope to congregations in Skarsind, then suitable plans would be made available before the following summit.

The Black Tillers have provided half a dozen doses of the rare substance to the Imperial Orc egregore to help the Assembly decide if the offer is worthwhile. If the judgement passes with a greater majority, they will begin distributing the strange narcotic immediately; otherwise, they will look to other endeavours.

Hearkeners Hope is mildly poisonous for humans, any who consume it risk fever and a powerful feeling of dread.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}

==Spanning the Abyss==
* '''For the next year, the Imperial Orc Assembly can use a mandate to urge their shamans and mystagogues'''
* '''Each season, they can choose a single non-Imperial orc sept to learn more about their ancestors'''
Bloodcrow Knott's statement talked of hard truths - one such truth is that the Imperial Orcs still know comparatively little of the beliefs of those orc septs who are outside the Empire. Years of fighting with the barbarians have taught the Empire much about how to fight the [[Druj]], the Grendel, the [[Jotun]], and the [[Thule]], but it has yielded precious few secrets about their ancestors. The Empire knows the name of some of them, but often little more than that. The same can be said for other septs - the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the Marcher orcs, the [[Culling_the_threat#The_Dreamers_of_the_Dark_Forest|Dreamers of the Dark Forest]], and the distant orcs of the [[Commonwealth]]. Who were they? What tales are told of their deeds? What lessons did they leave for future generations? And perhaps most importantly, what words do they impart to those who came after? If the Imperial Orcs know more about the beliefs of other septs, what might they learn?

Given that the Imperial Orcs have declared the ancestors to be the Assembly's highest calling, many shamans and mystagogues are ready to do their bit to help. It might be dangerous, especially in Druj lands, but the assembly could ask them to travel beyond the Empire's borders to meet with another sept and find out more about their beliefs. A season's work would be enough to learn more about any one sept's ancestors, their names, their stories, their words.

For the next three seasons, the Imperial Orc Assembly can use a mandate to ask the mystagogues and shamans to learn more about the ancestors of a single non-Imperial orc sept.

{{Mandate|mandate=A nation is much more than lines on a map. We send (named priest) with 15 crowns to lead a delegation of mystics and shamans to discover more of the ancestors of the (named sept).|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, the named priest will lead a group of willing orcs in search of information and lore about the ancestors of the named orc sept. It must be a non-Imperial sept, but it could be any sept the Empire has encountered, anywhere in the world.

==Further Reading==
* [[Imperial Orcs religious beliefs]]
* [[The_highest_calling#The_Highest_Calling|The Highest Calling]] - 387YE Autumn wind of fortune introducing the highest calling

Every day of your life

2026-04-18T16:35:43Z

Vsabo:

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
<ic>Bonesung Reller swayed back and forth in time to the music that was ringing in his ears. His fellow mystagogues blew on their wind instruments, the disconsolate sound blowing around the mystagogue like wind in a tunnel. The mood in the room was tense, the onlookers anxious, excited but nervous, straining to hear through the thickening of fear.

The bitter taste of aniseed filled his mouth like bile. He could hear the voices getting louder and louder, but the din in his head was too much. Blood makes noise his teacher had warned him the first time he ever tasted Hope. This was what she had meant... his heart racing, his blood pounding, shouting through the roar.

For a moment he thought he heard a new voice. Discordant, disjointed, rising and falling. He reached for it, but his blood denied the memory of the acts.

Crestfallen he knew he had failed. The moment was gone. He'd have to try again after the silence returned. All that was left was a bitter taste in his mouth.
</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=ImperialOrc.jpg|align=right|width=350|caption=All orcs hear voices, and the Unshackled believe they are those of their ancestors, reaching out across the Howling Abyss to guide those who have come after.}}</div>
==Overview==
The [[Imperial Orcs]] Assembly, in the words of '''Bloodcrow Knott''', have stated that their [[The_highest_calling#The_Highest_Calling|highest calling]] is the creation of an "Assembly of the Ancestors" to receive the same status as any other [[assembly]] of the [[Synod|Imperial Synod]]. The judgement was controversial - attracting almost as much opposition as support. What it did get was the attention of every orc in the Assembly and so it passed narrowly - but with a greater majority. It was supported by a [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_168|similar statement of principle in the General Assembly]] however, raised by '''Matteus with the Woodwych Harts''', suggesting that such an assembly could explore the role of the Virtues in how orcs become ancestors.

One of the reasons the judgement may have proved controversial is the legal challenges it poses. It calls on the [[Civil Service|civil service]] to provide the same recognition and support for the Assembly of Ancestors as any other Assembly. But no assembly of the Synod has any particular ability to influence the civil service - they are there to support the Synod in the legal execution of its powers, they're not there to change the legal framework. To do so, in response to a request from the Synod would be profoundly unconstitutional and very dangerous.

The judgement cannot affect the civil service, but it has affected many Imperial Orcs, reminding them of the importance that many place on their ancestors and encouraged them all to look for ways to build on lost traditions and revitalise the links to those who have shown they have the strength to return over the Howling Abyss. With the help of the [[Illarawm]] in particular, Imperial Orcs are looking for new opportunities to embrace their ancestors.
{{Judgement|Size=small|Judgement=As the Empire grows and more orc septs are freed, we must face a hard truth. Despite Doctrine affirming the importance of the Ancestors’ guidance in the orc soul’s journey, Synod holds no place for them. If we are truly an Empire of Liberation, an Empire that breaks chains and gives voice to the once-subjugated, we must create a new Assembly. An Assembly of Ancestors. A place where every orc within the Empire and those still hesitant to join it, can know their Ancestors’ voices will be heard. An Assembly to share guidance through those voices, led by our own spiritual leaders - those who hear the Ancestors most clearly. The Unshackled call for the creation of the Assembly of Ancestors, with the same recognition and support from the Civil Service as any Synod Assembly - this is the highest calling of our Assembly.|Raised By=Bloodcrow Knott|Assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly|Outcome={{GM}} 60-46|When=Autumn Equinox 387YE}}
==Constitution==
* '''The current legal framework offers no basis to support such an assembly'''
* '''It is not clear who would join the assembly other than Imperial orcs'''

The civil service passed a copy of Bloodcrow Knott's message to the Constitutional Court to see if there were any recommendations that they could offer. Unfortunately, they have been unable to provide much in the way of encouragement. The [[Imperial Constitution|Constitution]] defines the broad structure of the Synod - its interpretation has always confirmed the requirement for the [[Assembly#The Virtue Assemblies|virtue assemblies]] and the [[Assembly#The National Assemblies|national assemblies]], as well as the [[Assembly#General Assembly|General Assembly]] and [[Assembly#Assembly of the Nine|Assembly of Nine]]. When the Imperial Orc Assembly was [[Establish_Imperial_Orc_Assembly|established]] in Winter 377YE, some scholars opined that the motion may not have been necessary - that the Assembly should have come into existence the moment the Imperial Orcs became the tenth nation of the Empire.

The Constitution does not leave room, however, for the creation of any further assemblies outside of this structure. Despite the calls for an Assembly of the Ancestors to be made, there is no way to create such an Assembly within the framework of the Synod. The [[Tribune of the Synod|Tribune]] and magistrates have also opined that is profoundly unclear what legal remit and powers such an Assembly would or could have - how its membership would be defined, which judgements it would have access to, and what moral authority it would wield.
<div style="float: right; max-width: 50%; width=300px; margin-left: 10px; clear: right;"><quote by="Imperial Constitution"> The Synod will establish assemblies that each may know their virtue and select the most virtuous amongst them to lead. Voting in the Synod will be performed by such assemblies as are rightfully able to weigh the virtue of an action or individual, in accord with their nationality and authority.</quote></div>
Even if that were not so, there would be considerable problems trying to establish an Assembly of the Ancestors in the Synod. There are orcs in [[the Marches]], but none of them attend [[Anvil]], and so they are not active in the Synod. There are a small number of Apulian orcs in [[the League]], but only a tiny number of them attend Anvil. Most orcs in the League have eagerly embraced the Virtues rather than focus on their [[Grendel]] ancestors. It's worth noting that a companion judgement in the League Assembly supporting this goal, [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_179|submitted by Chessia Gordost Von Temeschwar]] ''was'' upheld, but not with a greater majority. As a result, any Assembly would consist almost entirely of Imperial Orcs. At which point the obvious constitutional question it begs is how this new assembly would be any different to the existing Imperial Orc Assembly.

Ultimately, any change would be a matter for the [[Senate]] - there is no possibility that the civil service could simply institute such a thing - it could only be as a result of a [[Senate motion]]. The Court advise that such a motion would require a [[Senate_motion#Constitutional_Vote|constitutional vote]] to pass and [[The Throne#Ratification|ratification]] by [[the Throne]]. It would need close [[scrutiny]] by the Court, and they are clear that they see few ways it might pass. Whether a motion passes or not ''always'' depends on the exact wording, but in this case, the prospects are dim.

Given the problems raised by the Court, most Imperial Orcs have focussed their efforts on searching out opportunities for what they might achieve instead.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Illarawm.png|align=right|width=200}}
==The Writing on the Wall==
* '''The Illarawm propose the creation of the Annals of the Ancestors'''
* '''The sept will carve the name, deeds and words of the ancestors onto the walls of their ossuary'''
* '''The Imperial Orc Assembly can use a statement of principle to select a single ancestor to be honoured each season'''
Two and a half years ago, the Empire completed the construction of the [[Construct_Ossuary_Temple|Grand Ossuary]] in [[Skarsind]]. This massive [[edifice]] gave the [[Illarawm]] a home, a place to store their sacred bones as well as a stake in the nation. The gift, asking nothing in return, was enough to persuade the Illarawm to embrace their new home and join the Imperial Orcs.

Now it seems they stand ready to return the favour - they have proposed that the Ossuary could be used to create annals of the ancestors. The plan is simple, building on similar approaches that other assemblies have already adopted. The [[Wintermark]] Assembly maintains the [[Heroism#Chronicle_of_Heroism|Chronicle of Heroism]], the [[Prosperity]] Assembly compiles the [[Roll of Benefactors]]. Surely the Imperial Orc Assembly could be called on to do likewise?

[[Imperial_Orcs_culture_and_customs#Writing|Writing]] holds a special importance for many members of the Imperial Orcs. The idea that someone's words could inspire or advise orcs generations down the line is incredibly compelling - particularly for the [[Sunstorm]], who for many decades were unable to create such records. One way to find a place for the ancestors would be to take steps to record their insight - to document their advice for any orc of the future who needs it. Such an act would be the ultimate expression of the power of the written word. If the Imperial Orcs can immortalise the words of an ancestor, they could serve to create a bridge between them and those who come after, allowing their words to echo through the ages.

But where to store such important writing? A thing of invaluable worth, it would need to be protected against damage or theft. Rather than raise a new library, the Illarawm present a solution that meets with the approval of many. Rather than use paper or vellum, they would inscribe the words in stone, creating a record that would last centuries. Rather than raise a building and line it with tablets of stone, arrayed on shelves, they propose to use an existing structure and etch the message on the bones of the building itself.

Once each season, the Imperial Orc Assembly could use a [[statement of principle]] to name an important ancestor, describe their ancestor and provide a record of the most important words the Ancestor has spoken since passing over the Howling Abyss. If the statement achieves a greater majority (if there are multiple statements raised in the same season, only the one with the greatest margin will be successful), then the Illarawm will carve the ancestors words into the stone walls of the Ossuary. Illarawm mystagogues will ensure knowledge of the ancestor is spread far and wide, and help others to hear their voice.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Yerende.png|align=right|width=200}}
==Rookery Without Crows==
* '''The Legion's Rookery could be amended to produce one or two less liao, and instead provide doses of Hearkeners Hope'''
* '''Imperial Orc congregations could be amended to produce one less liao, and instead provide a dose of Hearkeners Hope'''
* '''Hearkeners Hope allows an orc to hear their ancestors' voices more clearly for a short time'''
* '''The egregore has six doses of Hearkeners Hope for their fellow orcs to examine'''
* '''The Imperial Orc Assembly can accept the offer with an appropriately worded statement of principle that passes with a greater majority'''
With the attention drawn to the discontinuity between orc religious beliefs and the framework of the Synod, members of the [[Yerende]] have pointed out the problem with [[liao]]. The civil service distributes liao to [[Member of the Synod|Members of the Synod]] to enable them to tend to their [[congregation|congregations]]. Since orcs can make no use of liao, many preachers see it as little more than a trade good, useful for exchanging for coin or political favour, but of no great significance to the congregations of Imperial Orcs who seek spiritual counsel.

''Black Tillers'', a band of Yerende living in [[Skarsind#Gildenheim|Gildenheim]], point in particular to the [[Skarsind#Legion's Rookery|Legion's Rookery]]. The Imperial Orcs revere the [[worth]] of this building, it having stood for over two centuries, and its true consecration to [[Ambition]] inspires many within the Unshackled to strive even harder to build their nation up to ever greater heights. Yet as a [[great work]], its sole benefit is to provide the congregations of [[Skarsind]] with yet more liao that they can make little use of.

The skilled herb-tenders of Black Tillers have a proposal to fix that. If backed by the Imperial Orc Assembly, they will trade away some of this additional liao - there is plenty of demand, particularly in [[Axos]] - and use the proceeds to prepare small quantities of a powerful narcotic they call ''Hearkeners Hope''. There are no valuable [[herbs]] in the concoction - rather it is a preparation created using various rare plants, not unlike those found and employed by the [[mystic|mystics]] of [[Kallavesa#Regions|Kallavesa]]. The Tillers will not disclose the secret of its production, but they are prepared to use the bounty produced by the Legion's Rookery to share the results with their fellow Imperial Orcs, and theoretically any Navarr who make use of the [[Navarr wayhouse|wayhouse]] in [[Skarsind#Skogei_Glens|Skogei Glens]].

Hearkeners Hope is a reddish-brown syrup with a taste of aniseed that is noticeable by anyone who so much as smells it. An orc who ingests it feels a powerful sense of communion with their ancestors, which can last as much as an hour. Though it is not fully effective for everyone, many orcs claim it allows them to hear the voices of their ancestors more clearly for a time, and some [[shamans]] report that the voices of ancestors can separate, making it easier to distinguish one from another. It can be uncomfortable to use; however, some orcs claim that making their ancestors louder is not always a pleasant experience. ('''OOC Note:''' Please be aware that Hearkeners Hope is not liao that can be used by orcs, it is a consumable that has a roleplaying effect. As we've said previously, there is no way for orcs to use [[religious skills]]).

If given leave to produce Hearkeners Hope, the Black Tillers will commit to sharing a single dose of it with each Imperial Orc who tends to a congregation in Skarsind. In practice, this will alter the Legion's Rookery great work such that each congregation receives one fewer dose of liao, but instead a dose of Hearkeners Hope each season. If the Imperial Orcs wish to adopt the proposal, they will need the Assembly to submit a simple [[statement of principle]] thanking the Tillers for their work and instructing them to trade for one dose each of Hearkeners Hope.

Alternatively, the Assembly could commit to this and use their statement to ask the Black Tillers to trade ''all'' the liao from the Rookery. If that happened, the Rookery would produce no liao but would instead provide two doses of Hearkeners Hope to every congregation in Skarsind. If pushed, the Yerende could go further - the Assembly could use their statement to ask them to trade ''as much liao as possible''. If that happened, the Rookery would produce two doses of Hearkeners Hope instead of liao, and every Imperial Orc congregation would produce one less liao than normal and receive one dose of Hearkeners Hope instead.

One potential hindrance is the recently completed [[Construct Sorrowful Tunnels|Sorrowful Tunnels]]. It is possible that the Legion's Rookery could be used to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#Sorrowful_Tunnels_(Skarsind)|support]] the funding of additional workers in the mine, if it is assigned as a National seat of the Imperial Orcs, at the cost of additional liao for congregation owners in Skarsind. If the Senate motion to redirect the Rookery's production asked the ''Black Tillers'' to draw up plans for a structure to provide Hearkeners Hope to congregations in Skarsind, then suitable plans would be made available before the following summit.

The Black Tillers have provided half a dozen doses of the rare substance to the Imperial Orc egregore to help the Assembly decide if the offer is worthwhile. If the judgement passes with a greater majority, they will begin distributing the strange narcotic immediately; otherwise, they will look to other endeavours.

Hearkeners Hope is mildly poisonous for humans, any who consume it risk fever and a powerful feeling of dread.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly ImperialOrc.png|align=right|width=200}}

==Spanning the Abyss==
* '''For the next year, the Imperial Orc Assembly can use a mandate to urge their shamans and mystagogues'''
* '''Each season, they can choose a single non-Imperial orc sept to learn more about their ancestors'''
Bloodcrow Knott's statement talked of hard truths - one such truth is that the Imperial Orcs still know comparatively little of the beliefs of those orc septs who are outside the Empire. Years of fighting with the barbarians have taught the Empire much about how to fight the [[Druj]], the Grendel, the [[Jotun]], and the [[Thule]], but it has yielded precious few secrets about their ancestors. The Empire knows the name of some of them, but often little more than that. The same can be said for other septs - the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the Marcher orcs, the [[Culling_the_threat#The_Dreamers_of_the_Dark_Forest|Dreamers of the Dark Forest]], and the distant orcs of the [[Commonwealth]]. Who were they? What tales are told of their deeds? What lessons did they leave for future generations? And perhaps most importantly, what words do they impart to those who came after? If the Imperial Orcs know more about the beliefs of other septs, what might they learn?

Given that the Imperial Orcs have declared the ancestors to be the Assembly's highest calling, many shamans and mystagogues are ready to do their bit to help. It might be dangerous, especially in Druj lands, but the assembly could ask them to travel beyond the Empire's borders to meet with another sept and find out more about their beliefs. A season's work would be enough to learn more about any one sept's ancestors, their names, their stories, their words.

For the next three seasons, the Imperial Orc Assembly can use a mandate to ask the mystagogues and shamans to learn more about the ancestors of a single non-Imperial orc sept.

{{Mandate|mandate=A nation is much more than lines on a map. We send (named priest) with 15 crowns to lead a delegation of mystics and shamans to discover more of the ancestors of the (named sept).|assembly=Imperial Orc Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted, the named priest will lead a group of willing orcs in search of information and lore about the ancestors of the named orc sept. It must be a non-Imperial sept, but it could be any sept the Empire has encountered, anywhere in the world.

==Further Reading==
* [[Imperial Orcs religious beliefs]]
* [[The_highest_calling#The_Highest_Calling|The Highest Calling]] - 387YE Autumn wind of fortune introducing the highest calling

Invited with asperity

2026-04-18T16:28:45Z

Vsabo: /* Icy Crags and Distant Peaks */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]]
<ic>
"Why, Mistress Tasya, the Castellan of Krevsatyzmei is always pleased to receive you and any tidings you bring from The King Beneath the Hill. Even when, uh, so unexpectedly."

The on-duty guard, Pallad, looked up to her colleague Mor in the nest for some confidence, but received nothing but a deeply concerned glance. She-Of-The-Black-Cloak is not someone you want to walk up to you at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a harsh Karskian blizzard in the small hours of the night where it is all too easy to interpret every sound as a monster sneaking up on you. They were south of the mountains, making it much more likely that something awful was prowling nearby.

"Given the hill you stand on and who you bought it from, Pallad-daughter-of-Rith, you and your Castellan should always be prepared to engage in the tradition of hospitality. Please tell Mors-son-of-Ganax to kindly remove his hand from his crossbow lest I be made to feel ... unwelcome"

''Shit, how does she know our names?'' thought Pallad, trying not to let her fear show.

"Of course, ahem, honoured guest. May I offer you a pour of wine from my own flask, and perhaps some of this Holtfordian fruit?" The guard noted that while most of this small delegation were human, inasmuch as she could make out any details beneath their cowls and fur-lined cloak, one of them at least was a fellow orc. But not a Child of the Dragons, she thought.

"That will do nicely," Tasya let a smile escape her thick hood as she slowly and clearly partook of the wine and dates, unbothered both to stand before a fully garrisoned outpost of the Thule and by the biting cold the guards were so heavily wrapped up against.

Mors regained his composure first and shouted down from the tower; "And what business does Irontooth bring to a Tower of the Dragons?" This was a Thule outpost. There was surely no doubt that the Dragons were more powerful than any Sovereign. Probably older too. There was certainly no need to be scared of a messenger! Even if she already somehow knew yours and your parents names? Right?

"Business?" Tasya crowed. "What business can there be between the Wolf and the Raven? Between the Warrior and the Grave? I am here to speak the words of the Charnel Lord, and I will do so, to your Castellan, without further delay."

Best not push it. This was clearly the Castellan's problem and the warlock would not appreciate the intervention of mere gate guards.

"Of course, Mistress Tasya, enter and be welcome in our hall in the names of the Five. I shall go waken the Castellan."

The gates swung open, and the delegation of the Broken Barrow swiftly disappeared inside.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=IconThule.jpg|align=left|caption=For all that they take a long view of events, when the Thule Dragons choose to act their nation can move with dangerous intensity.|width=300}}</div>
==Overview==
The [[orc|orcs]] of [[Otkodov]] - the [[Thule]] - live to the north of the Empire. They share a long mountainous border with [[Wintermark]], with the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], and particularly with [[Varushka]]. Their magocratic nation is ruled by the five [[Thule_lore#Dragons|Dragons]] - allegedly immortal sorcerers of immense power who the folk of their nation treat as living ancestors or perhaps even gods. For much of Imperial history, they were at war with the Empire. In recent years a series of treaties have secured peace - mostly by [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|ceding]] parts of the northern Imperial nations.

It is not a universally ''popular'' peace. There are grumbles from Wintermark that the Empire keeps surrendering to the orcs of the north, although they are subdued and rarely enter the public discourse. The Imperial Orcs of [[Skarsind]] keep the Thule at arms' length where possible. It is the nation of [[Varushka]] that has been most critical of the peace treaties - and it cannot be argued that they have been called on to sacrifice more of its northern lands to the Thule than any other nation. The priests of Varushka expressed a commitment to never hand over Varushkan soil to the orcs again - with [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_57|judgement 57]] in their own assembly, and [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_67|Judgement 67]] in the General. Neither achieved a [[greater majority]] however - hardly surprising for the General but perhaps unexpected in the Varushkan assembly. It seems that '''Lenochka Zabotovna Vypalse''' and '''Father Drakov''' may not speak with a single voice on this matter.

For now, though, peace endures. The [[Ratify_Thule_Treaty_Spring_387YE|treaty has been ratified]]; it is law. Two nations - [[the Marches]] and [[Navarr]] - are sending great amounts of food north to help feed the people of Otkodov and support their armies. It is illegal to preach the Way of Virtue in Otkodov to their citizens. For their part the Thule agree to share the [[white granite]] of the [[Night Quarry]]; pay for the food delivered to them; ensure Imperial access to the
[[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], in return for the right to send warlocks to study at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun]]. And, of course, to maintain their current policies for the reasonable treatment of Imperial citizens choosing to remain and live in ceded lands. All that remains is for the pageantry and theatre of a formal signing.

==State Visit==
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided will attend the Senate Chambers at 18:00 on Saturday to celebrate the recent signing of the [[Ratify Thule Treaty Spring 387YE | five-year peace treaty]].'''
* '''Rak intends to retire soon, and he will be accompanied by a coterie of potential successors. This may present an opportunity to shape the tenor of Imperial/Thule relations for the next few years.'''
* '''The party will discuss the future of cooperation between the two great powers, the fate of the Druj, the vallorn, and other matters of import.'''

Last season, a delegation from Otkodov was waylaid and unable to make it to Anvil as planned to formally sign the treaty. They are now on their way to complete the intended state visit. Whilst a formal signing of the treaty is not legally required (indeed Rak is satisfied that everything is in order, and the flow of merchants across the border in both directions is testament to the fact that the treaty is holding) the Thule do consider the symbolism inherent in ink and parchment to be valuable.

More pressingly, there is much to discuss as regards making the most use of the period of peace. Cooperation between nations of such might and prowess could yield great benefits, so long as fair terms can be agreed. There is the matter of the vallorn to discuss, the fate of the Druj and their territories, and the ever-present Jotun in the west. There might also be opportunities for trade, for magical cooperation or simply for friendship between peers. It would not do to pass up this opportunity for the great and good of the Empire to liaise with the representatives of Otkodov. No actual agreements will be worked on at this meeting, such things are a matter for Winged Messengers or small private meetings, but the seed of discussion bears the fruit of cooperation.

Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided has served as the Dragon's emissary to the Empire for several years now, and has decided that the time is coming to step aside. Not immediately, perhaps, but soon. To that end, he is bringing with him a selection of potential successors; apprentices and mentees who have worked with him on Imperial Diplomacy and may be poised to take up the challenge. Ultimately, the Dragons will make the final call as to who replaces Rak, but it would be foolish to assume that they will not be paying ''very'' close attention to proceedings to assess the candidates. Imperial Citizens who wish to shape the future of Thule foreign policy may benefit from attending the event.

They have informed the civil service that the Thule delegates will be:
* Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided (he/him) - Ambassador to The Empire
* Runa, of the ''Circle of Thrice-Turned Stones'' (he/him) - An accomplished Night and Autumn warlock with an interest in trade.
* Hekla, of the ''Unbroken Chain of Gilded Fire'' (he/him) - A prodigious Summer warlock specialising in military matters.
* Galk, of the ''Sunken Orb of Brilliant Sapphire'' (he/they) - A studious Winter, Spring and Day warlock at the forefront of theoretical magic.
* Orn The Scribe (he/they) - a servant bonded to the offices of the Speaker for the Dragons Undivided.

The party will arrive in Anvil at 18:00 on Saturday and proceed to the Senate building. They have asked that any interested citizen be allowed to attend, but leave the facilitation of the event itself in the capable hands of the [[Ambassador to Otkodov]], '''Kindra Surefoot'''. They expect to be in the Senate for at most an hour, but if there are still worthwhile discussions ongoing by that point, they may adjourn to the Imperial Offices for a short additional time.

==A Cultural Exchange (Redux)==
* '''Imperial storytellers are invited to meet with skuldyr in Otkodov to exchange and discuss cultural tales on the themes of Heroism and Duty.'''
* '''The [[High Bard of the Empire]] is tasked with arranging the conjunction to Leopard-Tooth Pass on Friday at 23:15.'''
* '''The warlock Hoosfa Mek offers to continue exchanging written records of folk tales in the Tome of Shared Lore.'''

[[About today#A Cultural Exchange |Last Winter]], ''skuldyr'' from Otkodov attended the Wintermark camp in Anvil to exchange stories with the scops. The event appears to have been judged a success by the warlocks, as an invitation has been sent to the Empire, via the civil service. A conjunction of the Sentinel Gate has been identified that would allow up to 12 people to take the Thule up on this invitation by travelling to Leopard-Tooth Pass in Kógur, Skuld at 23:15.

Eirikur the skuld asks for the storytellers of the empire to bring no more than five tales, which should be focused on the themes of Heroism and Duty. Last year, Eirikur spoke with many scops in Wintermark, but also spoke to some Navarri. Since then, he has been learning more about the narrative traditions of The Empire's northern peoples. For this exchange, he would like the visiting party to be composed of Wintermark Scops, Varushkan Storytellers, and Navarri bards.

The Civil Service have assigned responsibility for this conjunction to the [[High Bard of the Empire]], '''Mikael Reskovich'''. They would also like to remind any potential attendees that it is [[Ratify Thule Treaty Spring 387YE| currently illegal]] to preach [[The Way]] in Otkodov. It is not clear how strict the Thule will be on this, but guests of the Dragons might do well to avoid overtly religious messages in their stories.

At the last meeting with the skuldyr, the warlock Hoosfa Mek gave a gift to the [[Ambassador to Otkodov|Ambassador]], a book of Thule tales. They will be present at this meeting as well and have expressed that, if the Ambassador wishes, they would be happy to take custody of the book once again and have more stories added to it. They would be especially keen for this if their Imperial counterparts have been able to record some of their own tales in the tome.
==A Northern Passage==
* '''The Thule have responded negatively to a proposal to map the northern parts of the Sea of Snow and the coast of Otkodov
Ambassador Surefoot has carefully raised the matter of securing a sea-route to Otkodov through the north-eastern [[Sea of Snow]]. As they point out, there was a fleet mapping expedition of the frigid sea [[Never_be_found_at_home#Senate_Motion|a few years ago]]. While it uncovered [[Midnight_rain#Mapping_the_Sea_of_Snow|a great deal of information]] it did not manage to follow in the [[Never be found at home#Passage to Ultima Thule|wake of the ''Sea Hawk'']] and discover if there ''is'' a navigable passage to the coast of [[Otkodov#Nithoggir|Nithoggir]]. There is an invitiation for cooperation between the Empire and Otkodov, with an eye toward developing a sea trade route.

Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided explains that the Dragons recently permitted an attempt to find a trade route between western Otkodov and Wintermark, overland through the wastes of Tsirku, and it was an unmitigated disaster that cost many lives. They do not see that any attempt to open a sea route would be any more successful - there are beasts in the ice-strewn waters off the coast of Otkodov that are truly terrible even for the Sea of Snow. Weighing the risk and the reward, they see little advantage to allowing the Empire to create - and ultimately control - a maritime route to their shores. They would rather leave that door unopened at least for the time being. Rak goes further - not only will the Dragons not authorise cooperation in this endeavour they will not permit a trading post on their coast. Trade with Otkodov will continue overland, as it has done for the last decade or so.

Reading between the lines, it is very clear that no matter what Rak says, fundamentally the Dragons do not want the Empire to have a way to bring fleets to their coast. Relations may have thawed in the last decade, but not so much that the Dragons will tolerate Imperial ships sailing through open waters to the lands of the Thule.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Forest of Ulnak is mapped, but large parts of the territory remain a mystery.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Hinodir, Tathenon, and the Eastern Woods==
* '''Reports from Varushka speak of Thule armies on the move'''
* '''An agent of the Charnel Lord is speaking to the Thule in Krevsatymei'''
* '''The Thule are preparing an invasion of the Forest of Ulnak and invite Imperial warbands to accompany them'''
* '''They also welcome Imperial armies provided the generals are prepared to follow the lead of Tathenon the Gyre'''
Following the Autumn Equinox, Thule hunters swept into the [[Forest of Ulnak]], using the [[spy network]] there at the invitation of the [[Imperial Spymaster]]. One of the Dragons, ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'', [[Bedight_in_veils#Forest_of_Ulnak|negotiated access]] allowing the orcs of Otkodov to take advantage of existing framework laid down by the Empire. There are Imperial scouts using the spy network as well, but the Thule make no effort to cooperate with them. These hunters are fairly different to the warriors more often encountered by the Empire - bow and spear warriors with thick hide armour and dark blue hoods, accompanied by battle warlocks and practitioners of [[Night magic]]. The warbands are all shrouded by an [[enchantment]] that makes them hard to spot against natural landscapes and guides them through the wild woods of the territory. Their work completed, they return to Otkodov shortly before the Winter Solstice.

Even as the hunters already sent out, the Thule are on the move. Eyewitnesses observe significant Thule military forces entering [[Ossium]] - moving into the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] and [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Both woodlands have apparently been woven with Spring magic; at first there is a concern this is an attempt to unleash the [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]. Rather than becoming mobile however it seems the forest is possessed of a magical awareness that causes the trees to attack intruders and trespassers in a manner more similar to [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]]. There's talk of other movements as well - ''Tasya of the Black Feathers'', the mouth-piece of the [[Varushkan_Monster#Sovereigns|sovereign]] known as the [[Charnel Lord]] - has been spotted visiting ''Krevsatyzmei'', the Thule fortification in Karsk. At various points in the past the Charnel Lord has allied with the Thule, betraying them with equal ease when the tides of battle shifted. It seems another cycle of diplomacy may be beginning.

Ambassador Kindra has raised the possibility of a joint effort to attack the Forest of Ulnak, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided politely requests that the ambassador keep the military strategists at arms length during the coming delegation. At the same time however, he issues an invitation from ''Tathenon the Gyre, Who Wields the Might of the Sky''. Any Imperial [[military unit|warband]] that wishes is welcome to join the Thule in their assault against the Druj of Ulnak. Those who wish to do so may fight alongside the ''Earthquake Drummers'', who lead the assault against the vermin of [[the Mallum]]. Any captain who brings their warband will be granted a gift of crystal mana. A standard military unit will be rewarded with 7 crystal mana, with an [[Military unit#Upgrades|upgraded]] or [[enchantment|enchanted]] military unit receiving proportionally more.

Furthermore any Imperial army that wishes to join the assault is welcome to do so ''provided'' the [[general]] acknowledges the sovereignty and strategy of Tathenon the Gyre. They will fight alongside the orcs of Otkodov, just as the orcs of Otkodov fought alongside the Empire to liberate Sermersuaq. Rak is aware that the level of secrecy requested may disincline the Military Council to support the attack but the Dragons have weighed that risk as being acceptable to ensure the Druj do not become aware of their strategy. Regardless, while the Empire fight to conquer [[Sarangrave]], and fight along the border with the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]], they help Otkodov achieve its goal even if no armies provide any aid in Ulnak.

The civil service believe there is no legal issue with Imperial military units supporting the Thule - they are foreigners and have in the past been military allies, and the Druj are definitely barbarians. They caution that sending armies into the Forest of Ulnak this season ''without'' agreeing to accept the strategy of Tathenon the Gyre will mean that the Empire's troops will act as a separate force. It's doubtful the Thule will fight the Empire directly, but depending on where a general launches their attack the possibility of Imperial and Otkodov forces clashing over the eastern Forest of Ulnak cannot be discounted - it is not feasible to predict exactly what might happen here. One thing they are certain of; even if a general does wish to support the Otkodov armies they will still be free to issue orders as to the conduct and [[army orders|tactics]] their army will employ. The only thing that will be determined by Otkodov is the order in which the regions of Ulnak are assailed.
==Caridis, Sławomir, and the Face-peelers==
* '''The Thule are prepared to have the Claws of the Dragon work with Varushkan warriors to root out the face-peelers
* '''This creates a raiding venture for Varushkan military units
* '''The Boyar's Hasta can take support the raid if it takes certain specific actions
* '''The consequence is disruption to draughir citizens of Karsk and Ossium
Another matter of a military flavour concerns the "face-peeling shapeshifters" known to exist in and around the Webwood, among other locales. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided stresses again that the Thule do not consider them to be a particular concern but they are also not by any stretch allies of Otkodov. Cleaning out a den of rabid wolves is usually a good idea; while they may favour attacking humans they might easily shift their depredations to orcs. With that in mind, Rak conveys an invitation from the Dragon known as ''Caridis the Binder of Runes and Oaths'' inviting '''Sławomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' to gather some bands of Varushkan warriors, [[Varushka_military_concerns#Wagon_Raiders_and_Sell_Swords|sell swords]], [[warden|wardens]] and the like to work with the ''Claws of the Dragon'' to exterminate the "trudnik" in Ossium and [[Karsk]]. The Claws of the Dragon are a small fellowship of warlocks that serve the Dragons by rooting out magical threats to Otkodov - they have recently been involved with the folk of Wintermark in dealing with both cults of [[Agramant|Blood-on-the-Snow]] and the monoliths of the Falconer. Caridis the Binder has instructed them to work with Sławomir to deal with the "face stealers" and so they have focused their efforts into eastern Varushka even as the armies of Otkodov begin to move.

Following the Winter Solstice, [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[military unit|military units]] will have the opportunity to undertake a [[military unit#Raiding|raiding]] [[venture]] called ''Root out the Face-peelers''. This will involve working with the Thule in Karsk and Ossium to track down nests of "trudnik" and, where they are found, employ axe and flame to destroy them. The Claws of the Dragon are a fairly small organisation, but they are supported here by a cadre of warriors and hunters. Regardless, the full success of this venture will depend on Varushkan involvement.

A standard military unit that undertakes this venture will receive six measures of [[Materials#Natural_Materials|forest materials]], and a phial of ''Corrupt Blood''. This latter is a vile [[potion]] brewed by the trudnik that infuses the drinker with preternatural strength and endurance. A military unit that has been upgraded or enchanted will receive proportionately more. Unfortunately, this raid comes with a cost. One of the problems is that the glamour the trudnik use makes it easy for them to masquerade as Varushkans with the [[draughir]] [[lineage]]. A thorough attack on the trudnik will cause trouble for the draughir of Karsk and Ossium; following the Winter Solstice they will receive a -1 penalty to the production of their resource unless it is a [[military unit]] taking the ''Root out the Face-peelers'' action. Even if few military units get involved, the inevitable suspicion and doubt that is seeded will be enough to unsettle the affairs of draughir in Karsk and Ossium.

If at least 7,500 strength of military units participate in the raid, the trudnik will be driven out of their lairs in Karsk and Ossium. The Empire will be able to expand their knowledge of these creatures, and finally get some reliable evidence of what they are and what they are doing. There may be some mopping up to do - at least one of the trudnik lairs in Ossium is apparently very old and extends into the earth - and if there is a dark spirit involved with the face-peelers it may fall to the Empire to deal with it. The matter of "spoils" however has already been set by Caridis - the Empire will claim whatever trudnik "loot" lies in Imperial Varushka, while the Thule will take custody of anything seized from the trudnik that lies in Thule lands. This would include Slomavetka, allegedly a lair of the trudnik set in a rich forest and with deep caverns carved into the hill beneath it, which lies just across the border in the Webwood.

Everything seems quite straightforward, at least in theory, but Rak is clear that if any problems do develop, it will fall to Sławomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh, with the guidance of the Ambassador to Otkodov, to negotiate with the Claws of the Dragon on behalf of Caridis the Binder.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta Colour.webp|align=right|width=300}}</div>
Or rather, not ''entirely'' straightforward. While cooperation is being mooted, [[boyar]] '''Skandavitz Iskander Kastrioti''' points out that the [[Boyar's Hasta]] - an army that makes a point of working with sell swords and wagonraiders - might be an ideal force to help support the raid on the trudnik. The Thule have no particular objection - warriors are warriors as far as they are concerned. A brief discussion with the [[Civil Service|civil service]] lays out the logistics of how this might be done. The Boyar's Hasta would need to be in [[Ossium]], where the trudnik are apparently most populous. It would need to use its [[Army_qualities#Sell_Sword|Sell Sword quality]] to take the [[Army_qualities#Scouting|guard the gates]] order, and the general would need to specify in their [[army orders|orders]] that they wished to support the raid on the face-peelers. Finally, the army would need to be [[enchantment|enchanted]] with the [[Autumn magic|Autumn]] ritual [[Bound by Common Cause]] simply because that enchantment helps create bonds between the soldiers and the people of the territory. The civil service also caution that the Boyar's Hasta would not benefit from [[Casualties#Natural_Resupply|natural resupply]] while doing this - the trudnik will certainly fight back after all and the soldiers will be dispersed across Karsk as well as Ossium. But it would provide its strength to supporting the ''raid the face-peelers'' action, making it much more likely the raids would be a thorough success (that is, it would add its strength ''before'' orders or the presence of military units taking a [[military unit#campaigning|campaigning]] action to support the army are taken into account - military units supporting the Boyar's Hasta would ''not'' count toward the strength requirement of the action, only those specifically taking the raiding action would count).

Obviously it is up to '''Serafina Semenov''', the general of the Boyar's Hasta, whether the army chooses to take advantage of this opportunity or not.

==Icy Crags and Distant Peaks==
{{WingedMessenger|address=Missives can be sent to ''Thania of the Blackstaff, Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun, Miekarova, Varushka'', who is the spokesperson for the Thule orcs living in and around the Icy Crag. She is interested only in matters related to the college and the warlocks attending; anything else should go through the Ambassador from Otkodov.}}
* '''Thule warlocks have taken up residence in Miekarova, around the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun
* '''Their spokesperson is Thania of the Blackstaff, an aged Thule warlock
* '''Thania is interested in acquiring certain ritual texts codified at the college and prepared to offer mithril for them
The contingent of warlocks have taken up residence at the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun, studying with the Imperial scholars. Their presence makes some magicians uneasy; many of these orcs are veterans of the various wars with the Empire. Others bring an unnervingly intense reverence for the Dragons. For the most part though they are distant, reserved, and primarily interested in researching and discussing magical concepts alongside their peers. Their "leader" is a warlock named ''Thania of the Blackstaff'', an aged orc who has made a study of all six realms of magic. She speaks on behalf of the Thule orcs on matters related to the Icy Crag, but indicates that any more political matters need to go via the Ambassador to the Empire.

A couple have attempted to introduce the Imperial students and professors to a ball-game from Otkodov that uses staves and [[Spellcasting#Offensive_Spells|offensive magic]] to keep control of a [[tempest jade]] sphere. The "excitement" of the contest comes from the fact the "ball" is enchanted to explode violently if it is struck too many times over a short period. It is very much an acquired taste but those who have participated say it is great for "getting the blood pumping" if nothing else.

The presence of the Thule reduces the costs to upkeep the Icy Crag by five thrones each season, but they receive a copy of any [[Formulaic_ritual#Ritual_Texts|ritual text]] codified there. They've also apparently had a thorough read through the stacks, looking with interest for details of magic previously worked on here. Having learned of the existence of [[Aid Once More]], [[Bitter Mantle of the Leaden Crown]], ''Heaven's Spear Sunders the Mountain'', ''The Never-ending Lullaby'', and ''Sermersuaq Fools the Orca with a Rasp of Her Knuckles'', they are interested to find out more if the opportunity presents itself and eager to acquire ritual texts if the Empire will allow it.

For each of these rituals the Conclave is prepared to [[dissemination|disseminate]] to Thania of the Blackstaff, she will provide 6 wains of mithril to the individual who raises the [[declaration]] after it passes, or should they specify in their declaration, to the Conclave (to later be distributed with a declaration of [[endowment]]). Alternatively she can provide 35 [[vis#golden apple|golden apples]] (again, to the person who raised the declaration or the Conclave for endowment). As long as the desired payment is clear, Thania isn't concerned what form is requested as she apparently has been assigned significant resources by the Dragons.

One problem the civil service point out is that three of the rituals - ''Heaven's Spear Sunders the Mountain'', ''The Never-ending Lullaby'', and ''Sermersuaq Fools the Orca with a Rasp of Her Knuckles'' - are not actually part of [[Formulaic_ritual#Imperial_Lore_and_the_Ritual_List|Imperial lore]] and thus ''can't'' be disseminated by the Conclave. There's nothing to stop whoever has those ritual texts entering into negotiations with Thania directly for purchase of the ritual texts but it is not a simple matter to create a new copy of a text.

==Fraynir and the Black Waste==
* '''The Thule have made preparations to defend Sküld from an active vallorn
* '''Fraynir, one of the five Dragons, wishes to acquire the ''Dreadful Ending'' ritual
* '''They are offering a ritual that already seems to exist in Imperial lore under a different name'''

Ambassador Kindra has provided some guidance regarding the concerns of '''Dylan Thornweaver''' and the [[vallorn]]. It is now common knowledge that there is a vallorn in [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]] - occupying the ruins of the ancient city of Emrys. Ambassador Rak offers reassurance that the Dragons' opinion on the matter has not shifted from [[A_thousand_years_of_longing#Our_Friends_in_the_North|where it was]] when the [[Great Library of Hacynian]] completed their research. Research he is keen to remind the Empire that the [[A_thousand_years_of_longing#Our_Friends_in_the_North|Thule supported]]. Otkodov remains enthusiastic about the reunification - the "ascension" - of the vallorn. They remain ready to deal with the vallorn of Sküld - but would appreciate a season of advance warning before the Empire completes the [[trods]] network and begins the transformation. They remain confident that their armies and their magic will be more than a match for it given its size and sluggishness. They've sacrificed a thousand years of prosperity in Sküld to keep it weak, after all. With the vallorn gone they would no longer need to keep Sküld under a [[Wither the Seed|shroud of Winter magic]] and could restore it to full fertility. There is also speculation that the Thule are eager to finally get at the treasures of Emrys which legends suggest was perhaps the most magically advanced city of the Terunael Empire; the warlocks refuse to be drawn.

There is some concrete news on the matter of the vallorn, however, that may be of interest to the Empire. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that a project is underway to prepare for the vallorn's rise - it is just common sense. Rather than rely on a grand [[fortification|citadel]], The-One-Who-Waits (likely the Dragon ''Fraynir'', an acknowledged master of [[curse|curses]] and shrouding magic) has decreed the creation of several rings of [[white granite]] stones around the outskirts of the vallorn of Emrys. When they are completed, they will be warded with [[Winter magic]] and [[ilium|star metal]] to create fortified camps that will catastrophically weaken any vallornspawn that ventures within. Given the nature of all such wards, the stones themselves will be unassailable by the creatures of the vallorn and as such offer a reliable defence against the vallorn's expansion. To magicians versed in such things it seems to be a version of [[Wardens of the Black Waste]].

The reason Rak has raised this point, it quickly turns out, is that Fraynir has instructed him to offer a text containing the ritual - ''Walls of Starless Night'' - in return for a copy of a specific ritual created at the Icy Crags. Fraynir wished the Imperial Conclave to [[Dissemination|disseminate]] the ritual [[Dreadful Ending]]. This ritual destroys [[Druj_miasma#Miasma_Pillars|miasma pillars]] - nothing to do with the vallorn.

Fraynir is apparently unaware that ''Wardens of the Black Waste'' is a part of Imperial lore. This is understandable given the ritual was codified at the [[Dean_of_the_Lyceum#The_Lyceum|Lyceum]] by then-[[Dean of the Lyceum|Dean]] '''Simargl the Empty One'''. It's possible that the Conclave may wish to go ahead with the trade. If they do, whoever raises the Dissemination will need to pay the traditional ten thrones, and will receive in return the ritual text of ''Walls of Starless Night''. It's very unlikely that Walls of Starless Night will be an improvement over ''Wardens of the Black Waste'', however. With that in mind, the Ambassador could facilitate negotiation on behalf of the Conclave, and perhaps the [[Vallornguard]], given it is clear that Fraynir is keen to get their hands on this very niche ritual.

==Orobus and the Bonewood==
* '''The Dragon Orobus is keen to acquire living weirwood trees'''
* '''She specifically wants living trees from the Heartwood of the Great Vale and/or the Golden Trees of Seren'''
* '''She will pay 12 rings of ilium for the ability to collect some trees and transplant them to the Bonewood
* '''Agreeing to this arrangement will reduce the production of the weirwood forest by 1 wain each season, permanently'''
Fraynir is not the only Dragon interested in Emrys, and in preparing Sküld. Orobus the Chained, said to be the Dragon most adept at negotiation and binding magic, and wielding influence over the [[Realms|eternal realms]] has also placed a proposal before the Ambassador. Orobus wishes to purchase several living [[weirwood]] trees; specifically from either the [[Heartwood of the Great Vale]] in [[Hercynia]] or the [[Golden Trees of Seren]] in [[Miaren]]. The details appear to be straightforward enough. She plans to transplant the trees into the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Silent Pines]] in [[Ossium]]; she is looking for trees that "remember" the vallorn, who will be able to "share" their experiences with the trees of the Bonewood.

This sounds fairly esoteric; there's no indication about what this will do if anything but Orobus is still keen. If the current holder of the Heartwood or the Golden Trees is interested, they can instruct the Ambassador to relay their agreement. Orobus will provide warlocks versed in [[Spring magic|Spring]] and Winter magic to ensure the trees arrive and that their transplantation is successful. It's estimated that the removal of the trees will reduce the weirwood production of the forest permanently by 1 wain each season. In return Orobus will provide 12 rings of [[ilium]] to the holder of the seat as payment for the trees.

The civil service have been unable to get a clear idea of exactly what Orobus is aiming for here. It's not possible to move weirwood production around, for example. The idea of trees "remembering" the vallorn appears to be a mystical or metaphysical idea rather than one rooted in magical theory. There are suggestions however that this is part of a deal that Orobus has brokered with an eternal designed to provide some sort of protection to the Bonewood against the vallorn. It might be possible to discover more through negotiation or diplomacy, but the Dragon is playing her cards quite close to her chest.

Both the Heartwood of the Great Vale and Golden Trees of Seren are due to be appointed at the Winter Solstice summit, via the [[Auction of the Seats]]. The decision about whether to take Orobus up on her deal will need to be made by whoever has control of the seat after the auction as the weirwood forests are their responsibility.

==Further Reading==
* [[Thule]]
* [[Thule lore]]

Invited with asperity

2026-04-18T16:11:42Z

Vsabo:

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]]
<ic>
"Why, Mistress Tasya, the Castellan of Krevsatyzmei is always pleased to receive you and any tidings you bring from The King Beneath the Hill. Even when, uh, so unexpectedly."

The on-duty guard, Pallad, looked up to her colleague Mor in the nest for some confidence, but received nothing but a deeply concerned glance. She-Of-The-Black-Cloak is not someone you want to walk up to you at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a harsh Karskian blizzard in the small hours of the night where it is all too easy to interpret every sound as a monster sneaking up on you. They were south of the mountains, making it much more likely that something awful was prowling nearby.

"Given the hill you stand on and who you bought it from, Pallad-daughter-of-Rith, you and your Castellan should always be prepared to engage in the tradition of hospitality. Please tell Mors-son-of-Ganax to kindly remove his hand from his crossbow lest I be made to feel ... unwelcome"

''Shit, how does she know our names?'' thought Pallad, trying not to let her fear show.

"Of course, ahem, honoured guest. May I offer you a pour of wine from my own flask, and perhaps some of this Holtfordian fruit?" The guard noted that while most of this small delegation were human, inasmuch as she could make out any details beneath their cowls and fur-lined cloak, one of them at least was a fellow orc. But not a Child of the Dragons, she thought.

"That will do nicely," Tasya let a smile escape her thick hood as she slowly and clearly partook of the wine and dates, unbothered both to stand before a fully garrisoned outpost of the Thule and by the biting cold the guards were so heavily wrapped up against.

Mors regained his composure first and shouted down from the tower; "And what business does Irontooth bring to a Tower of the Dragons?" This was a Thule outpost. There was surely no doubt that the Dragons were more powerful than any Sovereign. Probably older too. There was certainly no need to be scared of a messenger! Even if she already somehow knew yours and your parents names? Right?

"Business?" Tasya crowed. "What business can there be between the Wolf and the Raven? Between the Warrior and the Grave? I am here to speak the words of the Charnel Lord, and I will do so, to your Castellan, without further delay."

Best not push it. This was clearly the Castellan's problem and the warlock would not appreciate the intervention of mere gate guards.

"Of course, Mistress Tasya, enter and be welcome in our hall in the names of the Five. I shall go waken the Castellan."

The gates swung open, and the delegation of the Broken Barrow swiftly disappeared inside.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=IconThule.jpg|align=left|caption=For all that they take a long view of events, when the Thule Dragons choose to act their nation can move with dangerous intensity.|width=300}}</div>
==Overview==
The [[orc|orcs]] of [[Otkodov]] - the [[Thule]] - live to the north of the Empire. They share a long mountainous border with [[Wintermark]], with the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], and particularly with [[Varushka]]. Their magocratic nation is ruled by the five [[Thule_lore#Dragons|Dragons]] - allegedly immortal sorcerers of immense power who the folk of their nation treat as living ancestors or perhaps even gods. For much of Imperial history, they were at war with the Empire. In recent years a series of treaties have secured peace - mostly by [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|ceding]] parts of the northern Imperial nations.

It is not a universally ''popular'' peace. There are grumbles from Wintermark that the Empire keeps surrendering to the orcs of the north, although they are subdued and rarely enter the public discourse. The Imperial Orcs of [[Skarsind]] keep the Thule at arms' length where possible. It is the nation of [[Varushka]] that has been most critical of the peace treaties - and it cannot be argued that they have been called on to sacrifice more of its northern lands to the Thule than any other nation. The priests of Varushka expressed a commitment to never hand over Varushkan soil to the orcs again - with [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_57|judgement 57]] in their own assembly, and [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Synod_judgements#Judgement_67|Judgement 67]] in the General. Neither achieved a [[greater majority]] however - hardly surprising for the General but perhaps unexpected in the Varushkan assembly. It seems that '''Lenochka Zabotovna Vypalse''' and '''Father Drakov''' may not speak with a single voice on this matter.

For now, though, peace endures. The [[Ratify_Thule_Treaty_Spring_387YE|treaty has been ratified]]; it is law. Two nations - [[the Marches]] and [[Navarr]] - are sending great amounts of food north to help feed the people of Otkodov and support their armies. It is illegal to preach the Way of Virtue in Otkodov to their citizens. For their part the Thule agree to share the [[white granite]] of the [[Night Quarry]]; pay for the food delivered to them; ensure Imperial access to the
[[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], in return for the right to send warlocks to study at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun]]. And, of course, to maintain their current policies for the reasonable treatment of Imperial citizens choosing to remain and live in ceded lands. All that remains is for the pageantry and theatre of a formal signing.

==State Visit==
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided will attend the Senate Chambers at 18:00 on Saturday to celebrate the recent signing of the [[Ratify Thule Treaty Spring 387YE | five-year peace treaty]].'''
* '''Rak intends to retire soon, and he will be accompanied by a coterie of potential successors. This may present an opportunity to shape the tenor of Imperial/Thule relations for the next few years.'''
* '''The party will discuss the future of cooperation between the two great powers, the fate of the Druj, the vallorn, and other matters of import.'''

Last season, a delegation from Otkodov was waylaid and unable to make it to Anvil as planned to formally sign the treaty. They are now on their way to complete the intended state visit. Whilst a formal signing of the treaty is not legally required (indeed Rak is satisfied that everything is in order, and the flow of merchants across the border in both directions is testament to the fact that the treaty is holding) the Thule do consider the symbolism inherent in ink and parchment to be valuable.

More pressingly, there is much to discuss as regards making the most use of the period of peace. Cooperation between nations of such might and prowess could yield great benefits, so long as fair terms can be agreed. There is the matter of the vallorn to discuss, the fate of the Druj and their territories, and the ever-present Jotun in the west. There might also be opportunities for trade, for magical cooperation or simply for friendship between peers. It would not do to pass up this opportunity for the great and good of the Empire to liaise with the representatives of Otkodov. No actual agreements will be worked on at this meeting, such things are a matter for Winged Messengers or small private meetings, but the seed of discussion bears the fruit of cooperation.

Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided has served as the Dragon's emissary to the Empire for several years now, and has decided that the time is coming to step aside. Not immediately, perhaps, but soon. To that end, he is bringing with him a selection of potential successors; apprentices and mentees who have worked with him on Imperial Diplomacy and may be poised to take up the challenge. Ultimately, the Dragons will make the final call as to who replaces Rak, but it would be foolish to assume that they will not be paying ''very'' close attention to proceedings to assess the candidates. Imperial Citizens who wish to shape the future of Thule foreign policy may benefit from attending the event.

They have informed the civil service that the Thule delegates will be:
* Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided (he/him) - Ambassador to The Empire
* Runa, of the ''Circle of Thrice-Turned Stones'' (he/him) - An accomplished Night and Autumn warlock with an interest in trade.
* Hekla, of the ''Unbroken Chain of Gilded Fire'' (he/him) - A prodigious Summer warlock specialising in military matters.
* Galk, of the ''Sunken Orb of Brilliant Sapphire'' (he/they) - A studious Winter, Spring and Day warlock at the forefront of theoretical magic.
* Orn The Scribe (he/they) - a servant bonded to the offices of the Speaker for the Dragons Undivided.

The party will arrive in Anvil at 18:00 on Saturday and proceed to the Senate building. They have asked that any interested citizen be allowed to attend, but leave the facilitation of the event itself in the capable hands of the [[Ambassador to Otkodov]], '''Kindra Surefoot'''. They expect to be in the Senate for at most an hour, but if there are still worthwhile discussions ongoing by that point, they may adjourn to the Imperial Offices for a short additional time.

==A Cultural Exchange (Redux)==
* '''Imperial storytellers are invited to meet with skuldyr in Otkodov to exchange and discuss cultural tales on the themes of Heroism and Duty.'''
* '''The [[High Bard of the Empire]] is tasked with arranging the conjunction to Leopard-Tooth Pass on Friday at 23:15.'''
* '''The warlock Hoosfa Mek offers to continue exchanging written records of folk tales in the Tome of Shared Lore.'''

[[About today#A Cultural Exchange |Last Winter]], ''skuldyr'' from Otkodov attended the Wintermark camp in Anvil to exchange stories with the scops. The event appears to have been judged a success by the warlocks, as an invitation has been sent to the Empire, via the civil service. A conjunction of the Sentinel Gate has been identified that would allow up to 12 people to take the Thule up on this invitation by travelling to Leopard-Tooth Pass in Kógur, Skuld at 23:15.

Eirikur the skuld asks for the storytellers of the empire to bring no more than five tales, which should be focused on the themes of Heroism and Duty. Last year, Eirikur spoke with many scops in Wintermark, but also spoke to some Navarri. Since then, he has been learning more about the narrative traditions of The Empire's northern peoples. For this exchange, he would like the visiting party to be composed of Wintermark Scops, Varushkan Storytellers, and Navarri bards.

The Civil Service have assigned responsibility for this conjunction to the [[High Bard of the Empire]], '''Mikael Reskovich'''. They would also like to remind any potential attendees that it is [[Ratify Thule Treaty Spring 387YE| currently illegal]] to preach [[The Way]] in Otkodov. It is not clear how strict the Thule will be on this, but guests of the Dragons might do well to avoid overtly religious messages in their stories.

At the last meeting with the skuldyr, the warlock Hoosfa Mek gave a gift to the [[Ambassador to Otkodov|Ambassador]], a book of Thule tales. They will be present at this meeting as well and have expressed that, if the Ambassador wishes, they would be happy to take custody of the book once again and have more stories added to it. They would be especially keen for this if their Imperial counterparts have been able to record some of their own tales in the tome.
==A Northern Passage==
* '''The Thule have responded negatively to a proposal to map the northern parts of the Sea of Snow and the coast of Otkodov
Ambassador Surefoot has carefully raised the matter of securing a sea-route to Otkodov through the north-eastern [[Sea of Snow]]. As they point out, there was a fleet mapping expedition of the frigid sea [[Never_be_found_at_home#Senate_Motion|a few years ago]]. While it uncovered [[Midnight_rain#Mapping_the_Sea_of_Snow|a great deal of information]] it did not manage to follow in the [[Never be found at home#Passage to Ultima Thule|wake of the ''Sea Hawk'']] and discover if there ''is'' a navigable passage to the coast of [[Otkodov#Nithoggir|Nithoggir]]. There is an invitiation for cooperation between the Empire and Otkodov, with an eye toward developing a sea trade route.

Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided explains that the Dragons recently permitted an attempt to find a trade route between western Otkodov and Wintermark, overland through the wastes of Tsirku, and it was an unmitigated disaster that cost many lives. They do not see that any attempt to open a sea route would be any more successful - there are beasts in the ice-strewn waters off the coast of Otkodov that are truly terrible even for the Sea of Snow. Weighing the risk and the reward, they see little advantage to allowing the Empire to create - and ultimately control - a maritime route to their shores. They would rather leave that door unopened at least for the time being. Rak goes further - not only will the Dragons not authorise cooperation in this endeavour they will not permit a trading post on their coast. Trade with Otkodov will continue overland, as it has done for the last decade or so.

Reading between the lines, it is very clear that no matter what Rak says, fundamentally the Dragons do not want the Empire to have a way to bring fleets to their coast. Relations may have thawed in the last decade, but not so much that the Dragons will tolerate Imperial ships sailing through open waters to the lands of the Thule.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Forest of Ulnak is mapped, but large parts of the territory remain a mystery.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Hinodir, Tathenon, and the Eastern Woods==
* '''Reports from Varushka speak of Thule armies on the move'''
* '''An agent of the Charnel Lord is speaking to the Thule in Krevsatymei'''
* '''The Thule are preparing an invasion of the Forest of Ulnak and invite Imperial warbands to accompany them'''
* '''They also welcome Imperial armies provided the generals are prepared to follow the lead of Tathenon the Gyre'''
Following the Autumn Equinox, Thule hunters swept into the [[Forest of Ulnak]], using the [[spy network]] there at the invitation of the [[Imperial Spymaster]]. One of the Dragons, ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'', [[Bedight_in_veils#Forest_of_Ulnak|negotiated access]] allowing the orcs of Otkodov to take advantage of existing framework laid down by the Empire. There are Imperial scouts using the spy network as well, but the Thule make no effort to cooperate with them. These hunters are fairly different to the warriors more often encountered by the Empire - bow and spear warriors with thick hide armour and dark blue hoods, accompanied by battle warlocks and practitioners of [[Night magic]]. The warbands are all shrouded by an [[enchantment]] that makes them hard to spot against natural landscapes and guides them through the wild woods of the territory. Their work completed, they return to Otkodov shortly before the Winter Solstice.

Even as the hunters already sent out, the Thule are on the move. Eyewitnesses observe significant Thule military forces entering [[Ossium]] - moving into the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] and [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Both woodlands have apparently been woven with Spring magic; at first there is a concern this is an attempt to unleash the [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]]. Rather than becoming mobile however it seems the forest is possessed of a magical awareness that causes the trees to attack intruders and trespassers in a manner more similar to [[Forge the Wooden Fastness]]. There's talk of other movements as well - ''Tasya of the Black Feathers'', the mouth-piece of the [[Varushkan_Monster#Sovereigns|sovereign]] known as the [[Charnel Lord]] - has been spotted visiting ''Krevsatyzmei'', the Thule fortification in Karsk. At various points in the past the Charnel Lord has allied with the Thule, betraying them with equal ease when the tides of battle shifted. It seems another cycle of diplomacy may be beginning.

Ambassador Kindra has raised the possibility of a joint effort to attack the Forest of Ulnak, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided politely requests that the ambassador keep the military strategists at arms length during the coming delegation. At the same time however, he issues an invitation from ''Tathenon the Gyre, Who Wields the Might of the Sky''. Any Imperial [[military unit|warband]] that wishes is welcome to join the Thule in their assault against the Druj of Ulnak. Those who wish to do so may fight alongside the ''Earthquake Drummers'', who lead the assault against the vermin of [[the Mallum]]. Any captain who brings their warband will be granted a gift of crystal mana. A standard military unit will be rewarded with 7 crystal mana, with an [[Military unit#Upgrades|upgraded]] or [[enchantment|enchanted]] military unit receiving proportionally more.

Furthermore any Imperial army that wishes to join the assault is welcome to do so ''provided'' the [[general]] acknowledges the sovereignty and strategy of Tathenon the Gyre. They will fight alongside the orcs of Otkodov, just as the orcs of Otkodov fought alongside the Empire to liberate Sermersuaq. Rak is aware that the level of secrecy requested may disincline the Military Council to support the attack but the Dragons have weighed that risk as being acceptable to ensure the Druj do not become aware of their strategy. Regardless, while the Empire fight to conquer [[Sarangrave]], and fight along the border with the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]], they help Otkodov achieve its goal even if no armies provide any aid in Ulnak.

The civil service believe there is no legal issue with Imperial military units supporting the Thule - they are foreigners and have in the past been military allies, and the Druj are definitely barbarians. They caution that sending armies into the Forest of Ulnak this season ''without'' agreeing to accept the strategy of Tathenon the Gyre will mean that the Empire's troops will act as a separate force. It's doubtful the Thule will fight the Empire directly, but depending on where a general launches their attack the possibility of Imperial and Otkodov forces clashing over the eastern Forest of Ulnak cannot be discounted - it is not feasible to predict exactly what might happen here. One thing they are certain of; even if a general does wish to support the Otkodov armies they will still be free to issue orders as to the conduct and [[army orders|tactics]] their army will employ. The only thing that will be determined by Otkodov is the order in which the regions of Ulnak are assailed.
==Caridis, Sławomir, and the Face-peelers==
* '''The Thule are prepared to have the Claws of the Dragon work with Varushkan warriors to root out the face-peelers
* '''This creates a raiding venture for Varushkan military units
* '''The Boyar's Hasta can take support the raid if it takes certain specific actions
* '''The consequence is disruption to draughir citizens of Karsk and Ossium
Another matter of a military flavour concerns the "face-peeling shapeshifters" known to exist in and around the Webwood, among other locales. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided stresses again that the Thule do not consider them to be a particular concern but they are also not by any stretch allies of Otkodov. Cleaning out a den of rabid wolves is usually a good idea; while they may favour attacking humans they might easily shift their depredations to orcs. With that in mind, Rak conveys an invitation from the Dragon known as ''Caridis the Binder of Runes and Oaths'' inviting '''Sławomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' to gather some bands of Varushkan warriors, [[Varushka_military_concerns#Wagon_Raiders_and_Sell_Swords|sell swords]], [[warden|wardens]] and the like to work with the ''Claws of the Dragon'' to exterminate the "trudnik" in Ossium and [[Karsk]]. The Claws of the Dragon are a small fellowship of warlocks that serve the Dragons by rooting out magical threats to Otkodov - they have recently been involved with the folk of Wintermark in dealing with both cults of [[Agramant|Blood-on-the-Snow]] and the monoliths of the Falconer. Caridis the Binder has instructed them to work with Sławomir to deal with the "face stealers" and so they have focused their efforts into eastern Varushka even as the armies of Otkodov begin to move.

Following the Winter Solstice, [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[military unit|military units]] will have the opportunity to undertake a [[military unit#Raiding|raiding]] [[venture]] called ''Root out the Face-peelers''. This will involve working with the Thule in Karsk and Ossium to track down nests of "trudnik" and, where they are found, employ axe and flame to destroy them. The Claws of the Dragon are a fairly small organisation, but they are supported here by a cadre of warriors and hunters. Regardless, the full success of this venture will depend on Varushkan involvement.

A standard military unit that undertakes this venture will receive six measures of [[Materials#Natural_Materials|forest materials]], and a phial of ''Corrupt Blood''. This latter is a vile [[potion]] brewed by the trudnik that infuses the drinker with preternatural strength and endurance. A military unit that has been upgraded or enchanted will receive proportionately more. Unfortunately, this raid comes with a cost. One of the problems is that the glamour the trudnik use makes it easy for them to masquerade as Varushkans with the [[draughir]] [[lineage]]. A thorough attack on the trudnik will cause trouble for the draughir of Karsk and Ossium; following the Winter Solstice they will receive a -1 penalty to the production of their resource unless it is a [[military unit]] taking the ''Root out the Face-peelers'' action. Even if few military units get involved, the inevitable suspicion and doubt that is seeded will be enough to unsettle the affairs of draughir in Karsk and Ossium.

If at least 7,500 strength of military units participate in the raid, the trudnik will be driven out of their lairs in Karsk and Ossium. The Empire will be able to expand their knowledge of these creatures, and finally get some reliable evidence of what they are and what they are doing. There may be some mopping up to do - at least one of the trudnik lairs in Ossium is apparently very old and extends into the earth - and if there is a dark spirit involved with the face-peelers it may fall to the Empire to deal with it. The matter of "spoils" however has already been set by Caridis - the Empire will claim whatever trudnik "loot" lies in Imperial Varushka, while the Thule will take custody of anything seized from the trudnik that lies in Thule lands. This would include Slomavetka, allegedly a lair of the trudnik set in a rich forest and with deep caverns carved into the hill beneath it, which lies just across the border in the Webwood.

Everything seems quite straightforward, at least in theory, but Rak is clear that if any problems do develop, it will fall to Sławomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh, with the guidance of the Ambassador to Otkodov, to negotiate with the Claws of the Dragon on behalf of Caridis the Binder.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=BoyarsHasta Colour.webp|align=right|width=300}}</div>
Or rather, not ''entirely'' straightforward. While cooperation is being mooted, [[boyar]] '''Skandavitz Iskander Kastrioti''' points out that the [[Boyar's Hasta]] - an army that makes a point of working with sell swords and wagonraiders - might be an ideal force to help support the raid on the trudnik. The Thule have no particular objection - warriors are warriors as far as they are concerned. A brief discussion with the [[Civil Service|civil service]] lays out the logistics of how this might be done. The Boyar's Hasta would need to be in [[Ossium]], where the trudnik are apparently most populous. It would need to use its [[Army_qualities#Sell_Sword|Sell Sword quality]] to take the [[Army_qualities#Scouting|guard the gates]] order, and the general would need to specify in their [[army orders|orders]] that they wished to support the raid on the face-peelers. Finally, the army would need to be [[enchantment|enchanted]] with the [[Autumn magic|Autumn]] ritual [[Bound by Common Cause]] simply because that enchantment helps create bonds between the soldiers and the people of the territory. The civil service also caution that the Boyar's Hasta would not benefit from [[Casualties#Natural_Resupply|natural resupply]] while doing this - the trudnik will certainly fight back after all and the soldiers will be dispersed across Karsk as well as Ossium. But it would provide its strength to supporting the ''raid the face-peelers'' action, making it much more likely the raids would be a thorough success (that is, it would add its strength ''before'' orders or the presence of military units taking a [[military unit#campaigning|campaigning]] action to support the army are taken into account - military units supporting the Boyar's Hasta would ''not'' count toward the strength requirement of the action, only those specifically taking the raiding action would count).

Obviously it is up to '''Serafina Semenov''', the general of the Boyar's Hasta, whether the army chooses to take advantage of this opportunity or not.

==Icy Crags and Distant Peaks==
{{WingedMessenger|address=Missives can be sent to ''Thania of the Blackstaff, Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun, Miekarova, Varushka'', who is the spokesperson for the Thule orcs living in and around the Icy Crag. She is interested only in matters related to the college and the warlocks attending; anything else should go through the Ambassador from Otkodov.}}
* '''Thule warlocks have taken up residence in Miekarova, around the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun
* '''Their spokesperson is Thania of the Blackstaff, an aged Thule warlock
* '''Thania is interested in acquiring certain ritual texts codified at the college and prepared to offer mithril for them
The contingent of warlocks have taken up residence at the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun, studying with the Imperial scholars. Their presence makes some magicians uneasy; many of these orcs are veterans of the various wars with the Empire. Others bring an unnervingly intense reverence for the Dragons. For the most part though they are distant, reserved, and primarily interested in researching and discussing magical concepts alongside their peers. Their "leader" is a warlock named ''Thania of the Blackstaff'', an aged orc who has made a study of all six realms of magic. She speaks on behalf of the Thule orcs on matters related to the Icy Crag, but indicates that any more political matters need to go via the Ambassador to the Empire.

A couple have attempted to introduce the Imperial students and professors to a ball-game from Otkodov that uses staves and [[Spellcasting#Offensive_Spells|offensive magic]] to keep control of a [[tempest jade]] sphere. The "excitement" of the contest comes from the fact the "ball" is enchanted to explode violently if it is struck too many times over a short period. It is very much an acquired taste but those who have participated say it is great for "getting the blood pumping" if nothing else.

The presence of the Thule reduces the costs to upkeep the Icy Crag by five Thrones each season, but they receive a copy of any [[Formulaic_ritual#Ritual_Texts|ritual text]] codified there. They've also apparently had a thorough read through the stacks, looking with interest for details of magic previously worked on here. Having learned of the existence of [[Aid Once More]], [[Bitter Mantle of the Leaden Crown]], ''Heaven's Spear Sunders the Mountain'', ''The Never-ending Lullaby'', and ''Sermersuaq Fools the Orca with a Rasp of Her Knuckles'', they are interested to find out more if the opportunity presents itself and eager to acquire ritual texts if the Empire will allow it.

For each of these rituals the Conclave is prepared to [[dissemination|disseminate]] to Thania of the Blackstaff, she will provide 6 wains of mithril to the individual who raises the [[declaration]] after it passes, or should they specify in their declaration, to the Conclave (to later be distributed with a declaration of [[endowment]]). Alternatively she can provide 35 [[vis#golden apple|golden apples]] (again, to the person who raised the declaration or the Conclave for endowment). As long as the desired payment is clear, Thania isn't concerned what form is requested as she apparently has been assigned significant resources by the Dragons.

One problem the civil service point out is that three of the rituals - ''Heaven's Spear Sunders the Mountain'', ''The Never-ending Lullaby'', and ''Sermersuaq Fools the Orca with a Rasp of Her Knuckles'' - are not actually part of [[Formulaic_ritual#Imperial_Lore_and_the_Ritual_List|Imperial lore]] and thus ''can't'' be disseminated by the Conclave. There's nothing to stop whoever has those ritual texts entering into negotiations with Thania directly for purchase of the ritual texts but it is not a simple matter to create a new copy of a text.
==Fraynir and the Black Waste==
* '''The Thule have made preparations to defend Sküld from an active vallorn
* '''Fraynir, one of the five Dragons, wishes to acquire the ''Dreadful Ending'' ritual
* '''They are offering a ritual that already seems to exist in Imperial lore under a different name'''

Ambassador Kindra has provided some guidance regarding the concerns of '''Dylan Thornweaver''' and the [[vallorn]]. It is now common knowledge that there is a vallorn in [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]] - occupying the ruins of the ancient city of Emrys. Ambassador Rak offers reassurance that the Dragons' opinion on the matter has not shifted from [[A_thousand_years_of_longing#Our_Friends_in_the_North|where it was]] when the [[Great Library of Hacynian]] completed their research. Research he is keen to remind the Empire that the [[A_thousand_years_of_longing#Our_Friends_in_the_North|Thule supported]]. Otkodov remains enthusiastic about the reunification - the "ascension" - of the vallorn. They remain ready to deal with the vallorn of Sküld - but would appreciate a season of advance warning before the Empire completes the [[trods]] network and begins the transformation. They remain confident that their armies and their magic will be more than a match for it given its size and sluggishness. They've sacrificed a thousand years of prosperity in Sküld to keep it weak, after all. With the vallorn gone they would no longer need to keep Sküld under a [[Wither the Seed|shroud of Winter magic]] and could restore it to full fertility. There is also speculation that the Thule are eager to finally get at the treasures of Emrys which legends suggest was perhaps the most magically advanced city of the Terunael Empire; the warlocks refuse to be drawn.

There is some concrete news on the matter of the vallorn, however, that may be of interest to the Empire. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that a project is underway to prepare for the vallorn's rise - it is just common sense. Rather than rely on a grand [[fortification|citadel]], The-One-Who-Waits (likely the Dragon ''Fraynir'', an acknowledged master of [[curse|curses]] and shrouding magic) has decreed the creation of several rings of [[white granite]] stones around the outskirts of the vallorn of Emrys. When they are completed, they will be warded with [[Winter magic]] and [[ilium|star metal]] to create fortified camps that will catastrophically weaken any vallornspawn that ventures within. Given the nature of all such wards, the stones themselves will be unassailable by the creatures of the vallorn and as such offer a reliable defence against the vallorn's expansion. To magicians versed in such things it seems to be a version of [[Wardens of the Black Waste]].

The reason Rak has raised this point, it quickly turns out, is that Fraynir has instructed him to offer a text containing the ritual - ''Walls of Starless Night'' - in return for a copy of a specific ritual created at the Icy Crags. Fraynir wished the Imperial Conclave to [[Dissemination|disseminate]] the ritual [[Dreadful Ending]]. This ritual destroys [[Druj_miasma#Miasma_Pillars|miasma pillars]] - nothing to do with the vallorn.

Fraynir is apparently unaware that ''Wardens of the Black Waste'' is a part of Imperial lore. This is understandable given the ritual was codified at the [[Dean_of_the_Lyceum#The_Lyceum|Lyceum]] by then-[[Dean of the Lyceum|Dean]] '''Simargl the Empty One'''. It's possible that the Conclave may wish to go ahead with the trade. If they do, whoever raises the Dissemination will need to pay the traditional ten thrones, and will receive in return the ritual text of ''Walls of Starless Night''. It's very unlikely that Walls of Starless Night will be an improvement over ''Wardens of the Black Waste'', however. With that in mind, the Ambassador could facilitate negotiation on behalf of the Conclave, and perhaps the [[Vallornguard]], given it is clear that Fraynir is keen to get their hands on this very niche ritual.

==Orobus and the Bonewood==
* '''The Dragon Orobus is keen to acquire living weirwood trees'''
* '''She specifically wants living trees from the Heartwood of the Great Vale and/or the Golden Trees of Seren'''
* '''She will pay 12 rings of ilium for the ability to collect some trees and transplant them to the Bonewood
* '''Agreeing to this arrangement will reduce the production of the weirwood forest by 1 wain each season, permanently'''
Fraynir is not the only Dragon interested in Emrys, and in preparing Sküld. Orobus the Chained, said to be the Dragon most adept at negotiation and binding magic, and wielding influence over the [[Realms|eternal realms]] has also placed a proposal before the Ambassador. Orobus wishes to purchase several living [[weirwood]] trees; specifically from either the [[Heartwood of the Great Vale]] in [[Hercynia]] or the [[Golden Trees of Seren]] in [[Miaren]]. The details appear to be straightforward enough. She plans to transplant the trees into the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Silent Pines]] in [[Ossium]]; she is looking for trees that "remember" the vallorn, who will be able to "share" their experiences with the trees of the Bonewood.

This sounds fairly esoteric; there's no indication about what this will do if anything but Orobus is still keen. If the current holder of the Heartwood or the Golden Trees is interested, they can instruct the Ambassador to relay their agreement. Orobus will provide warlocks versed in [[Spring magic|Spring]] and Winter magic to ensure the trees arrive and that their transplantation is successful. It's estimated that the removal of the trees will reduce the weirwood production of the forest permanently by 1 wain each season. In return Orobus will provide 12 rings of [[ilium]] to the holder of the seat as payment for the trees.

The civil service have been unable to get a clear idea of exactly what Orobus is aiming for here. It's not possible to move weirwood production around, for example. The idea of trees "remembering" the vallorn appears to be a mystical or metaphysical idea rather than one rooted in magical theory. There are suggestions however that this is part of a deal that Orobus has brokered with an eternal designed to provide some sort of protection to the Bonewood against the vallorn. It might be possible to discover more through negotiation or diplomacy, but the Dragon is playing her cards quite close to her chest.

Both the Heartwood of the Great Vale and Golden Trees of Seren are due to be appointed at the Winter Solstice summit, via the [[Auction of the Seats]]. The decision about whether to take Orobus up on her deal will need to be made by whoever has control of the seat after the auction as the weirwood forests are their responsibility.

==Further Reading==
* [[Thule]]
* [[Thule lore]]

Ourselves and immortality

2026-03-23T21:11:31Z

Vsabo: /* Cornice */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Plenipotentiary]]
<ic>The sound of someone trying to drag a heavy box as quietly as possible was very distracting. Aemilia strove to maintain poise, but the words in her head tumbled and fragmented and were gone. She put down her pen with a pointed "click" and turned round in her chair.

"Sorry, Aemelia." Diogenes did not sound sorry. He had his sleeves rolled up and was rooting through some of the storage chests that sat under the bookshelves. "What are you working on?"

"A poem about death." She replied flatly. "Or I was until someone decided they needed to rearrange the library right this second. Now I'm talking to you."

"Sorry again." He still didn't sound sorry. "But there's been news. The Archmage has called the Court of Rope together. All three of them. For the Solstice. Marcus wants us to be ready to offer Tribute."

"I thought the Queen was still under enmity?" Aemelia had not been keeping track.

"Not since last Winter," replied Diogenes cheerily. He ran his finger through the frosted tips of his bleached hair and then swore quietly as he realised he'd caked his head in dust. "Queen and Knight at neutrality, King remains amitous."

"That isn't a word." Aemelia corrected her coven mate on reflex, more out of pedantic habit than any confidence he would stop making up words.

"''Definitely'' all three of them? Not just the King?" Poise alone kept Aemelia's tone neutral. "Hag Queen and Burnt Prince as well? In the same parley?"

Diogenes was only half listening, busy selecting scrolls and stuffing them into the pockets in his sash.

"Well, the heliopticon says it's all three of them. Tupenties from Moonwell Spire says it's ''as monarchs'' as well if that matters."

It did not, in fact, help. Aemelia caught herself nibbling her thumbnail, and it took an effort to put her hand back in her lap.

"How long has it been since all three of them have been approached together?" She asked mildly. "As the Court I mean, rather than individually?"

"Years, I suppose. I hadn't really given it any thought. Why?"

"No reason, just thinking out loud." She did not let her eyes stray to the shelf where the ''Tome of Ruinous Omens'' lay innocently on its side, fat with visionary dreams and carefully curated advice about the Court of the Three and the dangers of getting entangled with them. "I just seem to recall that last time they were all together, it caused a bit of a fuss. But I'm sure ''this'' time it will be ''absolutely fine''."</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=StillLifeWithASkull.jpg|caption=Everything is sure to be well, to be well.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Overview==
* '''Six eternals have sent emissaries to Anvil, apparently in response to plenipotentiary messages from the Imperial archmages'''
* '''Five have agreed to meetings of one kind of another, either in person or via emissaries'''
* '''The other has provided messages, opportunities, or gifts of one type or another'''
As the Winter Solstice approaches, the [[eternal|eternals]] respond to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] messages of the six [[archmage|archmages]]. Each of the six is empowered to send a single message to an eternal of their [[realms|realm]] each season, with certain expectation of ''some'' kind of response. Some eternals will arrange a [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] or some kind, a personal meeting with themselves or more commonly one of their favoured lieutenants. Others may take more direct action, offering [[opportunity|opportunities]] to secure boons or enlist the eternal's power to change the Empire in some way. Sometimes they decline the offer of meetings or boons, but even then they are likely to provide their reasons for doing so.

Since the Autumn Equinox, messengers representing six eternals have come to the Empire from their eternal patrons, detailing the response to each plenipotentiary missive.
==Before a House==
* '''The Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges welcomes the plenipotentiary of the Autumn Archmage
* '''A parley will take place in a chamber reached via the Hall of Worlds at TBC on Saturday during the summit
* '''Prospero requests the Archmage bring someone capable of speaking for the Celestial Arch along with them
* '''The Archmage may include up to two others as part of their entourage
* '''The current Archmage of Autumn is Vossk of Zenith Ascendant
{{CaptionedImage|file=Prospero001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
It has been a [[Back_in_town#Prospero|little over two years]] since last a formal emissary of the [[Prospero|City of Bridges]] visited the Empire. The minotaur, resplendent in robes of incarnadine and viridian, again visits the [[Astolat#Castle of Thorns|Castle of Thorns]] rather than visiting [[Anvil#The Hub|the Hub]]. Their message is short and devoid of unnecessary details. It seems that the ''Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges'' requests formal [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] with '''Vossk of Zenith Ascendant''', the new [[Archmage of Autumn]].

The meeting will take place in a chamber set aside for the purpose, at '''TBC''' on Saturday during the coming Winter Solstice. The main topic of conversation will be the matter of ritual magic - ''Threadweaver'' is interested to hear how the Archmage believes the ''City of Bridges'' might provide support to the Imperial war machine in the manner Vossk has outlined, although the minotaur is quick to point out that nothing is promised.

On the matter of promises, however, the ''Reckoner of Ebony and Bone'' is keen to conclude the matter of the favour owed by the [[Celestial Arch]] following his [[Inkpot_gods#The_Arch_and_The_Web|provision of a meeting]] with the people of [[Skoura]]. It is time for that favour to be called in, and as such Vossk is requested to bring a member of the [[Conclave order]] with the authority to discuss such matters to the parley. As with the favour provided to the [[Rod and Shield]], which was repaid by the [[386YE_Spring_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Dissemination:_Find_the_Best_Path|dissemination]] of a [[Find the Best Path|military ritual]] to the magician-princes of Jarm, the expectation is that the repayment will be of commensurate value to the favour provided.

There are provisions for up to two others - secretaries, clerks, or [[scrivener|scriveners]] as the Archmage deems appropriate. The agenda for the meeting is set, however, and Prospero is unlikely to be amused by attempts to introduce new matters for discussion once it begins.

==I Would Not Stop==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Siakha001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Siakha offers parley to the Archmage of Spring at TBC on Saturday/Friday during the summit
* '''The ''Marvath'' will discuss the matter of destruction the Archmage has raised
* '''Three new rituals have appeared in Urizen lore without warning, apparently as a gift to Ibiss Briarheart
* '''The current Archmage of Spring is Ibiss Briarheart'''
During some of the worst weather of the early Winter, a creature emerges from the [[Regio#Imperial Regio|Imperial Regio]] at [[Anvil]]. It is a ''[[Siakha#Servants_of_Siakha|tempest]]'', one of the children of ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]''. A storm given flesh, a thing of barely contained disruptive force. This one is a little different to those encountered on battlefields supporting the [[Children of Wrecks]]. It bears a staff of [[tempest jade]] and wears an open dark green robe that evokes the wind-tossed breakers of the [[Bay of Catazar]]. It jerks and twitches in time to some inaudible rhythm only it can hear. Moving through Anvil with impressive directness, anyone who gets in its way even slightly is [[repel|hurled aside]] without warning. By the time it reaches the Hub, there are magistrates and militia waiting for it. It does not waste time on formalities, simply delivering its message to anyone who is near enough to hear its loud, rumbling words.

''Thunder-That-Speaks'' has heard the words of '''Ibiss Briarheart'''. She accepts the petition for parley. There will be an opportunity for the Archmage of Spring to speak with her favoured lieutenant the ''Marvath'' who is empowered to talk of the destruction desired by Briarheart. That meeting will take place on Friday evening at '''TBC''', in a chamber created for the purpose. Only the Archmage themselves, or their proxy if they cannot come themselves, is invited to attend.

There will be no talk of [[Grendel]], nor of wreckers. Nothing to say about Sarvos, nor Asavea, nor the lords of Winter. The matter the ''Hurricane Queen'' is interested in is the devastation, slaughter, and loot that the Archmage has proposed. She will offer her gift, if the Archmage is strong enough to accept it. Indeed, she has provided gifts to the people of Urizen as Briarheart has asked.

Message delivered, the ''tempest'' returns by the same direct route that it arrived, this time with an armed escort that it does not acknowledge in any way. It disappears through the gate at the heart of the Imperial regio with neither another word nor a backward glance.
==Civility==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Skathe001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Surut002.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tharim 001.jpg|align=right|width=215}}
* '''The Thrice-cursed Court accept the offer of parley
* '''They will accept a delegation from Anvil at midnight on Friday
* '''Each of the three has matters of interest to them
* '''The current Keeper of Tharim's Throne Claudia Varkulova Remislav is invited to join the courtiers of the Thrice-cursed to help facilitate the meeting
* '''The current Archmage of Winter is Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien, although they have indicated their intent to retire
On the evening of the first day of Winter proper, the air is sharp with the promise of snow and ice, and a messenger arrives at Anvil. It comes not from the Imperial Regio, but along the main road that runs through the settlement. It takes its time, savouring the sights and sounds, and pausing to observe folk about their early evening business. It is clearly a [[Inhabitants of the realms|creature of the realms]], and of the [[Realms#Winter|Winter realm]] in particular. Pallid skinned, with lengths of rusted metal woven into and out of its flesh, it observes with empty eye sockets that nonetheless seem to see everything that transpires. A foul aura surrounds it, and those who get too close feel their skin crawling - that feeling of being on the edge of sleep and hearing a noise from a part of the room you know to be empty. Chained to its wrist is a book, the binding of which does not bear close inspection by those of faint heart or weak stomach.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><box>'''Weakness and the Hall of Worlds'''<br>The last time all three members of the Thrice-cursed Court were together, they appeared in the Hall of Worlds. Their departure triggered an unpleasant effect. Everyone in the Hall of Worlds was struck with [[Calls#Weakness|weakness]]. There's no indication this was done on purpose; it might just be an effect of the Thrice-cursed monarchs withdrawing their presence from the Hall. There's also no indication this will happen again, but it is something to be aware of.<br><br>

But to be on the safe side, it's worth a reminder that one cannot leave the Hall of Worlds while subject to [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakness]], because one cannot cast [[operate portal]]. It is important to remember that you can only move ''yourself'' between the Hall of Worlds and Anvil (and vice versa) with the [[operate portal]] spell. The [[Ambassadorial Gatekeeper]] ritual allows other options but must either be cast in advance, or performed in the Hall of Worlds.

It's also tricky to remove weakness while one is experiencing it, given the way it restricts a character's abilities. The most reliable way would be to use a potion such as [[Apothecary_Potions#Feverfail_Elixir|Feverfail Elixir]] or [[Master_Medicinal#Maledict's_Medicament|Maledict's Medicament]]. A magician who does so would then be free to cast the [[purify]] spell, or take part in a ritual such as [[Renewed Strength of the New Day]] to help their fellows overcome any lingering curse. It's also important to remember that, as with [[Calls#VENOM|venom]], weakness does not go away naturally - it must be treated in some way before it is removed.

Again, there's no particular reason to believe this may become an issue, but this is a good a time as any to remind people of the dangers of being weakened while in the Hall of Worlds.</box></div>
When it reaches the Hub, it bows low and begins to read from the book. It bears a greeting from the ''[[The Thrice-cursed Court|Court of Broken Hearts]]''. From the ''[[Tharim|King-in-Chains]]'', from the ''[[Surut|Prince-of-Ashes]]'', and from the ''[[Skathe|Queen-of-Nails]]''. They accept the invitation of the [[Archmage of Winter]]. They also express their regret: they have heard that the Archmage of Winter Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien has chosen to step away from their powerful position to pursue other interests. Ematius was a worthy Archmage, say the Three, and whomever steps up to replace them will surely have their work cut out for them, given how difficult the other eternals of the Winter realm can be to deal with.

Regardless, they offer formal parley on Friday night, at midnight, during the coming Summit. The new Archmage may bring two others as their aides if they wish. In addition to the Archmage, the Keeper of Tharim's Throne '''Claudia Varkulova Remislav''' is invited to attend as a guest of the King. During the parley they may speak as they see fit, with no constraints placed on them by the Archmage. They may bring a servant of their own along if they desire. The Keeper of Tharim's Throne is also empowered to bring one other specific person if the wish: the [[the Marches|Marcher]] [[General]] of the [[Drakes]], '''William Guildenstern'''. Tharim leaves it entirely to Claudia's discretion whether they believe Guildenstern will provide any benefit to the parley.

As to the parley itself, each of the three monarchs of the ''Court of Rope'' has topics of interest to them. The King-in-Chains and his lieutenant ''Lord-Captain Catenatus'' will discuss the matter of the wicked folk of [[Skoura]], and of the murder of ''Obligatus''. The ''Prince-of-Ashes'' will speak of the clever artisans of Skoura, and of knights and [[regio]], as well as on the matter of the [[vallorn]]. The ''Queen-of-Nails'' will speak of the peculiar folk of Skoura, the [[Upon_a_midnight_dreary#Smile_(Skathe)|boon of Catena]], and of other gifts that the Court are minded to offer to their Imperial friends.

These gifts will ''not'' however include the ritual to ''Unleash Wild Fire''. The Empire has proved reticent to actually use the magical lore that the ''Court of Locked Doors'' has offered in recent years and while '''Armand Remislav Who Was Remys''' is beloved of the court, they would be better served seeking other boons.

In response to questions, or requests for clarification, the messenger simply smiles and shakes their head. Once they have finished delivering their messages, they depart Anvil the way they came - not via the Imperial regio, but along the road leading out of the town. Those few brave enough to follow a herald of the Thrice-cursed soon lose it as the evening darkens into night and the first curtains of snow close around it.
===Tribute Collectors===
* '''Surut intends to send tribute collectors to Anvil prior to the parley
* '''These tribute collectors are due to arrive at Anvil around 22:00 on Friday
* '''They are only interested in speaking to "warriors" - whatever that means
There is another matter to consider; the ''Burnt Knight'' intends to send some of his heralds to Anvil before the parley proper to collect "tribute". They will be looking for warriors - and the herald stresses they must be warriors - prepared to accept a tiny portion of Surut's curse for a time. This will apparently involve the herald-knights [[Calls#CLEAVE|injuring]] the arms or legs of those prepared to receive their strike. They may arrange for [[Surgical skills#Physick|physicks]] to be on hand if they wish; the important thing is the willingness to offer tribute.

The herald is close-mouthed about the details of this peculiar ceremony. They do let slip, however, that this is about the fact that the Thrice-cursed Court all too often deals only with magicians. This may be acceptable to the ''Thronebound'' and the ''Contemptuous'', but the ''Ashen Prince'' values the raw strength of the warrior more than he does honeyed words or clever magic.

Before departing, the herald also mentions that Surut is expecting that there will be at least some warriors prepared to show respect to him. It is not stated explicitly but there is a subtext that Surut would likely be displeased to discover that the Empire is not willing to offer sufficient tribute, and this will directly impact his mood in the parley.

==And Eternity==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:Ylenwe001.webp|align=right|width=300]]</div>
* '''Ylenwe has responded to a request for parley from the Archmage of Day
* '''A herald of Ylenwe named Trunembra of the Strings will visit the Hall of Worlds during the arcane colloquium
* '''In addition to the Archmage of Day, Ylenwe has requested that the High Bard of the Empire be there
* '''The current Archmage of Day is Skywise Gralka
On a blustery autumn day a quiet herald with mottled silver and indigo scales appears at the Hub. They arrive without comment, and the first anyone is aware of them is when, seated on a three-legged stool, they start to play quiet notes on their cerulean-and-weltsilver lyre. Their harmonious melody quells the often garrulous crowds in the Hub.

As they pluck their soothing strings, they deliver their message from the '' Mistress of Music''. Zie has heard the words of the Archmage of Day, and seen the results of their cooperation at Bulgakov, and in the [[Speak_to_me#Song_of_the_White_Wood|White Wood]]. Yet there are limits to what Ylenwe can achieve - and here the heralds music turns mournful, bringing a tear to the eye of all save the most hard-hearted. The [[Hahnmark#Kronemark|Sungate]] in Kronemark is beyond the power of ''Zie of the Perfect Morning''.

According to her herald the Sungate is not a scar, some residue of the harm the ''[[Cold Sun|Oblivion Flame]]'' inflicts upon the world. Rather it is an open wound, a thing directly supported by the disharmonious fury of the ''End Of Songs''. The howling empty heart of the ''Light Destructive'' cannot be moved by the music of the ''Dove''; there is no way to close the Sungate or to allow mortals to approach the fane of such relentless, irresistible hatred. If things change in the future then fate may deliver an opportunity to deal with this burning beacon of despite, but for now there is nothing to be done but avoid it.

The heralds’ notes fall silent, and they bow their scaled head for several moments in contemplation. When their music resumes it has a more hopeful tone. When it comes to the White Wood and its song, though, the ''Shape of Sound'' can achieve something a little more wholesome. She intends to send her herald ''Trunembra of the Strings'' to the Hall of Worlds during the [[Arcane Colloquium]]. Once the Archmage of Day has completed their hosting duties, there will be a chance to discuss matters. The eternal asks that the [[High Bard of the Empire]] also be there, if possible. There will be discussion of musical instruments, and the role that music can play in uplifting the spirit and honing understanding of the world.
===Passed the Setting Sun===
* '''Ylenwe proposes to serve as patron for a house of harmonious music in Skarsind
* '''Zie wishes the Archmage and High Bard to consider how to help those threatened by Cold Sun
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''The Harmonious Hall'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' TBC, Skarsind</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 15 white granite, 15 weirwood, 10 mithril, 10 ilium, 120 crowns</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Time:''' 1 season</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' None</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Requirement:''' Must be ceded to Ylenwe (??)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Unclear at this time
</td></tr>
</table></div>
The ''Harmonious Chorister'' proposes the construction of a hall of music in the White Wood, a place where Imperial citizens can come together to study magic especially as it relates to the [[Day magic|Realm of Sea and Sky]] and the pursuit of harmony. The herald is not clear on what precisely this means - this is partly the matter that is to be discussed with the Archmage and the High Bard - but they do deliver plans for the structure. It appears to be a spacious hall, designed to complement the natural beauty of the area, with plenty of room for musical study and performance. The hall of music is an [[edifice]] that would require 15 wains of white granite, 10 wains of mithril, and 10 rings of ilium to construct, and would need to be conceded to Ylenwe. This last point raises a few eyebrows, but the herald gently suggests that questions would be better held until Trunembra of the Strings can answer them with more authority.

There is another matter that ''Zie of the Dawn'' wishes to speak of. The Oblivion Flame has been [[Cold war|kindled again]] in the mortal world. Its creatures have erupted into lands torn by war, suspicion, and disharmony. It rampages unchecked, destroying and killing without pause. [[Cold Sun]] has learned much from its recent incursion into the Empire, and Ylenwe asks that the Archmage and the High Bard use all their influence to encourage the [[Senate|Imperial Senate]] to offer whatever aid the Empire can spare to the people of both the [[Commonwealth]] and [[Principalities of Jarm|Jarm]] - both of whom are facing a storm that the Empire alone has successfully weathered. Again, there will be a chance to talk about this with Trunembra of the Strings.

==Only Gossamer, My Gown==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:WhisperGal006.png|align=right|width=250]]</div>
* '''The Whisper Gallery have responded to the request for parley from the Archmage of Night
* '''They intend to take possession of the Hall of Worlds late on Saturday
* '''Exact details of what will be discussed, and precisely who with, are not clear
* '''The current Archmage of Night is Bella Vicente d'Apulian'''
It is not a herald that arrives at Anvil as Autumn ages toward Winter, but an orc from distant [[Spiral#Apulian|Apulian]]. She comes in the [[dramaturgy|dramaturgical]] guise of [[the Mountebank]] - or perhaps more correctly [[the Mountebank#The Sailor|sailor]]. Of particular note is her [[The_Cloak|cloak]] which seems to billow around her with a life of its own, and whose hood does a remarkable job of concealing her identity even without her mask - a crudely carved piece of driftwood whose simplicity seems quite at odds with her flamboyant garb.

She comes as a messenger of the ''Seers of the Empty Thrones'', the ''Repairers of Reputation'', the ''Chiaroscuran Courtiers of the Echoed Fall'' - the [[Whisper Gallery]]. They have received the art of ''sweet Bella'' - '''Bella Vicente d'Apulian''' presumably - the delicious [[Archmage of Night]]. The specific requests contained within have piqued their interest. They choose to accede, and will send their sommelier to meet with the Archmage and any other Imperial magicians who wish to be present, late on Saturday night in the Hall of Worlds. The ''Weavers of the Improbable Loom'' will reach out to that place shortly before the meeting and fashion it suitable to their needs; they presume the Archmage understands their need to do so.

They do however place stipulations on the parley. All those who attend must be masked; those who do not accept this requirement will find they are unable to enter the Hall and will instead find themselves returning to Anvil. This misdirection of the paths between Anvil and the Hall of Worlds will persist until the parley - and it will be a parley - has been completed.

They are especially interested in seeing certain folk attend. In addition to sweet Bella, they invite the wise '''Fausta''', Grandmaster Silver Chalice; the ambitious '''Genoveva Barossa d'Apulian''', [[Senator]] for [[Spiral]] and cunning '''Rafael Barossa d'Apulian''', Custodian of [[Legacy]]; the perceptive '''Mikael Reskovich''', High Bard; and the hateful '''Morgan Waystone Path''', [[Magpies#Speaker|Speaker of the Magpies]]. If they are in attendance they may accompany the Archmage into the Hall as part of their entourage. The Sommelier has words to convey to each from the ''Praetori Exsilium in Litore''.

Delightful Bella has, with honeyed words, asked for aid in uncovering secrets and the lieges of the Gallery shall be interested to see whether they are successful in doing so. There may be talk of [[Axos]], the fall of the empire of dreams, and the Spider of Lost Days. There may be talk of the [[Venture#War_of_Whispers|War of Whispers]], and of the destruction of the [[Magpies]], and of the [[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]].

The message is vague, perhaps unsurprisingly. On one matter, though, the orc is quite clear. The Whisper Gallery are not friends of, or allies to, the Empire of '''Vesna Borkovna Prochnost''', the ''Throne of Pumpkins''. Imperial thieves are too keen to drag secrets from the shadowed places of the world and expose them to the harsh noonlight. The Court continues to oppose them, wherever they can, and will urge others to do so. The enmity they bear against secret-slaughterers has not been slaked, not even a little.

However for this single night at the Winter Solstice, there will be a chance for good-mannered discussion. Things change, and while the enmity of the Court has not lessened, the shape it takes is as mutable as anything else drowned in the shadows. With that in mind, any members of the militia, or any magistrates, who attempt to exert their authority over the people visiting their friends in the ''Court of Disrule'' will be ejected. They are welcome as long as they come masked, and remain civil, but any who attempt to harass or impose boundaries on their fellow citizens will find the patience of the ''Dancers of the Gossamer Pavane'' extremely limited.

With that, the orc bows politely, and takes her leave. A pair of magistrates stand ready outside the Hub to ask her some significant questions, but almost as soon as she steps out of the tent she is mobbed by two dozen figures dressed identically in the same voluminous cloak. The shapes wheel around each other and before the magistrates can do much more than raise the alarm, each of them races off in a different direction. While several of these interlopers are caught, they are Imperial citizens from every nation - a mix of humans and orcs. The only thing they have in common is that they are all actors, who say they had been paid for a unique thespian opportunity. None of them have ever met before, each was recruited by a different agent, and they all resolutely claim to have no idea they were dealing with the Whisper Gallery. Of the orc who delivered the message of the Whisper Gallery there is no sign.
===Participation : Parley===
* '''Anyone who wants to visit the Hall of Worlds during the parley must wear a mask
* '''While in the Hall of Worlds during the parley, it is impossible to remove a mask
* '''Everyone in the Hall of Worlds during the parley experiences a roleplaying effect
* '''Additional options exist for leaving the parley
The Whisper Gallery are using the invitation to parley to "twist" the gate that leads to the Hall of Worlds. Anyone who is not masked in some way will be unable to reach the meeting. Anyone who enters the Hall of Worlds will find that they cannot remove their mask; it is impossible for anyone to take their own or another character's mask off while the parley is underway.

Furthermore everyone in the Hall of Worlds will experience a [[roleplaying effect]]: ''your mask represents your true face and you find it easy to act in accordance with its identity''. This effect becomes more pronounced as the parley continues. The dramaturgical personae offer some suggestions as to roleplaying effects tied to the traditional roles, but its up to you how you interpret the identity your mask represents. The effect fades within a few minutes of leaving the Hall of Worlds.

The twisting of the paths to and from the Hall of Worlds has a second effect. Anyone leaving the Hall of Worlds can choose to go immediately to the out-of-character area rather than return to Anvil directly. They're free to come back into play through the entrance between the out-of-character area and Anvil if they wish. This doesn't represent teleportation but rather the character being escorted, unseen, by heralds wreathed in [[Night magic]] until they reach the relative safely of the alleys of [[Anvil#Outer_Anvil|Outer Anvil]] - a clear effort from the Whisper Gallery to stymie attempts to intercept, search, or detain anyone visiting their parley.

During the parley any herald of the Whisper Gallery may call [[Calls#CURSE|CURSE]] against anyone attempting to disrupt the meeting. If this is done, the target should immediately leave the Hall of Worlds by the nearest exit and return to Anvil; they are unable to enter the Hall of Worlds again until time out.

Finally, we ask all participants to be mindful of our [[Conduct#Roleplaying_Conflict|conduct]] rules around roleplaying conflict, especially those concerning physical intimidation.

==Cornice==
{{CaptionedImage|file=King Under the Mountain.png|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Adamant has declined a formal parley from the Archmage of Summer'''
* '''They have made a number of proposals relating to ritual magic
* '''The current Archmage of Summer is Mirella of the Twisted Rose'''
There is, of course, a sizable contingent of ''koboldi'' busy at Anvil following the Autumn Equinox. While they are mostly focused on anchoring the [[Opening ceremonies|new structure]], one of them takes time out of their schedule to visit the Hub. A cheerful, friendly individual with silver scales buffed to mirror sheen, they wear a splendid golden coat inlaid with hundreds of tiny gemstones that twinkle and glitter as they move. Somewhat apologetically, they indicate that they have been charged with delivering a message from the ''[[Adamant|King Under the Mountain]]'' in response to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] of the [[Archmage of Summer]]. It is, they warn, a fairly mixed bag all things told.

The ''koboldi'' delivers the bad news first - “''to get it out of the way so that one can focus on happier things''”. While the ''King Under the Mountain'' would be happy to see more great fortresses of [[white granite]] built in northern Varushka, they are concerned that the Vorazi do not see the bigger picture. The court of Adamant might help make a fortress larger, more impressive, or harder to destroy. They might help it be built more swiftly. They might even aid in enchanting it so that it can be more easily repaired or its garrison granted additional strength. The one thing they are ''not'' going to do is make it ''cheaper''. As the ''koboldi'' says philosophically “''you really don’t want to cut corners when you’re building something that’s meant to withstand armies, do you?''”

The request to intercede with Imperial roads is not something Adamant is interested in at the moment. The [[Senate]] is doing a wonderful job repairing and maintaining the grand highways, says the ''koboldi''. Yet the [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruinous]] magic of Spring - the ''koboldi'' shudders at the thought of it - has a way of tearing down even those things crafted from the strongest mundane materials. Infusing an entire Empire’s worth of roads with adamant - even the pale shadow of true adamant that can be worked in the mortal world - would take massive effort and not be achieved quickly. For something as mundane, and lacking in [[Summer magic#Majesty|majesty]] as a network of roads? Is such an endeavour worthy of the ''King Under the Mountain''? It isn't impossible to achieve but would require a great deal of fast talk, and likely involve the kind of [[:Category:Imperial Enchantment|Imperial enchantment]] that has been illegal since the [[interdiction]] of '''Cassandra i Periera i Erigo''' [[385YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction_:_Empire_Wide_Enchantments|made such things a crime]].

Finally on the matter of the Ashen Flame, the Archmage must understand that there is no shortage of covens and individual magicians seeking the patronage of ''Sharaz on the Adamant Throne''. Their master is not uninterested, but at the moment there is little to make that coven stand out. If the Ashen Flame is serious about impressing Adamant, says the ''koboldi'', they should prevail on the Archmage of Summer to arrange a meeting on their behalf with some of Adamant's assessors. They should outline what they actually want, and why Adamant should give it to them. If this is the sole purpose of a plenipotentiary missive, the ''Master of Gnomes'' is much more likely to be amenable to honouring that request.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dima12713.jpg|caption='''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''', Master of the Koboldi|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Laughlan10531.jpg|caption='''Laughlan vi Temeschwar''', Master of Rings|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Lucrezia Corvinascura.jpg|caption='''Lucrezia Corvinascura''', Chair of the Wolf|align=left|width=250}}
</div>
===''Throne of the Mountains''===
* '''Adamant offers an arcane projection that might be codified to conjure a powerful castle from his domain
* '''Unlike the Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, the conjured fort would focus on protecting a single region of hills
* '''In return for their aid they request that certain titles have their powers expanded
After all that negativity, the ''Dragon of Stone'' is interested to hear the request of '''Joseph of the Ashen Flame''' regarding the conjuration of ''actual'' citadels rather than simple castles that simply ''claim'' to be citadels. It is within the power of the ''Imperishable Potentate'' to do so. Adamant is prepared to provide a [[arcane projection|document]] that can serve as the basis for a ritual called ''Throne of the Mountains'' that could be codified at any Imperial [[college of magic]]. It would conjure a powerful defensive structure from the domain of Adamant that would offer superlative protection to the region of [[Region_qualities#Hills|hills]] where the enchantment was cast. This defence would make it significantly harder for an enemy army to claim the region, and they would find attempts to do so particularly punishing. Beyond that the ''koboldi'' provides no other details. A little cross-questioning from a member of the [[Unfettered Mind]] who happens to be present leaves them with the distinct impression that the ''koboldi'' is outlining something similar in basic outline to [[the Basalt Citadel]], but for enchanting hills or mountains. Attempts to get a more specific explanation just send the ''koboldi'' off into a tangent about how great fortifications are in general.
In return for this boon, the ''Stone King'' wishes to see the powers of certain [[Imperial title|Imperial titles]] amended. At the moment the epic builders of the Empire often have little lists of things they can and cannot build - ''clearly'' an oversight suggests the cheerful ''koboldi''. The ''Throne of Adamant'' “simply” wishes the [[Imperial Senate]] to amend the powers of the [[Master of the Koboldi]], [[Legion Engineer]], [[Master of Rings]], and [[Chair of the Wolf]] such that these titles can build ''any'' [[Commission]] that creates a structure. This would mean they could commission any current ''or future'' [[commission#Military Commissions|military]] or [[commission#Civilian Commissions|civilian]] commission that makes a structure (this would exclude, for example, mustering an [[army]] or raising a [[navy]]).

The ''koboldi'' cheerfully points out that this will save the Senate a lot of trouble in the long run as they won’t have to keep tweaking the titles as they come up with new things to build.

Obviously any other restrictions about how and where and when they can build things will remain as per the individual titles. If the Senate does so before the Conclave Session on Saturday night, a ''koboldi'' will try and make sure the Archmage of Summer has the document in their hands during the session.

===''Monolithic Stronghold''===
* '''Adamant considers the power of Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon
* '''In return for aid, they ask that the Imperial Master of Works have their power to commission fortifications restored
Likewise, when it comes to the ''Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon'', Adamant is prepared to examine the [[arcane projection]] and see if it can be improved. The ''koboldi'' cautions that this might increase the magnitude of the enchantment; it’s hard to say. In return Adamant wishes to see the Senate show their commitment to building and maintaining mundane [[fortification|fortifications]] - they ask that the Archmage use their political influence to restore the power of the [[Imperial Master of Works]] to [[commission]] such structures. The civil service indicate that it would be possible to limit the number of times each season that this power could be used - in much the same way as the power of the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to build [[spy network|spy networks]] is limited. Again, if this is done before the last Conclave Session of the summit, the ''koboldi'' will do their best to deliver a modified arcane projection to the Archmage during that time although they can't promise to be successful.
===On Gnomes===
* '''Gnomes are inhabitants of the Summer realm, part of Adamant's court
As a final note, which the ''koboldi'' almost forgets to mention, there is the matter of gnomes. They are [[inhabitants of the realms|inhabitants]] of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] that serve as excavators in the ranks of Adamant’s court. They are simple yet powerful creatures of earth and stone that can swim through rock, and reshape it as they wish with their bare hands. The ''koboldi'' is a little sniffy when they recount this - there are strong hints that their people and the gnomes do not get along well. Indeed, the little silver herald finished by saying that they don’t see why '''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''' would be worried about gnomes when they have so many delightful ''koboldi'' to work with.
===Collecting Stones===
* '''Adamant has also received a missive from the Stone Smith
It seems that the Archmage of Summer is not the only person who has requested parley with the the ''Unturned Stone''. The [[Stone Smith]], '''Gemma Brightsmith''' has also sought counsel from the ''Swordbreaker'' on behalf of her fellow [[smith|smiths]] through the auspices of an [[Stone Smith#Call to the Gull|Autumn eternal]]. Rather than reply in the same fashion as he does with an Archmage, however, it seems Adamant has chosen to send his heralds directly to [[the Marches]] to present his response. You can find more detail about this in the '''[[In the ground]]''' wind of fortune.

==Timetable==
There are comparatively few meetings taking place during this summit. The times, the locations, and the eternals involved, are summarised here.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Day !! Time !! Eternal !! Realm !! Note
|-
| Friday || TBC || [[Siakha]] || Spring || Parley; only the Archmage is invited to the chamber where it will take place
|-
| Friday || 00.00 || [[The Thrice-cursed Court]] || Winter || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|-
| Saturday || TBC|| [[Prospero]] || Autumn || Parley in a chamber
|-
| Saturday || 15:00 || [[Ylenwe]] || Day || A herald will attend the [[Arcane Colloquium]] after the formal business is completed
|-
| Saturday || 00.00 || [[Whisper Gallery]] || Night || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|}

Ourselves and immortality

2026-03-23T21:03:42Z

Vsabo: /* Only Gossamer, My Gown */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Plenipotentiary]]
<ic>The sound of someone trying to drag a heavy box as quietly as possible was very distracting. Aemilia strove to maintain poise, but the words in her head tumbled and fragmented and were gone. She put down her pen with a pointed "click" and turned round in her chair.

"Sorry, Aemelia." Diogenes did not sound sorry. He had his sleeves rolled up and was rooting through some of the storage chests that sat under the bookshelves. "What are you working on?"

"A poem about death." She replied flatly. "Or I was until someone decided they needed to rearrange the library right this second. Now I'm talking to you."

"Sorry again." He still didn't sound sorry. "But there's been news. The Archmage has called the Court of Rope together. All three of them. For the Solstice. Marcus wants us to be ready to offer Tribute."

"I thought the Queen was still under enmity?" Aemelia had not been keeping track.

"Not since last Winter," replied Diogenes cheerily. He ran his finger through the frosted tips of his bleached hair and then swore quietly as he realised he'd caked his head in dust. "Queen and Knight at neutrality, King remains amitous."

"That isn't a word." Aemelia corrected her coven mate on reflex, more out of pedantic habit than any confidence he would stop making up words.

"''Definitely'' all three of them? Not just the King?" Poise alone kept Aemelia's tone neutral. "Hag Queen and Burnt Prince as well? In the same parley?"

Diogenes was only half listening, busy selecting scrolls and stuffing them into the pockets in his sash.

"Well, the heliopticon says it's all three of them. Tupenties from Moonwell Spire says it's ''as monarchs'' as well if that matters."

It did not, in fact, help. Aemelia caught herself nibbling her thumbnail, and it took an effort to put her hand back in her lap.

"How long has it been since all three of them have been approached together?" She asked mildly. "As the Court I mean, rather than individually?"

"Years, I suppose. I hadn't really given it any thought. Why?"

"No reason, just thinking out loud." She did not let her eyes stray to the shelf where the ''Tome of Ruinous Omens'' lay innocently on its side, fat with visionary dreams and carefully curated advice about the Court of the Three and the dangers of getting entangled with them. "I just seem to recall that last time they were all together, it caused a bit of a fuss. But I'm sure ''this'' time it will be ''absolutely fine''."</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=StillLifeWithASkull.jpg|caption=Everything is sure to be well, to be well.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Overview==
* '''Six eternals have sent emissaries to Anvil, apparently in response to plenipotentiary messages from the Imperial archmages'''
* '''Five have agreed to meetings of one kind of another, either in person or via emissaries'''
* '''The other has provided messages, opportunities, or gifts of one type or another'''
As the Winter Solstice approaches, the [[eternal|eternals]] respond to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] messages of the six [[archmage|archmages]]. Each of the six is empowered to send a single message to an eternal of their [[realms|realm]] each season, with certain expectation of ''some'' kind of response. Some eternals will arrange a [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] or some kind, a personal meeting with themselves or more commonly one of their favoured lieutenants. Others may take more direct action, offering [[opportunity|opportunities]] to secure boons or enlist the eternal's power to change the Empire in some way. Sometimes they decline the offer of meetings or boons, but even then they are likely to provide their reasons for doing so.

Since the Autumn Equinox, messengers representing six eternals have come to the Empire from their eternal patrons, detailing the response to each plenipotentiary missive.
==Before a House==
* '''The Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges welcomes the plenipotentiary of the Autumn Archmage
* '''A parley will take place in a chamber reached via the Hall of Worlds at TBC on Saturday during the summit
* '''Prospero requests the Archmage bring someone capable of speaking for the Celestial Arch along with them
* '''The Archmage may include up to two others as part of their entourage
* '''The current Archmage of Autumn is Vossk of Zenith Ascendant
{{CaptionedImage|file=Prospero001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
It has been a [[Back_in_town#Prospero|little over two years]] since last a formal emissary of the [[Prospero|City of Bridges]] visited the Empire. The minotaur, resplendent in robes of incarnadine and viridian, again visits the [[Astolat#Castle of Thorns|Castle of Thorns]] rather than visiting [[Anvil#The Hub|the Hub]]. Their message is short and devoid of unnecessary details. It seems that the ''Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges'' requests formal [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] with '''Vossk of Zenith Ascendant''', the new [[Archmage of Autumn]].

The meeting will take place in a chamber set aside for the purpose, at '''TBC''' on Saturday during the coming Winter Solstice. The main topic of conversation will be the matter of ritual magic - ''Threadweaver'' is interested to hear how the Archmage believes the ''City of Bridges'' might provide support to the Imperial war machine in the manner Vossk has outlined, although the minotaur is quick to point out that nothing is promised.

On the matter of promises, however, the ''Reckoner of Ebony and Bone'' is keen to conclude the matter of the favour owed by the [[Celestial Arch]] following his [[Inkpot_gods#The_Arch_and_The_Web|provision of a meeting]] with the people of [[Skoura]]. It is time for that favour to be called in, and as such Vossk is requested to bring a member of the [[Conclave order]] with the authority to discuss such matters to the parley. As with the favour provided to the [[Rod and Shield]], which was repaid by the [[386YE_Spring_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Dissemination:_Find_the_Best_Path|dissemination]] of a [[Find the Best Path|military ritual]] to the magician-princes of Jarm, the expectation is that the repayment will be of commensurate value to the favour provided.

There are provisions for up to two others - secretaries, clerks, or [[scrivener|scriveners]] as the Archmage deems appropriate. The agenda for the meeting is set, however, and Prospero is unlikely to be amused by attempts to introduce new matters for discussion once it begins.

==I Would Not Stop==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Siakha001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Siakha offers parley to the Archmage of Spring at TBC on Saturday/Friday during the summit
* '''The ''Marvath'' will discuss the matter of destruction the Archmage has raised
* '''Three new rituals have appeared in Urizen lore without warning, apparently as a gift to Ibiss Briarheart
* '''The current Archmage of Spring is Ibiss Briarheart'''
During some of the worst weather of the early Winter, a creature emerges from the [[Regio#Imperial Regio|Imperial Regio]] at [[Anvil]]. It is a ''[[Siakha#Servants_of_Siakha|tempest]]'', one of the children of ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]''. A storm given flesh, a thing of barely contained disruptive force. This one is a little different to those encountered on battlefields supporting the [[Children of Wrecks]]. It bears a staff of [[tempest jade]] and wears an open dark green robe that evokes the wind-tossed breakers of the [[Bay of Catazar]]. It jerks and twitches in time to some inaudible rhythm only it can hear. Moving through Anvil with impressive directness, anyone who gets in its way even slightly is [[repel|hurled aside]] without warning. By the time it reaches the Hub, there are magistrates and militia waiting for it. It does not waste time on formalities, simply delivering its message to anyone who is near enough to hear its loud, rumbling words.

''Thunder-That-Speaks'' has heard the words of '''Ibiss Briarheart'''. She accepts the petition for parley. There will be an opportunity for the Archmage of Spring to speak with her favoured lieutenant the ''Marvath'' who is empowered to talk of the destruction desired by Briarheart. That meeting will take place on Friday evening at '''TBC''', in a chamber created for the purpose. Only the Archmage themselves, or their proxy if they cannot come themselves, is invited to attend.

There will be no talk of [[Grendel]], nor of wreckers. Nothing to say about Sarvos, nor Asavea, nor the lords of Winter. The matter the ''Hurricane Queen'' is interested in is the devastation, slaughter, and loot that the Archmage has proposed. She will offer her gift, if the Archmage is strong enough to accept it. Indeed, she has provided gifts to the people of Urizen as Briarheart has asked.

Message delivered, the ''tempest'' returns by the same direct route that it arrived, this time with an armed escort that it does not acknowledge in any way. It disappears through the gate at the heart of the Imperial regio with neither another word nor a backward glance.
==Civility==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Skathe001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Surut002.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tharim 001.jpg|align=right|width=215}}
* '''The Thrice-cursed Court accept the offer of parley
* '''They will accept a delegation from Anvil at midnight on Friday
* '''Each of the three has matters of interest to them
* '''The current Keeper of Tharim's Throne Claudia Varkulova Remislav is invited to join the courtiers of the Thrice-cursed to help facilitate the meeting
* '''The current Archmage of Winter is Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien, although they have indicated their intent to retire
On the evening of the first day of Winter proper, the air is sharp with the promise of snow and ice, and a messenger arrives at Anvil. It comes not from the Imperial Regio, but along the main road that runs through the settlement. It takes its time, savouring the sights and sounds, and pausing to observe folk about their early evening business. It is clearly a [[Inhabitants of the realms|creature of the realms]], and of the [[Realms#Winter|Winter realm]] in particular. Pallid skinned, with lengths of rusted metal woven into and out of its flesh, it observes with empty eye sockets that nonetheless seem to see everything that transpires. A foul aura surrounds it, and those who get too close feel their skin crawling - that feeling of being on the edge of sleep and hearing a noise from a part of the room you know to be empty. Chained to its wrist is a book, the binding of which does not bear close inspection by those of faint heart or weak stomach.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><box>'''Weakness and the Hall of Worlds'''<br>The last time all three members of the Thrice-cursed Court were together, they appeared in the Hall of Worlds. Their departure triggered an unpleasant effect. Everyone in the Hall of Worlds was struck with [[Calls#Weakness|weakness]]. There's no indication this was done on purpose; it might just be an effect of the Thrice-cursed monarchs withdrawing their presence from the Hall. There's also no indication this will happen again, but it is something to be aware of.<br><br>

But to be on the safe side, it's worth a reminder that one cannot leave the Hall of Worlds while subject to [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakness]], because one cannot cast [[operate portal]]. It is important to remember that you can only move ''yourself'' between the Hall of Worlds and Anvil (and vice versa) with the [[operate portal]] spell. The [[Ambassadorial Gatekeeper]] ritual allows other options but must either be cast in advance, or performed in the Hall of Worlds.

It's also tricky to remove weakness while one is experiencing it, given the way it restricts a character's abilities. The most reliable way would be to use a potion such as [[Apothecary_Potions#Feverfail_Elixir|Feverfail Elixir]] or [[Master_Medicinal#Maledict's_Medicament|Maledict's Medicament]]. A magician who does so would then be free to cast the [[purify]] spell, or take part in a ritual such as [[Renewed Strength of the New Day]] to help their fellows overcome any lingering curse. It's also important to remember that, as with [[Calls#VENOM|venom]], weakness does not go away naturally - it must be treated in some way before it is removed.

Again, there's no particular reason to believe this may become an issue, but this is a good a time as any to remind people of the dangers of being weakened while in the Hall of Worlds.</box></div>
When it reaches the Hub, it bows low and begins to read from the book. It bears a greeting from the ''[[The Thrice-cursed Court|Court of Broken Hearts]]''. From the ''[[Tharim|King-in-Chains]]'', from the ''[[Surut|Prince-of-Ashes]]'', and from the ''[[Skathe|Queen-of-Nails]]''. They accept the invitation of the [[Archmage of Winter]]. They also express their regret: they have heard that the Archmage of Winter Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien has chosen to step away from their powerful position to pursue other interests. Ematius was a worthy Archmage, say the Three, and whomever steps up to replace them will surely have their work cut out for them, given how difficult the other eternals of the Winter realm can be to deal with.

Regardless, they offer formal parley on Friday night, at midnight, during the coming Summit. The new Archmage may bring two others as their aides if they wish. In addition to the Archmage, the Keeper of Tharim's Throne '''Claudia Varkulova Remislav''' is invited to attend as a guest of the King. During the parley they may speak as they see fit, with no constraints placed on them by the Archmage. They may bring a servant of their own along if they desire. The Keeper of Tharim's Throne is also empowered to bring one other specific person if the wish: the [[the Marches|Marcher]] [[General]] of the [[Drakes]], '''William Guildenstern'''. Tharim leaves it entirely to Claudia's discretion whether they believe Guildenstern will provide any benefit to the parley.

As to the parley itself, each of the three monarchs of the ''Court of Rope'' has topics of interest to them. The King-in-Chains and his lieutenant ''Lord-Captain Catenatus'' will discuss the matter of the wicked folk of [[Skoura]], and of the murder of ''Obligatus''. The ''Prince-of-Ashes'' will speak of the clever artisans of Skoura, and of knights and [[regio]], as well as on the matter of the [[vallorn]]. The ''Queen-of-Nails'' will speak of the peculiar folk of Skoura, the [[Upon_a_midnight_dreary#Smile_(Skathe)|boon of Catena]], and of other gifts that the Court are minded to offer to their Imperial friends.

These gifts will ''not'' however include the ritual to ''Unleash Wild Fire''. The Empire has proved reticent to actually use the magical lore that the ''Court of Locked Doors'' has offered in recent years and while '''Armand Remislav Who Was Remys''' is beloved of the court, they would be better served seeking other boons.

In response to questions, or requests for clarification, the messenger simply smiles and shakes their head. Once they have finished delivering their messages, they depart Anvil the way they came - not via the Imperial regio, but along the road leading out of the town. Those few brave enough to follow a herald of the Thrice-cursed soon lose it as the evening darkens into night and the first curtains of snow close around it.
===Tribute Collectors===
* '''Surut intends to send tribute collectors to Anvil prior to the parley
* '''These tribute collectors are due to arrive at Anvil around 22:00 on Friday
* '''They are only interested in speaking to "warriors" - whatever that means
There is another matter to consider; the ''Burnt Knight'' intends to send some of his heralds to Anvil before the parley proper to collect "tribute". They will be looking for warriors - and the herald stresses they must be warriors - prepared to accept a tiny portion of Surut's curse for a time. This will apparently involve the herald-knights [[Calls#CLEAVE|injuring]] the arms or legs of those prepared to receive their strike. They may arrange for [[Surgical skills#Physick|physicks]] to be on hand if they wish; the important thing is the willingness to offer tribute.

The herald is close-mouthed about the details of this peculiar ceremony. They do let slip, however, that this is about the fact that the Thrice-cursed Court all too often deals only with magicians. This may be acceptable to the ''Thronebound'' and the ''Contemptuous'', but the ''Ashen Prince'' values the raw strength of the warrior more than he does honeyed words or clever magic.

Before departing, the herald also mentions that Surut is expecting that there will be at least some warriors prepared to show respect to him. It is not stated explicitly but there is a subtext that Surut would likely be displeased to discover that the Empire is not willing to offer sufficient tribute, and this will directly impact his mood in the parley.

==And Eternity==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:Ylenwe001.webp|align=right|width=300]]</div>
* '''Ylenwe has responded to a request for parley from the Archmage of Day
* '''A herald of Ylenwe named Trunembra of the Strings will visit the Hall of Worlds during the arcane colloquium
* '''In addition to the Archmage of Day, Ylenwe has requested that the High Bard of the Empire be there
* '''The current Archmage of Day is Skywise Gralka
On a blustery autumn day a quiet herald with mottled silver and indigo scales appears at the Hub. They arrive without comment, and the first anyone is aware of them is when, seated on a three-legged stool, they start to play quiet notes on their cerulean-and-weltsilver lyre. Their harmonious melody quells the often garrulous crowds in the Hub.

As they pluck their soothing strings, they deliver their message from the '' Mistress of Music''. Zie has heard the words of the Archmage of Day, and seen the results of their cooperation at Bulgakov, and in the [[Speak_to_me#Song_of_the_White_Wood|White Wood]]. Yet there are limits to what Ylenwe can achieve - and here the heralds music turns mournful, bringing a tear to the eye of all save the most hard-hearted. The [[Hahnmark#Kronemark|Sungate]] in Kronemark is beyond the power of ''Zie of the Perfect Morning''.

According to her herald the Sungate is not a scar, some residue of the harm the ''[[Cold Sun|Oblivion Flame]]'' inflicts upon the world. Rather it is an open wound, a thing directly supported by the disharmonious fury of the ''End Of Songs''. The howling empty heart of the ''Light Destructive'' cannot be moved by the music of the ''Dove''; there is no way to close the Sungate or to allow mortals to approach the fane of such relentless, irresistible hatred. If things change in the future then fate may deliver an opportunity to deal with this burning beacon of despite, but for now there is nothing to be done but avoid it.

The heralds’ notes fall silent, and they bow their scaled head for several moments in contemplation. When their music resumes it has a more hopeful tone. When it comes to the White Wood and its song, though, the ''Shape of Sound'' can achieve something a little more wholesome. She intends to send her herald ''Trunembra of the Strings'' to the Hall of Worlds during the [[Arcane Colloquium]]. Once the Archmage of Day has completed their hosting duties, there will be a chance to discuss matters. The eternal asks that the [[High Bard of the Empire]] also be there, if possible. There will be discussion of musical instruments, and the role that music can play in uplifting the spirit and honing understanding of the world.
===Passed the Setting Sun===
* '''Ylenwe proposes to serve as patron for a house of harmonious music in Skarsind
* '''Zie wishes the Archmage and High Bard to consider how to help those threatened by Cold Sun
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''The Harmonious Hall'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' TBC, Skarsind</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 15 white granite, 15 weirwood, 10 mithril, 10 ilium, 120 crowns</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Time:''' 1 season</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' None</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Requirement:''' Must be ceded to Ylenwe (??)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Unclear at this time
</td></tr>
</table></div>
The ''Harmonious Chorister'' proposes the construction of a hall of music in the White Wood, a place where Imperial citizens can come together to study magic especially as it relates to the [[Day magic|Realm of Sea and Sky]] and the pursuit of harmony. The herald is not clear on what precisely this means - this is partly the matter that is to be discussed with the Archmage and the High Bard - but they do deliver plans for the structure. It appears to be a spacious hall, designed to complement the natural beauty of the area, with plenty of room for musical study and performance. The hall of music is an [[edifice]] that would require 15 wains of white granite, 10 wains of mithril, and 10 rings of ilium to construct, and would need to be conceded to Ylenwe. This last point raises a few eyebrows, but the herald gently suggests that questions would be better held until Trunembra of the Strings can answer them with more authority.

There is another matter that ''Zie of the Dawn'' wishes to speak of. The Oblivion Flame has been [[Cold war|kindled again]] in the mortal world. Its creatures have erupted into lands torn by war, suspicion, and disharmony. It rampages unchecked, destroying and killing without pause. [[Cold Sun]] has learned much from its recent incursion into the Empire, and Ylenwe asks that the Archmage and the High Bard use all their influence to encourage the [[Senate|Imperial Senate]] to offer whatever aid the Empire can spare to the people of both the [[Commonwealth]] and [[Principalities of Jarm|Jarm]] - both of whom are facing a storm that the Empire alone has successfully weathered. Again, there will be a chance to talk about this with Trunembra of the Strings.

==Only Gossamer, My Gown==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:WhisperGal006.png|align=right|width=250]]</div>
* '''The Whisper Gallery have responded to the request for parley from the Archmage of Night
* '''They intend to take possession of the Hall of Worlds late on Saturday
* '''Exact details of what will be discussed, and precisely who with, are not clear
* '''The current Archmage of Night is Bella Vicente d'Apulian'''
It is not a herald that arrives at Anvil as Autumn ages toward Winter, but an orc from distant [[Spiral#Apulian|Apulian]]. She comes in the [[dramaturgy|dramaturgical]] guise of [[the Mountebank]] - or perhaps more correctly [[the Mountebank#The Sailor|sailor]]. Of particular note is her [[The_Cloak|cloak]] which seems to billow around her with a life of its own, and whose hood does a remarkable job of concealing her identity even without her mask - a crudely carved piece of driftwood whose simplicity seems quite at odds with her flamboyant garb.

She comes as a messenger of the ''Seers of the Empty Thrones'', the ''Repairers of Reputation'', the ''Chiaroscuran Courtiers of the Echoed Fall'' - the [[Whisper Gallery]]. They have received the art of ''sweet Bella'' - '''Bella Vicente d'Apulian''' presumably - the delicious [[Archmage of Night]]. The specific requests contained within have piqued their interest. They choose to accede, and will send their sommelier to meet with the Archmage and any other Imperial magicians who wish to be present, late on Saturday night in the Hall of Worlds. The ''Weavers of the Improbable Loom'' will reach out to that place shortly before the meeting and fashion it suitable to their needs; they presume the Archmage understands their need to do so.

They do however place stipulations on the parley. All those who attend must be masked; those who do not accept this requirement will find they are unable to enter the Hall and will instead find themselves returning to Anvil. This misdirection of the paths between Anvil and the Hall of Worlds will persist until the parley - and it will be a parley - has been completed.

They are especially interested in seeing certain folk attend. In addition to sweet Bella, they invite the wise '''Fausta''', Grandmaster Silver Chalice; the ambitious '''Genoveva Barossa d'Apulian''', [[Senator]] for [[Spiral]] and cunning '''Rafael Barossa d'Apulian''', Custodian of [[Legacy]]; the perceptive '''Mikael Reskovich''', High Bard; and the hateful '''Morgan Waystone Path''', [[Magpies#Speaker|Speaker of the Magpies]]. If they are in attendance they may accompany the Archmage into the Hall as part of their entourage. The Sommelier has words to convey to each from the ''Praetori Exsilium in Litore''.

Delightful Bella has, with honeyed words, asked for aid in uncovering secrets and the lieges of the Gallery shall be interested to see whether they are successful in doing so. There may be talk of [[Axos]], the fall of the empire of dreams, and the Spider of Lost Days. There may be talk of the [[Venture#War_of_Whispers|War of Whispers]], and of the destruction of the [[Magpies]], and of the [[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]].

The message is vague, perhaps unsurprisingly. On one matter, though, the orc is quite clear. The Whisper Gallery are not friends of, or allies to, the Empire of '''Vesna Borkovna Prochnost''', the ''Throne of Pumpkins''. Imperial thieves are too keen to drag secrets from the shadowed places of the world and expose them to the harsh noonlight. The Court continues to oppose them, wherever they can, and will urge others to do so. The enmity they bear against secret-slaughterers has not been slaked, not even a little.

However for this single night at the Winter Solstice, there will be a chance for good-mannered discussion. Things change, and while the enmity of the Court has not lessened, the shape it takes is as mutable as anything else drowned in the shadows. With that in mind, any members of the militia, or any magistrates, who attempt to exert their authority over the people visiting their friends in the ''Court of Disrule'' will be ejected. They are welcome as long as they come masked, and remain civil, but any who attempt to harass or impose boundaries on their fellow citizens will find the patience of the ''Dancers of the Gossamer Pavane'' extremely limited.

With that, the orc bows politely, and takes her leave. A pair of magistrates stand ready outside the Hub to ask her some significant questions, but almost as soon as she steps out of the tent she is mobbed by two dozen figures dressed identically in the same voluminous cloak. The shapes wheel around each other and before the magistrates can do much more than raise the alarm, each of them races off in a different direction. While several of these interlopers are caught, they are Imperial citizens from every nation - a mix of humans and orcs. The only thing they have in common is that they are all actors, who say they had been paid for a unique thespian opportunity. None of them have ever met before, each was recruited by a different agent, and they all resolutely claim to have no idea they were dealing with the Whisper Gallery. Of the orc who delivered the message of the Whisper Gallery there is no sign.
===Participation : Parley===
* '''Anyone who wants to visit the Hall of Worlds during the parley must wear a mask
* '''While in the Hall of Worlds during the parley, it is impossible to remove a mask
* '''Everyone in the Hall of Worlds during the parley experiences a roleplaying effect
* '''Additional options exist for leaving the parley
The Whisper Gallery are using the invitation to parley to "twist" the gate that leads to the Hall of Worlds. Anyone who is not masked in some way will be unable to reach the meeting. Anyone who enters the Hall of Worlds will find that they cannot remove their mask; it is impossible for anyone to take their own or another character's mask off while the parley is underway.

Furthermore everyone in the Hall of Worlds will experience a [[roleplaying effect]]: ''your mask represents your true face and you find it easy to act in accordance with its identity''. This effect becomes more pronounced as the parley continues. The dramaturgical personae offer some suggestions as to roleplaying effects tied to the traditional roles, but its up to you how you interpret the identity your mask represents. The effect fades within a few minutes of leaving the Hall of Worlds.

The twisting of the paths to and from the Hall of Worlds has a second effect. Anyone leaving the Hall of Worlds can choose to go immediately to the out-of-character area rather than return to Anvil directly. They're free to come back into play through the entrance between the out-of-character area and Anvil if they wish. This doesn't represent teleportation but rather the character being escorted, unseen, by heralds wreathed in [[Night magic]] until they reach the relative safely of the alleys of [[Anvil#Outer_Anvil|Outer Anvil]] - a clear effort from the Whisper Gallery to stymie attempts to intercept, search, or detain anyone visiting their parley.

During the parley any herald of the Whisper Gallery may call [[Calls#CURSE|CURSE]] against anyone attempting to disrupt the meeting. If this is done, the target should immediately leave the Hall of Worlds by the nearest exit and return to Anvil; they are unable to enter the Hall of Worlds again until time out.

Finally, we ask all participants to be mindful of our [[Conduct#Roleplaying_Conflict|conduct]] rules around roleplaying conflict, especially those concerning physical intimidation.

==Cornice==
{{CaptionedImage|file=King Under the Mountain.png|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Adamant has declined a formal parley from the Archmage of Summer'''
* '''They have made a number of proposals relating to ritual magic
* '''The current Archmage of Summer is Mirella of the Twisted Rose'''
There is, of course, a sizable contingent of ''koboldi'' busy at Anvil following the Autumn Equinox. While they are mostly focused on anchoring the [[Opening ceremonies|new structure]], one of them takes time out of their schedule to visit the Hub. A cheerful, friendly individual with silver scales buffed to mirror sheen, they wear a splendid golden coat inlaid with hundreds of tiny gemstones that twinkle and glitter as they move. Somewhat apologetically, they indicate that they have been charged with delivering a message from the ''[[Adamant|King Under the Mountain]]'' in response to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] of the [[Archmage of Summer]]. It is, they warn, a fairly mixed bag all things told.

The ''koboldi'' delivers the bad news first - “''to get it out of the way so that one can focus on happier things''”. While the ''King Under the Mountain'' would be happy to see more great fortresses of [[white granite]] built in northern Varushka, they are concerned that the Vorazi do not see the bigger picture. The court of Adamant might help make a fortress larger, more impressive, or harder to destroy. They might help it be built more swiftly. They might even aid in enchanting it so that it can be more easily repaired or its garrison granted additional strength. The one thing they are ''not'' going to do is make it ''cheaper''. As the ''koboldi'' says philosophically “''you really don’t want to cut corners when you’re building something that’s meant to withstand armies, do you?''.”

The request to intercede with Imperial roads is not something Adamant is interested in at the moment. The [[Senate]] is doing a wonderful job repairing and maintaining the grand highways, says the ''koboldi''. Yet the [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruinous]] magic of Spring - the ''koboldi'' shudders at the thought of it - has a way of tearing down even those things crafted from the strongest mundane materials. Infusing an entire Empire’s worth of roads with adamant - even the pale shadow of true adamant that can be worked in the mortal world - would take massive effort and not be achieved quickly. For something as mundane, and lacking in [[Summer magic#Majesty|majesty]] as a network of roads? Is such an endeavour worthy of the ''King Under the Mountain''? It isn't impossible to achieve but would require a great deal of fast talk, and likely involve the kind of [[:Category:Imperial Enchantment|Imperial enchantment]] that has been illegal since the [[interdiction]] of '''Cassandra i Periera i Erigo''' [[385YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction_:_Empire_Wide_Enchantments|made such things a crime]].

Finally on the matter of the Ashen Flame, the Archmage must understand that there is no shortage of covens and individual magicians seeking the patronage of ''Sharaz on the Adamant Throne''. Their master is not uninterested, but at the moment there is little to make that coven stand out. If the Ashen Flame is serious about impressing Adamant, says the ''koboldi'', they should prevail on the Archmage of Summer to arrange a meeting on their behalf with some of Adamant's assessors. They should outline what they actually want, and why Adamant should give it to them. If this is the sole purpose of a plenipotentiary missive, the ''Master of Gnomes'' is much more likely to be amenable to honouring that request.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dima12713.jpg|caption='''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''', Master of the Koboldi|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Laughlan10531.jpg|caption='''Laughlan vi Temeschwar''', Master of Rings|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Lucrezia Corvinascura.jpg|caption='''Lucrezia Corvinascura''', Chair of the Wolf|align=left|width=250}}
</div>
===''Throne of the Mountains''===
* '''Adamant offers an arcane projection that might be codified to conjure a powerful castle from his domain
* '''Unlike the Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, the conjured fort would focus on protecting a single region of hills
* '''In return for their aid they request that certain titles have their powers expanded
After all that negativity, the ''Dragon of Stone'' is interested to hear the request of '''Joseph of the Ashen Flame''' regarding the conjuration of ''actual'' citadels rather than simple castles that simply ''claim'' to be citadels. It is within the power of the ''Imperishable Potentate'' to do so. Adamant is prepared to provide a [[arcane projection|document]] that can serve as the basis for a ritual called ''Throne of the Mountains'' that could be codified at any Imperial [[college of magic]]. It would conjure a powerful defensive structure from the domain of Adamant that would offer superlative protection to the region of [[Region_qualities#Hills|hills]] where the enchantment was cast. This defence would make it significantly harder for an enemy army to claim the region, and they would find attempts to do so particularly punishing. Beyond that the ''koboldi'' provides no other details. A little cross-questioning from a member of the [[Unfettered Mind]] who happens to be present leaves them with the distinct impression that the ''koboldi'' is outlining something similar in basic outline to [[the Basalt Citadel]], but for enchanting hills or mountains. Attempts to get a more specific explanation just send the ''koboldi'' off into a tangent about how great fortifications are in general.
In return for this boon, the ''Stone King'' wishes to see the powers of certain [[Imperial title|Imperial titles]] amended. At the moment the epic builders of the Empire often have little lists of things they can and cannot build - ''clearly'' an oversight suggests the cheerful ''koboldi''. The ''Throne of Adamant'' “simply” wishes the [[Imperial Senate]] to amend the powers of the [[Master of the Koboldi]], [[Legion Engineer]], [[Master of Rings]], and [[Chair of the Wolf]] such that these titles can build ''any'' [[Commission]] that creates a structure. This would mean they could commission any current ''or future'' [[commission#Military Commissions|military]] or [[commission#Civilian Commissions|civilian]] commission that makes a structure (this would exclude, for example, mustering an [[army]] or raising a [[navy]]).

The ''koboldi'' cheerfully points out that this will save the Senate a lot of trouble in the long run as they won’t have to keep tweaking the titles as they come up with new things to build.

Obviously any other restrictions about how and where and when they can build things will remain as per the individual titles. If the Senate does so before the Conclave Session on Saturday night, a ''koboldi'' will try and make sure the Archmage of Summer has the document in their hands during the session.

===''Monolithic Stronghold''===
* '''Adamant considers the power of Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon
* '''In return for aid, they ask that the Imperial Master of Works have their power to commission fortifications restored
Likewise, when it comes to the ''Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon'', Adamant is prepared to examine the [[arcane projection]] and see if it can be improved. The ''koboldi'' cautions that this might increase the magnitude of the enchantment; it’s hard to say. In return Adamant wishes to see the Senate show their commitment to building and maintaining mundane [[fortification|fortifications]] - they ask that the Archmage use their political influence to restore the power of the [[Imperial Master of Works]] to [[commission]] such structures. The civil service indicate that it would be possible to limit the number of times each season that this power could be used - in much the same way as the power of the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to build [[spy network|spy networks]] is limited. Again, if this is done before the last Conclave Session of the summit, the ''koboldi'' will do their best to deliver a modified arcane projection to the Archmage during that time although they can't promise to be successful.
===On Gnomes===
* '''Gnomes are inhabitants of the Summer realm, part of Adamant's court
As a final note, which the ''koboldi'' almost forgets to mention, there is the matter of gnomes. They are [[inhabitants of the realms|inhabitants]] of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] that serve as excavators in the ranks of Adamant’s court. They are simple yet powerful creatures of earth and stone that can swim through rock, and reshape it as they wish with their bare hands. The ''koboldi'' is a little sniffy when they recount this - there are strong hints that their people and the gnomes do not get along well. Indeed, the little silver herald finished by saying that they don’t see why '''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''' would be worried about gnomes when they have so many delightful ''koboldi'' to work with.
===Collecting Stones===
* '''Adamant has also received a missive from the Stone Smith
It seems that the Archmage of Summer is not the only person who has requested parley with the the ''Unturned Stone''. The [[Stone Smith]], '''Gemma Brightsmith''' has also sought counsel from the ''Swordbreaker'' on behalf of her fellow [[smith|smiths]] through the auspices of an [[Stone Smith#Call to the Gull|Autumn eternal]]. Rather than reply in the same fashion as he does with an Archmage, however, it seems Adamant has chosen to send his heralds directly to [[the Marches]] to present his response. You can find more detail about this in the '''[[In the ground]]''' wind of fortune.

==Timetable==
There are comparatively few meetings taking place during this summit. The times, the locations, and the eternals involved, are summarised here.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Day !! Time !! Eternal !! Realm !! Note
|-
| Friday || TBC || [[Siakha]] || Spring || Parley; only the Archmage is invited to the chamber where it will take place
|-
| Friday || 00.00 || [[The Thrice-cursed Court]] || Winter || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|-
| Saturday || TBC|| [[Prospero]] || Autumn || Parley in a chamber
|-
| Saturday || 15:00 || [[Ylenwe]] || Day || A herald will attend the [[Arcane Colloquium]] after the formal business is completed
|-
| Saturday || 00.00 || [[Whisper Gallery]] || Night || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|}

Ourselves and immortality

2026-03-23T21:03:26Z

Vsabo: /* Only Gossamer, My Gown */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Plenipotentiary]]
<ic>The sound of someone trying to drag a heavy box as quietly as possible was very distracting. Aemilia strove to maintain poise, but the words in her head tumbled and fragmented and were gone. She put down her pen with a pointed "click" and turned round in her chair.

"Sorry, Aemelia." Diogenes did not sound sorry. He had his sleeves rolled up and was rooting through some of the storage chests that sat under the bookshelves. "What are you working on?"

"A poem about death." She replied flatly. "Or I was until someone decided they needed to rearrange the library right this second. Now I'm talking to you."

"Sorry again." He still didn't sound sorry. "But there's been news. The Archmage has called the Court of Rope together. All three of them. For the Solstice. Marcus wants us to be ready to offer Tribute."

"I thought the Queen was still under enmity?" Aemelia had not been keeping track.

"Not since last Winter," replied Diogenes cheerily. He ran his finger through the frosted tips of his bleached hair and then swore quietly as he realised he'd caked his head in dust. "Queen and Knight at neutrality, King remains amitous."

"That isn't a word." Aemelia corrected her coven mate on reflex, more out of pedantic habit than any confidence he would stop making up words.

"''Definitely'' all three of them? Not just the King?" Poise alone kept Aemelia's tone neutral. "Hag Queen and Burnt Prince as well? In the same parley?"

Diogenes was only half listening, busy selecting scrolls and stuffing them into the pockets in his sash.

"Well, the heliopticon says it's all three of them. Tupenties from Moonwell Spire says it's ''as monarchs'' as well if that matters."

It did not, in fact, help. Aemelia caught herself nibbling her thumbnail, and it took an effort to put her hand back in her lap.

"How long has it been since all three of them have been approached together?" She asked mildly. "As the Court I mean, rather than individually?"

"Years, I suppose. I hadn't really given it any thought. Why?"

"No reason, just thinking out loud." She did not let her eyes stray to the shelf where the ''Tome of Ruinous Omens'' lay innocently on its side, fat with visionary dreams and carefully curated advice about the Court of the Three and the dangers of getting entangled with them. "I just seem to recall that last time they were all together, it caused a bit of a fuss. But I'm sure ''this'' time it will be ''absolutely fine''."</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=StillLifeWithASkull.jpg|caption=Everything is sure to be well, to be well.|align=right|width=400}}</div>
==Overview==
* '''Six eternals have sent emissaries to Anvil, apparently in response to plenipotentiary messages from the Imperial archmages'''
* '''Five have agreed to meetings of one kind of another, either in person or via emissaries'''
* '''The other has provided messages, opportunities, or gifts of one type or another'''
As the Winter Solstice approaches, the [[eternal|eternals]] respond to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] messages of the six [[archmage|archmages]]. Each of the six is empowered to send a single message to an eternal of their [[realms|realm]] each season, with certain expectation of ''some'' kind of response. Some eternals will arrange a [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] or some kind, a personal meeting with themselves or more commonly one of their favoured lieutenants. Others may take more direct action, offering [[opportunity|opportunities]] to secure boons or enlist the eternal's power to change the Empire in some way. Sometimes they decline the offer of meetings or boons, but even then they are likely to provide their reasons for doing so.

Since the Autumn Equinox, messengers representing six eternals have come to the Empire from their eternal patrons, detailing the response to each plenipotentiary missive.
==Before a House==
* '''The Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges welcomes the plenipotentiary of the Autumn Archmage
* '''A parley will take place in a chamber reached via the Hall of Worlds at TBC on Saturday during the summit
* '''Prospero requests the Archmage bring someone capable of speaking for the Celestial Arch along with them
* '''The Archmage may include up to two others as part of their entourage
* '''The current Archmage of Autumn is Vossk of Zenith Ascendant
{{CaptionedImage|file=Prospero001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
It has been a [[Back_in_town#Prospero|little over two years]] since last a formal emissary of the [[Prospero|City of Bridges]] visited the Empire. The minotaur, resplendent in robes of incarnadine and viridian, again visits the [[Astolat#Castle of Thorns|Castle of Thorns]] rather than visiting [[Anvil#The Hub|the Hub]]. Their message is short and devoid of unnecessary details. It seems that the ''Sovereign Lord of the City of Bridges'' requests formal [[Archmage#Parely|parley]] with '''Vossk of Zenith Ascendant''', the new [[Archmage of Autumn]].

The meeting will take place in a chamber set aside for the purpose, at '''TBC''' on Saturday during the coming Winter Solstice. The main topic of conversation will be the matter of ritual magic - ''Threadweaver'' is interested to hear how the Archmage believes the ''City of Bridges'' might provide support to the Imperial war machine in the manner Vossk has outlined, although the minotaur is quick to point out that nothing is promised.

On the matter of promises, however, the ''Reckoner of Ebony and Bone'' is keen to conclude the matter of the favour owed by the [[Celestial Arch]] following his [[Inkpot_gods#The_Arch_and_The_Web|provision of a meeting]] with the people of [[Skoura]]. It is time for that favour to be called in, and as such Vossk is requested to bring a member of the [[Conclave order]] with the authority to discuss such matters to the parley. As with the favour provided to the [[Rod and Shield]], which was repaid by the [[386YE_Spring_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Dissemination:_Find_the_Best_Path|dissemination]] of a [[Find the Best Path|military ritual]] to the magician-princes of Jarm, the expectation is that the repayment will be of commensurate value to the favour provided.

There are provisions for up to two others - secretaries, clerks, or [[scrivener|scriveners]] as the Archmage deems appropriate. The agenda for the meeting is set, however, and Prospero is unlikely to be amused by attempts to introduce new matters for discussion once it begins.

==I Would Not Stop==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Siakha001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Siakha offers parley to the Archmage of Spring at TBC on Saturday/Friday during the summit
* '''The ''Marvath'' will discuss the matter of destruction the Archmage has raised
* '''Three new rituals have appeared in Urizen lore without warning, apparently as a gift to Ibiss Briarheart
* '''The current Archmage of Spring is Ibiss Briarheart'''
During some of the worst weather of the early Winter, a creature emerges from the [[Regio#Imperial Regio|Imperial Regio]] at [[Anvil]]. It is a ''[[Siakha#Servants_of_Siakha|tempest]]'', one of the children of ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]''. A storm given flesh, a thing of barely contained disruptive force. This one is a little different to those encountered on battlefields supporting the [[Children of Wrecks]]. It bears a staff of [[tempest jade]] and wears an open dark green robe that evokes the wind-tossed breakers of the [[Bay of Catazar]]. It jerks and twitches in time to some inaudible rhythm only it can hear. Moving through Anvil with impressive directness, anyone who gets in its way even slightly is [[repel|hurled aside]] without warning. By the time it reaches the Hub, there are magistrates and militia waiting for it. It does not waste time on formalities, simply delivering its message to anyone who is near enough to hear its loud, rumbling words.

''Thunder-That-Speaks'' has heard the words of '''Ibiss Briarheart'''. She accepts the petition for parley. There will be an opportunity for the Archmage of Spring to speak with her favoured lieutenant the ''Marvath'' who is empowered to talk of the destruction desired by Briarheart. That meeting will take place on Friday evening at '''TBC''', in a chamber created for the purpose. Only the Archmage themselves, or their proxy if they cannot come themselves, is invited to attend.

There will be no talk of [[Grendel]], nor of wreckers. Nothing to say about Sarvos, nor Asavea, nor the lords of Winter. The matter the ''Hurricane Queen'' is interested in is the devastation, slaughter, and loot that the Archmage has proposed. She will offer her gift, if the Archmage is strong enough to accept it. Indeed, she has provided gifts to the people of Urizen as Briarheart has asked.

Message delivered, the ''tempest'' returns by the same direct route that it arrived, this time with an armed escort that it does not acknowledge in any way. It disappears through the gate at the heart of the Imperial regio with neither another word nor a backward glance.
==Civility==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Skathe001.webp|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Surut002.png|align=right|width=200}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tharim 001.jpg|align=right|width=215}}
* '''The Thrice-cursed Court accept the offer of parley
* '''They will accept a delegation from Anvil at midnight on Friday
* '''Each of the three has matters of interest to them
* '''The current Keeper of Tharim's Throne Claudia Varkulova Remislav is invited to join the courtiers of the Thrice-cursed to help facilitate the meeting
* '''The current Archmage of Winter is Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien, although they have indicated their intent to retire
On the evening of the first day of Winter proper, the air is sharp with the promise of snow and ice, and a messenger arrives at Anvil. It comes not from the Imperial Regio, but along the main road that runs through the settlement. It takes its time, savouring the sights and sounds, and pausing to observe folk about their early evening business. It is clearly a [[Inhabitants of the realms|creature of the realms]], and of the [[Realms#Winter|Winter realm]] in particular. Pallid skinned, with lengths of rusted metal woven into and out of its flesh, it observes with empty eye sockets that nonetheless seem to see everything that transpires. A foul aura surrounds it, and those who get too close feel their skin crawling - that feeling of being on the edge of sleep and hearing a noise from a part of the room you know to be empty. Chained to its wrist is a book, the binding of which does not bear close inspection by those of faint heart or weak stomach.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><box>'''Weakness and the Hall of Worlds'''<br>The last time all three members of the Thrice-cursed Court were together, they appeared in the Hall of Worlds. Their departure triggered an unpleasant effect. Everyone in the Hall of Worlds was struck with [[Calls#Weakness|weakness]]. There's no indication this was done on purpose; it might just be an effect of the Thrice-cursed monarchs withdrawing their presence from the Hall. There's also no indication this will happen again, but it is something to be aware of.<br><br>

But to be on the safe side, it's worth a reminder that one cannot leave the Hall of Worlds while subject to [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakness]], because one cannot cast [[operate portal]]. It is important to remember that you can only move ''yourself'' between the Hall of Worlds and Anvil (and vice versa) with the [[operate portal]] spell. The [[Ambassadorial Gatekeeper]] ritual allows other options but must either be cast in advance, or performed in the Hall of Worlds.

It's also tricky to remove weakness while one is experiencing it, given the way it restricts a character's abilities. The most reliable way would be to use a potion such as [[Apothecary_Potions#Feverfail_Elixir|Feverfail Elixir]] or [[Master_Medicinal#Maledict's_Medicament|Maledict's Medicament]]. A magician who does so would then be free to cast the [[purify]] spell, or take part in a ritual such as [[Renewed Strength of the New Day]] to help their fellows overcome any lingering curse. It's also important to remember that, as with [[Calls#VENOM|venom]], weakness does not go away naturally - it must be treated in some way before it is removed.

Again, there's no particular reason to believe this may become an issue, but this is a good a time as any to remind people of the dangers of being weakened while in the Hall of Worlds.</box></div>
When it reaches the Hub, it bows low and begins to read from the book. It bears a greeting from the ''[[The Thrice-cursed Court|Court of Broken Hearts]]''. From the ''[[Tharim|King-in-Chains]]'', from the ''[[Surut|Prince-of-Ashes]]'', and from the ''[[Skathe|Queen-of-Nails]]''. They accept the invitation of the [[Archmage of Winter]]. They also express their regret: they have heard that the Archmage of Winter Ematius "Icebreaker" Ankarien has chosen to step away from their powerful position to pursue other interests. Ematius was a worthy Archmage, say the Three, and whomever steps up to replace them will surely have their work cut out for them, given how difficult the other eternals of the Winter realm can be to deal with.

Regardless, they offer formal parley on Friday night, at midnight, during the coming Summit. The new Archmage may bring two others as their aides if they wish. In addition to the Archmage, the Keeper of Tharim's Throne '''Claudia Varkulova Remislav''' is invited to attend as a guest of the King. During the parley they may speak as they see fit, with no constraints placed on them by the Archmage. They may bring a servant of their own along if they desire. The Keeper of Tharim's Throne is also empowered to bring one other specific person if the wish: the [[the Marches|Marcher]] [[General]] of the [[Drakes]], '''William Guildenstern'''. Tharim leaves it entirely to Claudia's discretion whether they believe Guildenstern will provide any benefit to the parley.

As to the parley itself, each of the three monarchs of the ''Court of Rope'' has topics of interest to them. The King-in-Chains and his lieutenant ''Lord-Captain Catenatus'' will discuss the matter of the wicked folk of [[Skoura]], and of the murder of ''Obligatus''. The ''Prince-of-Ashes'' will speak of the clever artisans of Skoura, and of knights and [[regio]], as well as on the matter of the [[vallorn]]. The ''Queen-of-Nails'' will speak of the peculiar folk of Skoura, the [[Upon_a_midnight_dreary#Smile_(Skathe)|boon of Catena]], and of other gifts that the Court are minded to offer to their Imperial friends.

These gifts will ''not'' however include the ritual to ''Unleash Wild Fire''. The Empire has proved reticent to actually use the magical lore that the ''Court of Locked Doors'' has offered in recent years and while '''Armand Remislav Who Was Remys''' is beloved of the court, they would be better served seeking other boons.

In response to questions, or requests for clarification, the messenger simply smiles and shakes their head. Once they have finished delivering their messages, they depart Anvil the way they came - not via the Imperial regio, but along the road leading out of the town. Those few brave enough to follow a herald of the Thrice-cursed soon lose it as the evening darkens into night and the first curtains of snow close around it.
===Tribute Collectors===
* '''Surut intends to send tribute collectors to Anvil prior to the parley
* '''These tribute collectors are due to arrive at Anvil around 22:00 on Friday
* '''They are only interested in speaking to "warriors" - whatever that means
There is another matter to consider; the ''Burnt Knight'' intends to send some of his heralds to Anvil before the parley proper to collect "tribute". They will be looking for warriors - and the herald stresses they must be warriors - prepared to accept a tiny portion of Surut's curse for a time. This will apparently involve the herald-knights [[Calls#CLEAVE|injuring]] the arms or legs of those prepared to receive their strike. They may arrange for [[Surgical skills#Physick|physicks]] to be on hand if they wish; the important thing is the willingness to offer tribute.

The herald is close-mouthed about the details of this peculiar ceremony. They do let slip, however, that this is about the fact that the Thrice-cursed Court all too often deals only with magicians. This may be acceptable to the ''Thronebound'' and the ''Contemptuous'', but the ''Ashen Prince'' values the raw strength of the warrior more than he does honeyed words or clever magic.

Before departing, the herald also mentions that Surut is expecting that there will be at least some warriors prepared to show respect to him. It is not stated explicitly but there is a subtext that Surut would likely be displeased to discover that the Empire is not willing to offer sufficient tribute, and this will directly impact his mood in the parley.

==And Eternity==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:Ylenwe001.webp|align=right|width=300]]</div>
* '''Ylenwe has responded to a request for parley from the Archmage of Day
* '''A herald of Ylenwe named Trunembra of the Strings will visit the Hall of Worlds during the arcane colloquium
* '''In addition to the Archmage of Day, Ylenwe has requested that the High Bard of the Empire be there
* '''The current Archmage of Day is Skywise Gralka
On a blustery autumn day a quiet herald with mottled silver and indigo scales appears at the Hub. They arrive without comment, and the first anyone is aware of them is when, seated on a three-legged stool, they start to play quiet notes on their cerulean-and-weltsilver lyre. Their harmonious melody quells the often garrulous crowds in the Hub.

As they pluck their soothing strings, they deliver their message from the '' Mistress of Music''. Zie has heard the words of the Archmage of Day, and seen the results of their cooperation at Bulgakov, and in the [[Speak_to_me#Song_of_the_White_Wood|White Wood]]. Yet there are limits to what Ylenwe can achieve - and here the heralds music turns mournful, bringing a tear to the eye of all save the most hard-hearted. The [[Hahnmark#Kronemark|Sungate]] in Kronemark is beyond the power of ''Zie of the Perfect Morning''.

According to her herald the Sungate is not a scar, some residue of the harm the ''[[Cold Sun|Oblivion Flame]]'' inflicts upon the world. Rather it is an open wound, a thing directly supported by the disharmonious fury of the ''End Of Songs''. The howling empty heart of the ''Light Destructive'' cannot be moved by the music of the ''Dove''; there is no way to close the Sungate or to allow mortals to approach the fane of such relentless, irresistible hatred. If things change in the future then fate may deliver an opportunity to deal with this burning beacon of despite, but for now there is nothing to be done but avoid it.

The heralds’ notes fall silent, and they bow their scaled head for several moments in contemplation. When their music resumes it has a more hopeful tone. When it comes to the White Wood and its song, though, the ''Shape of Sound'' can achieve something a little more wholesome. She intends to send her herald ''Trunembra of the Strings'' to the Hall of Worlds during the [[Arcane Colloquium]]. Once the Archmage of Day has completed their hosting duties, there will be a chance to discuss matters. The eternal asks that the [[High Bard of the Empire]] also be there, if possible. There will be discussion of musical instruments, and the role that music can play in uplifting the spirit and honing understanding of the world.
===Passed the Setting Sun===
* '''Ylenwe proposes to serve as patron for a house of harmonious music in Skarsind
* '''Zie wishes the Archmage and High Bard to consider how to help those threatened by Cold Sun
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''The Harmonious Hall'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Edifice</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' TBC, Skarsind</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 15 white granite, 15 weirwood, 10 mithril, 10 ilium, 120 crowns</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Time:''' 1 season</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Upkeep:''' None</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Requirement:''' Must be ceded to Ylenwe (??)</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effects:'''
* Unclear at this time
</td></tr>
</table></div>
The ''Harmonious Chorister'' proposes the construction of a hall of music in the White Wood, a place where Imperial citizens can come together to study magic especially as it relates to the [[Day magic|Realm of Sea and Sky]] and the pursuit of harmony. The herald is not clear on what precisely this means - this is partly the matter that is to be discussed with the Archmage and the High Bard - but they do deliver plans for the structure. It appears to be a spacious hall, designed to complement the natural beauty of the area, with plenty of room for musical study and performance. The hall of music is an [[edifice]] that would require 15 wains of white granite, 10 wains of mithril, and 10 rings of ilium to construct, and would need to be conceded to Ylenwe. This last point raises a few eyebrows, but the herald gently suggests that questions would be better held until Trunembra of the Strings can answer them with more authority.

There is another matter that ''Zie of the Dawn'' wishes to speak of. The Oblivion Flame has been [[Cold war|kindled again]] in the mortal world. Its creatures have erupted into lands torn by war, suspicion, and disharmony. It rampages unchecked, destroying and killing without pause. [[Cold Sun]] has learned much from its recent incursion into the Empire, and Ylenwe asks that the Archmage and the High Bard use all their influence to encourage the [[Senate|Imperial Senate]] to offer whatever aid the Empire can spare to the people of both the [[Commonwealth]] and [[Principalities of Jarm|Jarm]] - both of whom are facing a storm that the Empire alone has successfully weathered. Again, there will be a chance to talk about this with Trunembra of the Strings.

==Only Gossamer, My Gown==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: right;">[[file:WhisperGal006.png|align=right|width=250]]</div>
* '''The Whisper Gallery have responded to the request for parley from the Archmage of Night
* '''They intend to take possession of the Hall of Worlds late on Saturday
* '''Exact details of what will be discussed, and precisely who with, are not clear
* '''The current Archmage of Night is Bella Vicente d'Apulian'''
It is not a herald that arrives at Anvil as Autumn ages toward Winter, but an orc from distant [[Spiral#Apulian|Apulian]]. She comes in the [[dramaturgy|dramaturgical]] guise of the [[the Mountebank]] - or perhaps more correctly [[the Mountebank#The Sailor|sailor]]. Of particular note is her [[The_Cloak|cloak]] which seems to billow around her with a life of its own, and whose hood does a remarkable job of concealing her identity even without her mask - a crudely carved piece of driftwood whose simplicity seems quite at odds with her flamboyant garb.

She comes as a messenger of the ''Seers of the Empty Thrones'', the ''Repairers of Reputation'', the ''Chiaroscuran Courtiers of the Echoed Fall'' - the [[Whisper Gallery]]. They have received the art of ''sweet Bella'' - '''Bella Vicente d'Apulian''' presumably - the delicious [[Archmage of Night]]. The specific requests contained within have piqued their interest. They choose to accede, and will send their sommelier to meet with the Archmage and any other Imperial magicians who wish to be present, late on Saturday night in the Hall of Worlds. The ''Weavers of the Improbable Loom'' will reach out to that place shortly before the meeting and fashion it suitable to their needs; they presume the Archmage understands their need to do so.

They do however place stipulations on the parley. All those who attend must be masked; those who do not accept this requirement will find they are unable to enter the Hall and will instead find themselves returning to Anvil. This misdirection of the paths between Anvil and the Hall of Worlds will persist until the parley - and it will be a parley - has been completed.

They are especially interested in seeing certain folk attend. In addition to sweet Bella, they invite the wise '''Fausta''', Grandmaster Silver Chalice; the ambitious '''Genoveva Barossa d'Apulian''', [[Senator]] for [[Spiral]] and cunning '''Rafael Barossa d'Apulian''', Custodian of [[Legacy]]; the perceptive '''Mikael Reskovich''', High Bard; and the hateful '''Morgan Waystone Path''', [[Magpies#Speaker|Speaker of the Magpies]]. If they are in attendance they may accompany the Archmage into the Hall as part of their entourage. The Sommelier has words to convey to each from the ''Praetori Exsilium in Litore''.

Delightful Bella has, with honeyed words, asked for aid in uncovering secrets and the lieges of the Gallery shall be interested to see whether they are successful in doing so. There may be talk of [[Axos]], the fall of the empire of dreams, and the Spider of Lost Days. There may be talk of the [[Venture#War_of_Whispers|War of Whispers]], and of the destruction of the [[Magpies]], and of the [[Whispering Shadow Courtiers]].

The message is vague, perhaps unsurprisingly. On one matter, though, the orc is quite clear. The Whisper Gallery are not friends of, or allies to, the Empire of '''Vesna Borkovna Prochnost''', the ''Throne of Pumpkins''. Imperial thieves are too keen to drag secrets from the shadowed places of the world and expose them to the harsh noonlight. The Court continues to oppose them, wherever they can, and will urge others to do so. The enmity they bear against secret-slaughterers has not been slaked, not even a little.

However for this single night at the Winter Solstice, there will be a chance for good-mannered discussion. Things change, and while the enmity of the Court has not lessened, the shape it takes is as mutable as anything else drowned in the shadows. With that in mind, any members of the militia, or any magistrates, who attempt to exert their authority over the people visiting their friends in the ''Court of Disrule'' will be ejected. They are welcome as long as they come masked, and remain civil, but any who attempt to harass or impose boundaries on their fellow citizens will find the patience of the ''Dancers of the Gossamer Pavane'' extremely limited.

With that, the orc bows politely, and takes her leave. A pair of magistrates stand ready outside the Hub to ask her some significant questions, but almost as soon as she steps out of the tent she is mobbed by two dozen figures dressed identically in the same voluminous cloak. The shapes wheel around each other and before the magistrates can do much more than raise the alarm, each of them races off in a different direction. While several of these interlopers are caught, they are Imperial citizens from every nation - a mix of humans and orcs. The only thing they have in common is that they are all actors, who say they had been paid for a unique thespian opportunity. None of them have ever met before, each was recruited by a different agent, and they all resolutely claim to have no idea they were dealing with the Whisper Gallery. Of the orc who delivered the message of the Whisper Gallery there is no sign.
===Participation : Parley===
* '''Anyone who wants to visit the Hall of Worlds during the parley must wear a mask
* '''While in the Hall of Worlds during the parley, it is impossible to remove a mask
* '''Everyone in the Hall of Worlds during the parley experiences a roleplaying effect
* '''Additional options exist for leaving the parley
The Whisper Gallery are using the invitation to parley to "twist" the gate that leads to the Hall of Worlds. Anyone who is not masked in some way will be unable to reach the meeting. Anyone who enters the Hall of Worlds will find that they cannot remove their mask; it is impossible for anyone to take their own or another character's mask off while the parley is underway.

Furthermore everyone in the Hall of Worlds will experience a [[roleplaying effect]]: ''your mask represents your true face and you find it easy to act in accordance with its identity''. This effect becomes more pronounced as the parley continues. The dramaturgical personae offer some suggestions as to roleplaying effects tied to the traditional roles, but its up to you how you interpret the identity your mask represents. The effect fades within a few minutes of leaving the Hall of Worlds.

The twisting of the paths to and from the Hall of Worlds has a second effect. Anyone leaving the Hall of Worlds can choose to go immediately to the out-of-character area rather than return to Anvil directly. They're free to come back into play through the entrance between the out-of-character area and Anvil if they wish. This doesn't represent teleportation but rather the character being escorted, unseen, by heralds wreathed in [[Night magic]] until they reach the relative safely of the alleys of [[Anvil#Outer_Anvil|Outer Anvil]] - a clear effort from the Whisper Gallery to stymie attempts to intercept, search, or detain anyone visiting their parley.

During the parley any herald of the Whisper Gallery may call [[Calls#CURSE|CURSE]] against anyone attempting to disrupt the meeting. If this is done, the target should immediately leave the Hall of Worlds by the nearest exit and return to Anvil; they are unable to enter the Hall of Worlds again until time out.

Finally, we ask all participants to be mindful of our [[Conduct#Roleplaying_Conflict|conduct]] rules around roleplaying conflict, especially those concerning physical intimidation.

==Cornice==
{{CaptionedImage|file=King Under the Mountain.png|align=right|width=200}}
* '''Adamant has declined a formal parley from the Archmage of Summer'''
* '''They have made a number of proposals relating to ritual magic
* '''The current Archmage of Summer is Mirella of the Twisted Rose'''
There is, of course, a sizable contingent of ''koboldi'' busy at Anvil following the Autumn Equinox. While they are mostly focused on anchoring the [[Opening ceremonies|new structure]], one of them takes time out of their schedule to visit the Hub. A cheerful, friendly individual with silver scales buffed to mirror sheen, they wear a splendid golden coat inlaid with hundreds of tiny gemstones that twinkle and glitter as they move. Somewhat apologetically, they indicate that they have been charged with delivering a message from the ''[[Adamant|King Under the Mountain]]'' in response to the [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] of the [[Archmage of Summer]]. It is, they warn, a fairly mixed bag all things told.

The ''koboldi'' delivers the bad news first - “''to get it out of the way so that one can focus on happier things''”. While the ''King Under the Mountain'' would be happy to see more great fortresses of [[white granite]] built in northern Varushka, they are concerned that the Vorazi do not see the bigger picture. The court of Adamant might help make a fortress larger, more impressive, or harder to destroy. They might help it be built more swiftly. They might even aid in enchanting it so that it can be more easily repaired or its garrison granted additional strength. The one thing they are ''not'' going to do is make it ''cheaper''. As the ''koboldi'' says philosophically “''you really don’t want to cut corners when you’re building something that’s meant to withstand armies, do you?''.”

The request to intercede with Imperial roads is not something Adamant is interested in at the moment. The [[Senate]] is doing a wonderful job repairing and maintaining the grand highways, says the ''koboldi''. Yet the [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruinous]] magic of Spring - the ''koboldi'' shudders at the thought of it - has a way of tearing down even those things crafted from the strongest mundane materials. Infusing an entire Empire’s worth of roads with adamant - even the pale shadow of true adamant that can be worked in the mortal world - would take massive effort and not be achieved quickly. For something as mundane, and lacking in [[Summer magic#Majesty|majesty]] as a network of roads? Is such an endeavour worthy of the ''King Under the Mountain''? It isn't impossible to achieve but would require a great deal of fast talk, and likely involve the kind of [[:Category:Imperial Enchantment|Imperial enchantment]] that has been illegal since the [[interdiction]] of '''Cassandra i Periera i Erigo''' [[385YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction_:_Empire_Wide_Enchantments|made such things a crime]].

Finally on the matter of the Ashen Flame, the Archmage must understand that there is no shortage of covens and individual magicians seeking the patronage of ''Sharaz on the Adamant Throne''. Their master is not uninterested, but at the moment there is little to make that coven stand out. If the Ashen Flame is serious about impressing Adamant, says the ''koboldi'', they should prevail on the Archmage of Summer to arrange a meeting on their behalf with some of Adamant's assessors. They should outline what they actually want, and why Adamant should give it to them. If this is the sole purpose of a plenipotentiary missive, the ''Master of Gnomes'' is much more likely to be amenable to honouring that request.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Dima12713.jpg|caption='''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''', Master of the Koboldi|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Laughlan10531.jpg|caption='''Laughlan vi Temeschwar''', Master of Rings|align=right|width=250}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Lucrezia Corvinascura.jpg|caption='''Lucrezia Corvinascura''', Chair of the Wolf|align=left|width=250}}
</div>
===''Throne of the Mountains''===
* '''Adamant offers an arcane projection that might be codified to conjure a powerful castle from his domain
* '''Unlike the Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, the conjured fort would focus on protecting a single region of hills
* '''In return for their aid they request that certain titles have their powers expanded
After all that negativity, the ''Dragon of Stone'' is interested to hear the request of '''Joseph of the Ashen Flame''' regarding the conjuration of ''actual'' citadels rather than simple castles that simply ''claim'' to be citadels. It is within the power of the ''Imperishable Potentate'' to do so. Adamant is prepared to provide a [[arcane projection|document]] that can serve as the basis for a ritual called ''Throne of the Mountains'' that could be codified at any Imperial [[college of magic]]. It would conjure a powerful defensive structure from the domain of Adamant that would offer superlative protection to the region of [[Region_qualities#Hills|hills]] where the enchantment was cast. This defence would make it significantly harder for an enemy army to claim the region, and they would find attempts to do so particularly punishing. Beyond that the ''koboldi'' provides no other details. A little cross-questioning from a member of the [[Unfettered Mind]] who happens to be present leaves them with the distinct impression that the ''koboldi'' is outlining something similar in basic outline to [[the Basalt Citadel]], but for enchanting hills or mountains. Attempts to get a more specific explanation just send the ''koboldi'' off into a tangent about how great fortifications are in general.
In return for this boon, the ''Stone King'' wishes to see the powers of certain [[Imperial title|Imperial titles]] amended. At the moment the epic builders of the Empire often have little lists of things they can and cannot build - ''clearly'' an oversight suggests the cheerful ''koboldi''. The ''Throne of Adamant'' “simply” wishes the [[Imperial Senate]] to amend the powers of the [[Master of the Koboldi]], [[Legion Engineer]], [[Master of Rings]], and [[Chair of the Wolf]] such that these titles can build ''any'' [[Commission]] that creates a structure. This would mean they could commission any current ''or future'' [[commission#Military Commissions|military]] or [[commission#Civilian Commissions|civilian]] commission that makes a structure (this would exclude, for example, mustering an [[army]] or raising a [[navy]]).

The ''koboldi'' cheerfully points out that this will save the Senate a lot of trouble in the long run as they won’t have to keep tweaking the titles as they come up with new things to build.

Obviously any other restrictions about how and where and when they can build things will remain as per the individual titles. If the Senate does so before the Conclave Session on Saturday night, a ''koboldi'' will try and make sure the Archmage of Summer has the document in their hands during the session.

===''Monolithic Stronghold''===
* '''Adamant considers the power of Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon
* '''In return for aid, they ask that the Imperial Master of Works have their power to commission fortifications restored
Likewise, when it comes to the ''Monolithic Stronghold of the Gemstone Dragon'', Adamant is prepared to examine the [[arcane projection]] and see if it can be improved. The ''koboldi'' cautions that this might increase the magnitude of the enchantment; it’s hard to say. In return Adamant wishes to see the Senate show their commitment to building and maintaining mundane [[fortification|fortifications]] - they ask that the Archmage use their political influence to restore the power of the [[Imperial Master of Works]] to [[commission]] such structures. The civil service indicate that it would be possible to limit the number of times each season that this power could be used - in much the same way as the power of the [[Imperial Spymaster]] to build [[spy network|spy networks]] is limited. Again, if this is done before the last Conclave Session of the summit, the ''koboldi'' will do their best to deliver a modified arcane projection to the Archmage during that time although they can't promise to be successful.
===On Gnomes===
* '''Gnomes are inhabitants of the Summer realm, part of Adamant's court
As a final note, which the ''koboldi'' almost forgets to mention, there is the matter of gnomes. They are [[inhabitants of the realms|inhabitants]] of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] that serve as excavators in the ranks of Adamant’s court. They are simple yet powerful creatures of earth and stone that can swim through rock, and reshape it as they wish with their bare hands. The ''koboldi'' is a little sniffy when they recount this - there are strong hints that their people and the gnomes do not get along well. Indeed, the little silver herald finished by saying that they don’t see why '''Dima Vasilyevna Novosad''' would be worried about gnomes when they have so many delightful ''koboldi'' to work with.
===Collecting Stones===
* '''Adamant has also received a missive from the Stone Smith
It seems that the Archmage of Summer is not the only person who has requested parley with the the ''Unturned Stone''. The [[Stone Smith]], '''Gemma Brightsmith''' has also sought counsel from the ''Swordbreaker'' on behalf of her fellow [[smith|smiths]] through the auspices of an [[Stone Smith#Call to the Gull|Autumn eternal]]. Rather than reply in the same fashion as he does with an Archmage, however, it seems Adamant has chosen to send his heralds directly to [[the Marches]] to present his response. You can find more detail about this in the '''[[In the ground]]''' wind of fortune.

==Timetable==
There are comparatively few meetings taking place during this summit. The times, the locations, and the eternals involved, are summarised here.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Day !! Time !! Eternal !! Realm !! Note
|-
| Friday || TBC || [[Siakha]] || Spring || Parley; only the Archmage is invited to the chamber where it will take place
|-
| Friday || 00.00 || [[The Thrice-cursed Court]] || Winter || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|-
| Saturday || TBC|| [[Prospero]] || Autumn || Parley in a chamber
|-
| Saturday || 15:00 || [[Ylenwe]] || Day || A herald will attend the [[Arcane Colloquium]] after the formal business is completed
|-
| Saturday || 00.00 || [[Whisper Gallery]] || Night || Parley in the Hall of Worlds
|}

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:50:25Z

Vsabo: /* Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Winter]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Beater on the Field.jpg|caption=Beaters secure the boundaries of the Marches against all intrusion. Some times this is more challenging than others.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Loyal to the People==
The Strong Reeds were raised from the Bregas. To this day the bulk of their soldiers come from the Dour Fens, and they know the wetlands better than anyone else. Since the [[Only forward|Jotun returned]] to steal their homeland, they have been amid the reeds, resisting the invaders. This despite the unhappiness some of their countryfolk still feel towards the Empire - and we must not forget that many Bregas are marshfolk first, Marchers second, and Imperial citizens a distant third. Yet the 'Reeds have remained true to the oath of their General, fighting from the rushes and the deep fens to bamboozle the barbarian invaders wherever they can.

They are in a perilous situation, for all their skill at [[Army_qualities#Secretive|laying low]]. The Queen of Kalsea herself, ''Yrsa Jansdóttir'', set the Lion of the North to root out the 'Reeds and their sympathisers. The Bregas army has been left exposed, and those who offer them succour left in mortal danger. The Jotun are closing in on their hidden encampments, deep in the fens. It has become more and more difficult for them to move or take action without the barbarians descending on them in force.

During the Autumn Equinox, Imperial heroes used the [[Sentinel Gate]] to [[So_our_path_is_laid#Battle_Opportunity_:_How_Will_They_Rise_Up?|come to their aid]]. In [[Bregasland#Grey Fens|Grey Fens]] they intercepted the Jotun champions [[So_our_path_is_laid#Objective:_Recover_the_scouting_orders|ordered]] to hunt out the havens of the Strong Reeds. Both ''Ghodi Melker'' and the yegarra champion ''Eisa Winterborn'' were brought low - the latter success in particular being cause for muted celebration. A thorn in the Empire's side for years, Imperial heroes brought Eisa to ground at ''Leakey Moss'', and her warband has withdrawn back to their stronghold in [[Skallahn#Mindrkyst|Skallahn]]. They will not return to fight in the Empire again until some new hero raises the walrus banner and walks the path of the rare yegarra champions.
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds">This game of fox and hound is at an end. No quarter shall be given. Not any more. Rise up! Rise from the reeds and be a tidal wave of fury to wash the scum from our fields. I march with you as a soldier, as a marcher, as your friend. I march with my husband by my side for us, for land, for the Marches. And when we are done, will bring in the harvest and toast to the turning of the seasons.</quote></div>

Unfortunately, their success was not unqualified. They were unable to prevent one of the champions from rallying her warband. Barely has the equinox ended before ''Seeker Alma'' - a skilled tracker from the hills of [[Reinos]] - leads a contingent of Lasambrian Jotun into the sleepy village of ''Catchment'', deep in the fens. Some two hundred Marcher soldiers, taken by surprise, are slain or captured before they can flee. A grievous loss - but one that could have been significantly worse had the Empire's heroes been less thorough. Alma continues to harry the Bregas across the marshes, striking without warning against sanctuaries that have been secret for generations.

Yet despite this, the 'Reeds remain in Bregasland. They endure, and when the order comes, they will [[If_one_be_gone_we_carry_on#Objective:_Rouse_the_Strong_Reeds|rise]].
===Rise===
Granite-faced Derun Stonetower and the Tower of the North continues to work alongside Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir, standing in for King Gudmundr Arasonn as general of the Fist of Ulven, ruling Bregasland with a mailed fist. Yet many of the barbarian "heroes" are champing at the bit, eager for honourable battle against the Marcher-folk and their allies. As a people, the Jotun tend to have little time for stealth and the subtle manoeuvring of spies and scouts; let others seek the Strong Reeds, the champions of Kalsea and Narkyst will build their bridge across the [[Howling Abyss]] in glorious battle! Throughout the long Summer into Autumn, [[So_our_path_is_laid#Pride_of_the_Marches|barbarian raiders]] came reaving across the border into prosperous [[Mitwold]].

<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Mary Birchsmith, General of the Bounders">Bounders, show me your strength and your loyalty. We bring the knights of Eleonaris with us to fight alongside our friends and siblings in Gravenmarch. We will support the strong reeds to rise up and show the Jotun what we stand for. This is marcher land and we take pride in that. We will overwhelming assault into Graven March, Bregasland. A Marcher! A Marcher!</quote>
<quote by="William Guildenstern, General of the Drakes">Make of them a scarecrow. Make our enemy a living effigy of your will - Shrive yourselves, pour your anger and sorrow into your greatswords and poleaxes… First army be shriven of sin and malignancy drive it into the invaders. It is not Sin however to hate the Jotun. To repel the invaders virtue demands it. So Shrive yourselves in battle my Drakes. Liberate the fens and furrows of Bregasland and be born anew. Do this for me now. For fellow, our commander, our stoats and all who have suffered this evil. Should you find the fire of the Marches - send me to her, so I may love my wife amidst the chaos of the land. Our Overwhelming Assault will be the battle song of my love for this and all of you.</quote>
<quote by="Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt, General of the Bloodcloaks">Cloaks, we march to free the reeds, we march to recover the lost and aid the Marchers, we march with the Champions of Eleonaris. A good friend has just become one of their champions and I hope she can march to battle with the Winterfolk once more. Blaze Dunn! A Hero has a name!</quote></div>

The ''Ice Fishers of Ldansk'' have been in Bregasland for a year or more, growing more restless with each season that passes. ''Helma Skutasdóttir'' plants her raven-banner in Ottery, splitting her attention between rooting out the Strong Reeds and testing the borders to the east. The Howling Bears under the standard of ''Yanya Uranduln'' have had their eyes on the wealth of Mitwold since they arrived. With the death of ''Eisa Winterborn'' it is as if grief has unhinged their champion who drives their warband to fight the Marchers wherever possible even when it is perhaps not wise to do so.

Their desire for bloodshed is nothing, however, beside that of the traitor-yegarra who gather around the banners of ''Stephen of Sarcombe''. While the other champion-warbands seek wealth and challenge, the yegarra of the [[Mournwold|Mourn]] look to sate their bloodlust on the [[Yeoman of the Marches|yeofolk]] of Mitwold and Bregasland alike. Rumours that other Jotun warbands will not fight alongside Stephen's yegarra for fear of dishonouring themselves and their ancestors have solidified. In desperation Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir has loosed the choke-chain King Gudmundr used to control the furious human champion, letting him lead his troops into Mitwold in the hope, perhaps, that the Marchers will end the problem he represents before the King returns.

And so the raids continue after the Autumn Equinox. The Imperial defenders of Mitwold are able to ensure they do reach much further east than [[Mitwold#Oddmire|Oddmire]] and occasionally [[Mitwold#Meade March|Meade March]], but their focus is elsewhere. The task of dealing with the raiders falls to the [[beater|beaters]] who [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|patrol the borders]], and to the garrison of [[Mitwold#Forte Fidelis|Forte Fidelis]]. The [[Valiant Pegasus]] and the [[Autumn Hammers]] have quit Mitwold leaving only the [[Drakes]] and the [[Bloodcloaks]] in Mitwold - and they are busy preparing for what is to come.

Fortunately the absence left by the armies marching north is quickly filled for by the arrival of the [[Bounders]] from neighbouring [[Upwold]]. A fortnight after the Equinox, a grand cohort of [[Knights of Glory|elfin knights and goblin-kind infantryfolk]] emerge from an old battlefield in Meade March, drawn from the demesne of [[Eleonaris]]. Without delay they march west to join the Imperial armies, splitting into three distinct groups and setting their brightly-coloured pavilions and fluttering banners alongside the tents of the Imperial soldiers.
<div style="float:left; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amberlain7869.jpg||caption='''Amberlain P. Black''', General of the Strong Reeds}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GenBounders.jpg|caption='''Mary Birchsmith''', General of the Bounders}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Marcher Plate.jpg|caption='''William Guildenstern''', General of the Drakes}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt.png|caption='''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''', General of the Bloodcloaks}}
</div>
To aid the Drakes comes ''Kore'' the lion-maned warlord, glorious in their scarlet armour. They command only half the number of warriors brought by the others, but each of their knights is twice the size of their comrades. While their torso, head, and arms are humanlike their lower bodies are those of deadly predatory cats. These crimson knights use their lances to great effect, devastating their enemies with a thundering charge. ''Ser Helvennan'', resplendent in gold and red chain, quietly joins the Bloodcloaks. The Stag-knight leads a mixed band of elfin spearmasters and grizzled goblin-kin with shield and javelin. ''Ollavan the Reeve'', the sharp-eared bowmaster, comes at the head of a band of wily archers and rust-red hunting hounds. They are eager not only to face their foes, but to test their skill against the marksmen of the Bounders. The knights attract comment wherever they go, their richly coloured garb and merry voices something of a contrast with the fields of Meade March.

The Drakes are further reinforced by nearly five thousand troops lead by Imperial captains from every Imperial nation save the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They have come to fight the Jotun; some offer their aid to the beaters while they wait but few can keep up with the fast-moving Marchers. Others seek the beaters for different reasons however. Perhaps as many as nine thousand more soldiers wish to sneak across the border into Bregasland to join the Strong Reeds. The expertise of the beaters is tested, but they are found equal to the challenge. Others take the riskier route along the southern shores of the Westmere with the aid of sailors from [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Steward's Landing]], slipping into the conquered territories through [[Bregasland#Eel's_Landing|Eel's Landing]] or isolated fishing villages along the coastline.

===Fist, Lion, Tower===
Once everyone is in place, on a certain day, at an appointed hour, the camps are struck. The Drakes, Bounders, and Bloodcloaks begin to move south through Meade March toward [[Bregasland#Gravenmarch|Gravenmarch]], toward battle. At the same time, the Strong Reeds rise, launching a surprise attack against the Jotun garrison at Graven. With them are two thousand delicately deadly warriors of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] attired in breathtaking splendour of sky blue and sun gold; the household of ''Ser Alcedini'', the brightly feathered Kingfisher Castellan, who leads them into battle alongside the Bregas forces. The 'Reeds can't know for sure that help is coming, cut off from the rest of the Marches as they are. They can only trust that if they act, their allies will be there to support them. More than a few Bregas soldiers breathe a sigh of relief when the news that a major Imperial force has crossed the border into the 'March reaches them.

Battle is joined. The Tower of the North, the Fist of Ulven, and the Lion of the North respond quickly, Jotun warriors surging south to intercept the Imperial forces. The rising of the Strong Reeds, however, provides a powerful element of surprise. The eyes of the barbarians were to the north, toward Ottery and Fisher's Rock rather than towards Graven. By the time they realise the attack is underway, the town has been freed from the Jotun.

At first it seems as if the whole of Graven March will follow suit, but as the days unfold that hope begins to fade somewhat. While the initial fighting mostly involves the Tower, the Fist, and the Lion, reinforcements quickly arrive. Some six thousand Summer [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] - orc-like warriors with a distinct leonine cast to their features in crimson steel chain - join the battle. Knights of the [[Eleonaris|Lady of Summer]], they are equally enthusiastic about fighting Imperial troops as they are clashing with their kin from the Summer Realm. In particular the axe-wielding warriors lead by ''Ser Grumbar'' the Hound-knight seek out every opportunity to contend with the knights of ''Ser Helvennan'' who side with the Bloodcloaks.

Only a few days after the fighting begins, the Jotun are further bolstered by some fifteen thousand Lasambrian orcs - the entire Lasambrian Jotun force of the Hierro, the Corazón, and the Escuta. Yet even these allies are only sufficient to slow the Imperial advance, not to halt it entirely. The Drakes and the Bounders plough straight through the Jotun defenders to meet up with the Strong Reeds at Graven; three armies of Marcher soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder against the barbarians. The liveries of dozens of Marcher households flutter and dance in the wind from the west as stubborn yeofolk face the orcs who bedevil their homelands.

The Bloodcloaks swiftly establish a presence at the town that once served as a place for the Navarr to meet with the people of the Marches to trade stories of the wider world. And to trade herbs, especially valuable [[cerulean mazzarine]] from [[the Brass Coast]] in return for the unique plants gathered in the deep fens. Indeed, while the Bloodcloaks are establishing a field hospital in the little town they come across a hidden stash of healing herbs concealed beneath the floorboards - dozens of carefully wrapped packages of [[true vervain]] and [[Imperial roseweald]] and [[marrowort]]. There is a note, hastily written, wishing whoever finds the herbs well and expressing the hope that those who use them might remember the [[striding]] of ''Liath's Path''. It's clear to the Winterfolk that this cache was left by the Navarr trapped in Graven when the Jotun came, in the hope that it would find its way into Imperial hands. Of the Navarr themselves, there is no sign. Doubtless they were among those executed by the barbarians when Graven fell.

It proves to be a valuable find; the Winterfolk healers have their work cut out for them as they [[Army_qualities#Woundbinder|tend the wounds]] of their allies. The Jotun may have been put on the back foot by the attack into Gravenmarch, but they have rallied quickly, mounting a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|solid defence]] in the face of the Empire's furious assault.

Tough as the going is, the Marchers and their allies from the north are equal to the challenge. They liberate several of the smaller households and villages as they expand their control of the 'March outward from Graven. The arrival of the Lasambrians has nudged the butter churn a little, but Imperials rally quickly to the new situation and as slow as the going is it looks as if they will ultimately win the battle, if not the war.

Then, of course, the other shoe drops and the bad news arrives in the form of an exhausted Greywater messenger from Ottery.
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==Pride of the Marches==
The Greywater is injured, on the verge of collapse when they reach Graven and demand to speak to the Strong Reeds. Refusing to rest until they have discharged their duty - there were four of them when they set out from Ottery and only one survived the passage through the Jotun lines - they bring a dire message. The Lasambrians are not the ''only'' force of Jotun that has come into Bregasland since the Autumn equinox.

While the Tower, and the Fist, and the Lion, and their Lasambrian allies, have been fighting the Empire in Gravenmarch, a massive force of Jotun has gathered in Ottermire... and is sweeping east across the Otterway into Mitwold. Perhaps forty five thousand Jotun have joined the warbands raiding Oddmire, alongside several thousand crimson-and-gold clad knights of the Summer realm. Eight armies, marching up out of [[Liathaven]] and [[Hordalant]] through the western fens to Ottery. Rather than join the defence, they barely broke their march before crossing the walkway into Oddmire.

For the first time in a century or more, there are Jotun armies in Mitwold. The news spreads through the Imperial forces like wildfire. Soldiers of the Drakes demand to be allowed to return home to protect their farms, their families, their friends. Fear that the army might make it as far as Upwold grips the Bounders. Yet in the end, there are bonds of duty and loyalty that are stronger than the fear they feel. The Empire's forces are too tightly bound up in the fight in Gravenmarch to risk trying to break free and march back north. Everything is focused here, on seizing a foothold in Bregasland. Trying to turn back now would leave the four armies between the hammer and the anvil - and risk making the situation worse. At the moment, should disaster come upon them, they can retreat into [[Mournwold#Green_March|Green March]]. If they try to turn north, there is every chance they will end up trapped in Gravenmarch at the mercy of the Jotun.

It is a painful decision, but in the end the soldiers of the Marches and Wintermark have little choice but to trust the orders of their generals, to trust that the defenders of Mitwold will be equal to the challenge that faces them.
===Odd's Way===
Nearly fifty thousand Jotun. Two full contingents of the [[Knights of Glory]]. The Ice Fishers, and the Howling Bears, and the raven-banner of Helma Skutasdóttir. The traitors of the Mourn. They march along the Otterway into Oddmire. No simple raiding party, but a hammer blow against the Pride of the Marches.

Normally the western barbarians invade a territory with a crushing assault, seeking to overwhelm defenders with furious might and force of numbers. Uncharacteristically though, the Jotun attacking Mitwold seem to be favouring a more [[Army orders#Cautious Assault|cautious]] strategy. Most likely last season's raids established the presence of defending armies dug-in in Oddmire. Perhaps the Jotun commanders are simply being cautious of a trap, or careful about overextending their forces. Either way, they focus more on preserving their strength than smashing the Imperial armies... which are not there. The relative slowness of the Jotun response in Bregasland makes more sense if one assumed the barbarians were expecting the Imperial armies to still be in Mitwold rather than launching an attack of their own.

Eight armies, well-rested and well-provisioned from their stay in Liathaven and Hordalant. The Fell Hammers and the Iron Host are in the van, with the glory-hungry warriors of the Mandowla's Roar and Raging Thunder straining against the unfamiliar orders to advance cautiously rather than slam full-strength into whatever Mitwold has to offer. The knights that accompany those two armies are clearly no happier about this strategy than their orc friends, but they follow their orders. The Howling Night, the Skjaldirborn, and the Shield of the Mountain form the solid core at the heart of the Jotun expeditionary force, with the Southern Bear in the rearward position, [[Army_qualities#Resilient|grinding]] relentlessly forward even as they seek to lock down the land the advance guard claims. The army of Bjorgthorn Hammerhand prides itself on only moving forward, and even though the Jotun come with caution, move forward they do.

The defenders of Mitwold know about the Jotun invasion before the forces in Gravenmarch; the beaters who watch the borders immediately realise what is happening and raise the alarm. The news speeds eastward, galvanising the garrison of Forte Fidelis and sending the yeofolk and stewards to their armouries. Weapons and armour are passed out, as the folk of the Marches brace themselves for the Jotun advance. Just as with their neighbours to the east and the south, they will not cede one inch of ground save that the barbarians pry it from their clenched fists. Messengers are sent to Mournwold and Upwold, telling them of the invasion and while they do not directly ask for aid - Marchers are proud people - the implication is there. They may be rivals in peacetime, but as both Bregasland and Mournwold have shown, when war comes to the Marches, folk unite against the interloper.
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This grim pride, the courage of the yeofolk, is not in vain but it cannot hope to hold back the Jotun for long. At best, the garrison and the beaters, the households, and the walls of Oddmire can only delay what seems inevitable. Western Oddmire falls, and within a week the rest of the region follows suit. Odd's End is overwhelmed by the barbarians, forced to open its gates rather than see the entire town flattened by Jotun siege engines. Steward's Landing falls shortly afterward without any fighting at all - because ''Jarvey "Strongoar" Oddsboy'' and his entire household have loaded everyone they can onto their boats and slipped across the Gullet to [[Kallavesa#Wittal_Grove|Fisk]]. The Winterfolk who once kept a careful eye on the Marchers to the south welcome them, working with the steward and his levies to ensure that the northern shores of Mitwold can be kept supplied, should the worst come to the worst.

Despite the relatively cautious strategy the invasion of Mitwold follows a familiar pattern. Wherever they go, the Jotun offer Imperial citizens the Choice. Take up arms alongside the Jotun; lay aside the accoutrements of war and become thralls; or be given a swift and honourable death. Nobody takes the first choice. Most take the second. Few are stubborn enough to face the third. Many families make the decision to retreat before the Jotun, staunchly certain that they will reclaim their land soon enough when the Drakes return and drive the Jotun back into the western fens. The refugees are welcomed by their neighbours to the east with open grumbling about the inconvenience - but they ''are'' welcomed and found places to stay.

===The Walls of Meade===
Oddmire is quickly taken, and then the Jotun march on [[Mitwold#Meade|Meade]]. The first [[market town]] and the oldest. The largest settlement south of [[Hahnmark#Kalpaheim|Kalpaheim]], the city-port of the Marches. Revitalised by the dredging of the Westmere, by trade with the [[Faraden]], and by decades of prosperity and security, Meade stands ready to repel the Jotun just as they did the [[Harvest_of_infamy|Asavean raiders]] last Autumn.

Of course, last Autumn the Marchers had ample warning that the attack was coming, and the garrison of Forte Fidelis was bolstered by the Drakes. This year, the defenders of Meade are on their own. The city has walls of course, but while there has been some talk of [[Three_keys#The_Walls_of_Meade|further work]] it has been over a decade since the defences were [[Fortify_Town_defences|reinforced]] by the Senate. The walls are stout, but to stand against eight armies of Jotun bent on conquest? That would be a challenge even for a true [[fortification]] - there's little doubt that if the Jotun turned south-east into the [[Mitwold#Golden_Downs|'Downs]] even Forte Fidelis would be hard pressed to keep them out.

So the Jotun come up through Meade March towards the pride of the Marches. The people turned back the Asaveans, and they fight just as valiantly against the Jotun, but they are outnumbered and ultimately outmatched. A Jotun messenger offers the people of Meade one chance to surrender, but if anything the proud refusal of the defenders both impresses and pleases the herald sent to deliver the offer. She returns to the armies, and they waste no time besieging the city. Not that it is a siege in any literal sense. The soldiers of Forte Fidelis garrison the walls as best they can, but the gates are riven to splinters by Jotun battering rams almost immediately. The warriors of the west pour into Meade, and those who fight back are swiftly overwhelmed. This is a city of prosperity, of clever merchants and wise scholars, not a city of warriors, after all.

The remaining garrison retreats east. A great many Marchers stay behind, refusing to give up their homes. They watch sullenly as the Jotun establish a command post in Meade, from which to direct the rest of their forces. With the city fallen, there is little chance for the households of Meade March to mount more than a token defence. Yet with the aid of the beaters and the Forte Fidelis soldiers, they do their best, and their courage at least helps to slow the Jotun invasion and give time for the rest of Mitwold to prepare for what is to come. As it is, the 'March is conquered and the Jotun continue to press forward into the heart of the Marches.

As the bulk of the Jotun move to back up the raiders attacking [[Mitwold#The_Meadows|the Meadows]], however, Stephen of Sarcombe moves to have the remaining [[The_Marches_economic_interests#Alder|alders]] of Meade and their families hanged, sending his yegarra also to try and capture the bailiffs of [[Bailiff of Meade|Meade]] and the [[Bailiff of the Grand Market|Grand Market]], the [[Alder of Meade]], and even the [[Master of the Root and Stem]] so they can face similar treatment. Before he can do much more than mobilise his people, they are confronted by Helma Skutasdóttir and her warband. Denouncing him as a coward and unfit to call himself Jotun, Helma herself challenges him to defend his honour. Actual fighting between the orcs of Helma's raven-banner and Stephens yegarra breaks out in the centre of Meade. Bjorgthorn Hammerhand, general of the Southern Bear, is forced to send his own warriors to separate the two warbands - but not before several fighters on both sides are slain. He does not bother to hide his utter contempt for Stephen and his clear support for Helma in this matter. According to witnesses, it looks as if the traitor-Marchers are squaring up to actually take on the Southern Bear, but in the end they back down and retreat from Meade with their tails between their legs. It becomes common knowledge that Bjorgthorn has dispatched messengers north to the King and Queen, demanding that something be done about the "rabid dog" in the midst of the Jotun before he is forced to deal with the matter himself.

Flies like Stephen aside, though, the rest of the Jotun invasion goes off with barely a hitch. After Oddmire and Meade March, the Jotun press heavily into the Meadows. North-eastern Mitwold borders [[Kallavesa#Wittal Grove|Wittal Grove]], some of the only dry land in the whole of [[Kallavesa]], and allows easy access to [[Upwold#Stock_March|Stock March]] in Upwold. If the Jotun can secure it, and secure their lines across northern Mitwold, the threat they represent is multiplied significantly.

Yet despite their fervour, and their sheer numbers, their invasion slows and begins to falter once they hit the Meadows. As the Winter Solstice approaches, the weather worsens significantly. Torrential rains give way to heavy snowfall in the approach to midwinter, and while the Jotun are no strangers to cold and snow they are not foolhardy enough to throw themselves into the teeth of the storm while there are defenders still fighting. Across the northern Marches, camps are established as the Jotun make the preparations needed to keep what they have taken so far - and presumably to continue to conquer Mitwold until the entire Pride of the Marches is in their hands.
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==Between Beats==
It is easy to imagine that every warrior in the Jotun lands is in the Marches; six armies in Bregasland fighting the Empire's attempt to liberate Gravenmarch. Eight armies in Mitwold. Thousands of would-be champions fighting under the banners of their warlords, even as thousands of Imperial captains fight in support of the armies of the Empire. Knights of Glory on both sides, urging their compatriots to fight boldly, to neither give nor ask for quarter, to seek to build enduring legends that will live on in the songs of the bards long after their bodies are gone to rot and treeroots.

The fighting in Bregasland has been bloody - three thousand Imperial heroes dead or broken. The number would have been higher without the Bloodcloaks; the Jotun have suffered more grievous losses simply because they lack the medical expertise of the Winterfolk, their losses closer to four thousand. The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward taking Gravenmarch from the barbarians, but the fighting continues. Behind them, the armies of the west rampage across Mitwold, slowed by the stubborn defenders, but only a little. Oddmire and Meade March - and the city of Meade - are in their hands. They are halfway toward claiming the whole of the Meadows, and who knows where their ambition will take them after that?

The ultimate goal of the Jotun may be unclear, but one thing ''is'' clear. The Marchers will not give up without a fight, not in Mitwold, and not anywhere else. The Jotun have been beaten before, time and again, and this time will be no different. Just as the Strong Reeds fight for the people of Bregasland, just as the Tusks battled the odds and risked everything to free their folk in Mournwold, the people of Mitwold trust that the Drakes will be back and make the Jotun pay a high price for their trespass.
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==Game Information==
* '''The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward claiming Gravenmarch'''
* '''The Jotun have conquered Oddmire and Meade March, and are halfway towards claiming the Meadows'''
* '''All titles connected to the city of Meade have lost access to their resources'''
Following the battle opportunity in Autumn, the Jotun have struck back against the Strong Reeds, causing them to take 200 casualties. They have now risen up, however, openly fighting the barbarians. As such, the information the Jotun scouts gathered about their movements and dispositions is no longer useful. If the Strong Reeds choose to start lying low again, they will not face any ongoing losses unless and until the Jotun are able to scour the territory for them once again. The "counter" on their ability to rise up would be reset at this point given they still maintain the absolute support of the Bregas people. Alternatively, they could leave the territory without difficulty either alone or with other Imperial armies.

The Imperial forces have not taken Gravenmarch but they are four-fifths of the way there. While the route they entered Bregasland by, has been cut off - Oddmire and Meade March being in Jotun hands - there is nothing to stop them retreating into the Mournwold, or even circling round through Mournwold into Golden Downs or Maiden Downs. If they wish to return to Mitwold directly - into Oddmire or Meade March - they will have to fight the Jotun to do so.
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The city of Meade is in Jotun hands. While they are not going out of the way to loot the place, there is still massive disruption here. As such the [[Bailiff of Meade]], [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]], [[Master of the Root and Stem]], and [[Alder of Meade]] have all lost access to their production - whether sinecure or ministry. The titles still exist, they simply can't wield their powers to secure resources. In addition, the Bounder's Hall in Meade is now in Jotun hands and unfortunately that means that it is no longer possible for beaters to [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] in Mitwold. There is nothing to stop characters instead [[Military_unit#Guarding|supporting Forte Fidelis]] but they won't receive any income for doing so unless that action is assigned [[Military_unit#Guerdon_Shares|Guerdon shares]]. Likewise, until Oddmire and Steward's Landing are once again in Marcher hands it is no longer possible for Marcher [[fleet|fleets]] to take the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]].

==Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks==
* '''Characters who took the Beating the Bounds or Raid Kalsea's Coastline actions have had a busy season'''
* '''The General of the Bloodcloaks retains some of the healing herbs recovered from the Navarr herb cache in Graven'''
Any character who took the [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] [[venture]] in Mitwold this season, or who undertook the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]] is encouraged to roleplay their part in the events taking place in the Marches. In particular, they may have been involved in helping [[military unit|military units]] sneak into Bregasland to join the Strong Reads, helped deliver the desperate warning of the Jotun assault to the defenders of Mitwold, or been involved in evacuating Steward's Landing. If your military unit or fleet supported one of these actions, you may have been injured engaging in risky heroism against the Jotun. Anyone who did so can email {{plot}} before the end of March and request a [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|lingering wound]] sustained in the campaign. A lingering wound can help support your roleplaying on the field as one of the defenders of Mitwold. Bear in mind however that, if left untreated, lingering wounds can also be fatal.

The Navarr herb cache uncovered by the Bloodcloaks in Graven has been distributed to the healers of the Wintermark army, but a portion has also been set aside for the [[general]]. As such, '''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''' will find six drams of each of the five medicinal herbs in their pack, all that remains of this bounty.
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===Participation : Knights of Glory===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought with the Drakes, the Bounders, or the Strong Reeds receive a special benefit'''
The Knights of Glory who fought alongside the Drakes, Bounders, and Strong Reeds revel in the uncompromising tactics the three armies employed. As is their wont they communicate some of their enthusiasm to the soldiers who fight alongside them. A character whose military unit supported one of these three armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Winter Solstice.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Winter Solstice regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]] that lasts until the end of the Winter Solstice: ''You feel the urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and take particular pleasure from approval and adulation. You feel the urge to do things that demonstrate your prowess as a powerful warrior. Being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:49:38Z

Vsabo: /* Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Winter]] [[Category:Military Council]]
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==Loyal to the People==
The Strong Reeds were raised from the Bregas. To this day the bulk of their soldiers come from the Dour Fens, and they know the wetlands better than anyone else. Since the [[Only forward|Jotun returned]] to steal their homeland, they have been amid the reeds, resisting the invaders. This despite the unhappiness some of their countryfolk still feel towards the Empire - and we must not forget that many Bregas are marshfolk first, Marchers second, and Imperial citizens a distant third. Yet the 'Reeds have remained true to the oath of their General, fighting from the rushes and the deep fens to bamboozle the barbarian invaders wherever they can.

They are in a perilous situation, for all their skill at [[Army_qualities#Secretive|laying low]]. The Queen of Kalsea herself, ''Yrsa Jansdóttir'', set the Lion of the North to root out the 'Reeds and their sympathisers. The Bregas army has been left exposed, and those who offer them succour left in mortal danger. The Jotun are closing in on their hidden encampments, deep in the fens. It has become more and more difficult for them to move or take action without the barbarians descending on them in force.

During the Autumn Equinox, Imperial heroes used the [[Sentinel Gate]] to [[So_our_path_is_laid#Battle_Opportunity_:_How_Will_They_Rise_Up?|come to their aid]]. In [[Bregasland#Grey Fens|Grey Fens]] they intercepted the Jotun champions [[So_our_path_is_laid#Objective:_Recover_the_scouting_orders|ordered]] to hunt out the havens of the Strong Reeds. Both ''Ghodi Melker'' and the yegarra champion ''Eisa Winterborn'' were brought low - the latter success in particular being cause for muted celebration. A thorn in the Empire's side for years, Imperial heroes brought Eisa to ground at ''Leakey Moss'', and her warband has withdrawn back to their stronghold in [[Skallahn#Mindrkyst|Skallahn]]. They will not return to fight in the Empire again until some new hero raises the walrus banner and walks the path of the rare yegarra champions.
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds">This game of fox and hound is at an end. No quarter shall be given. Not any more. Rise up! Rise from the reeds and be a tidal wave of fury to wash the scum from our fields. I march with you as a soldier, as a marcher, as your friend. I march with my husband by my side for us, for land, for the Marches. And when we are done, will bring in the harvest and toast to the turning of the seasons.</quote></div>

Unfortunately, their success was not unqualified. They were unable to prevent one of the champions from rallying her warband. Barely has the equinox ended before ''Seeker Alma'' - a skilled tracker from the hills of [[Reinos]] - leads a contingent of Lasambrian Jotun into the sleepy village of ''Catchment'', deep in the fens. Some two hundred Marcher soldiers, taken by surprise, are slain or captured before they can flee. A grievous loss - but one that could have been significantly worse had the Empire's heroes been less thorough. Alma continues to harry the Bregas across the marshes, striking without warning against sanctuaries that have been secret for generations.

Yet despite this, the 'Reeds remain in Bregasland. They endure, and when the order comes, they will [[If_one_be_gone_we_carry_on#Objective:_Rouse_the_Strong_Reeds|rise]].
===Rise===
Granite-faced Derun Stonetower and the Tower of the North continues to work alongside Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir, standing in for King Gudmundr Arasonn as general of the Fist of Ulven, ruling Bregasland with a mailed fist. Yet many of the barbarian "heroes" are champing at the bit, eager for honourable battle against the Marcher-folk and their allies. As a people, the Jotun tend to have little time for stealth and the subtle manoeuvring of spies and scouts; let others seek the Strong Reeds, the champions of Kalsea and Narkyst will build their bridge across the [[Howling Abyss]] in glorious battle! Throughout the long Summer into Autumn, [[So_our_path_is_laid#Pride_of_the_Marches|barbarian raiders]] came reaving across the border into prosperous [[Mitwold]].

<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Mary Birchsmith, General of the Bounders">Bounders, show me your strength and your loyalty. We bring the knights of Eleonaris with us to fight alongside our friends and siblings in Gravenmarch. We will support the strong reeds to rise up and show the Jotun what we stand for. This is marcher land and we take pride in that. We will overwhelming assault into Graven March, Bregasland. A Marcher! A Marcher!</quote>
<quote by="William Guildenstern, General of the Drakes">Make of them a scarecrow. Make our enemy a living effigy of your will - Shrive yourselves, pour your anger and sorrow into your greatswords and poleaxes… First army be shriven of sin and malignancy drive it into the invaders. It is not Sin however to hate the Jotun. To repel the invaders virtue demands it. So Shrive yourselves in battle my Drakes. Liberate the fens and furrows of Bregasland and be born anew. Do this for me now. For fellow, our commander, our stoats and all who have suffered this evil. Should you find the fire of the Marches - send me to her, so I may love my wife amidst the chaos of the land. Our Overwhelming Assault will be the battle song of my love for this and all of you.</quote>
<quote by="Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt, General of the Bloodcloaks">Cloaks, we march to free the reeds, we march to recover the lost and aid the Marchers, we march with the Champions of Eleonaris. A good friend has just become one of their champions and I hope she can march to battle with the Winterfolk once more. Blaze Dunn! A Hero has a name!</quote></div>

The ''Ice Fishers of Ldansk'' have been in Bregasland for a year or more, growing more restless with each season that passes. ''Helma Skutasdóttir'' plants her raven-banner in Ottery, splitting her attention between rooting out the Strong Reeds and testing the borders to the east. The Howling Bears under the standard of ''Yanya Uranduln'' have had their eyes on the wealth of Mitwold since they arrived. With the death of ''Eisa Winterborn'' it is as if grief has unhinged their champion who drives their warband to fight the Marchers wherever possible even when it is perhaps not wise to do so.

Their desire for bloodshed is nothing, however, beside that of the traitor-yegarra who gather around the banners of ''Stephen of Sarcombe''. While the other champion-warbands seek wealth and challenge, the yegarra of the [[Mournwold|Mourn]] look to sate their bloodlust on the [[Yeoman of the Marches|yeofolk]] of Mitwold and Bregasland alike. Rumours that other Jotun warbands will not fight alongside Stephen's yegarra for fear of dishonouring themselves and their ancestors have solidified. In desperation Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir has loosed the choke-chain King Gudmundr used to control the furious human champion, letting him lead his troops into Mitwold in the hope, perhaps, that the Marchers will end the problem he represents before the King returns.

And so the raids continue after the Autumn Equinox. The Imperial defenders of Mitwold are able to ensure they do reach much further east than [[Mitwold#Oddmire|Oddmire]] and occasionally [[Mitwold#Meade March|Meade March]], but their focus is elsewhere. The task of dealing with the raiders falls to the [[beater|beaters]] who [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|patrol the borders]], and to the garrison of [[Mitwold#Forte Fidelis|Forte Fidelis]]. The [[Valiant Pegasus]] and the [[Autumn Hammers]] have quit Mitwold leaving only the [[Drakes]] and the [[Bloodcloaks]] in Mitwold - and they are busy preparing for what is to come.

Fortunately the absence left by the armies marching north is quickly filled for by the arrival of the [[Bounders]] from neighbouring [[Upwold]]. A fortnight after the Equinox, a grand cohort of [[Knights of Glory|elfin knights and goblin-kind infantryfolk]] emerge from an old battlefield in Meade March, drawn from the demesne of [[Eleonaris]]. Without delay they march west to join the Imperial armies, splitting into three distinct groups and setting their brightly-coloured pavilions and fluttering banners alongside the tents of the Imperial soldiers.
<div style="float:left; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amberlain7869.jpg||caption='''Amberlain P. Black''', General of the Strong Reeds}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GenBounders.jpg|caption='''Mary Birchsmith''', General of the Bounders}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Marcher Plate.jpg|caption='''William Guildenstern''', General of the Drakes}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt.png|caption='''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''', General of the Bloodcloaks}}
</div>
To aid the Drakes comes ''Kore'' the lion-maned warlord, glorious in their scarlet armour. They command only half the number of warriors brought by the others, but each of their knights is twice the size of their comrades. While their torso, head, and arms are humanlike their lower bodies are those of deadly predatory cats. These crimson knights use their lances to great effect, devastating their enemies with a thundering charge. ''Ser Helvennan'', resplendent in gold and red chain, quietly joins the Bloodcloaks. The Stag-knight leads a mixed band of elfin spearmasters and grizzled goblin-kin with shield and javelin. ''Ollavan the Reeve'', the sharp-eared bowmaster, comes at the head of a band of wily archers and rust-red hunting hounds. They are eager not only to face their foes, but to test their skill against the marksmen of the Bounders. The knights attract comment wherever they go, their richly coloured garb and merry voices something of a contrast with the fields of Meade March.

The Drakes are further reinforced by nearly five thousand troops lead by Imperial captains from every Imperial nation save the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They have come to fight the Jotun; some offer their aid to the beaters while they wait but few can keep up with the fast-moving Marchers. Others seek the beaters for different reasons however. Perhaps as many as nine thousand more soldiers wish to sneak across the border into Bregasland to join the Strong Reeds. The expertise of the beaters is tested, but they are found equal to the challenge. Others take the riskier route along the southern shores of the Westmere with the aid of sailors from [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Steward's Landing]], slipping into the conquered territories through [[Bregasland#Eel's_Landing|Eel's Landing]] or isolated fishing villages along the coastline.

===Fist, Lion, Tower===
Once everyone is in place, on a certain day, at an appointed hour, the camps are struck. The Drakes, Bounders, and Bloodcloaks begin to move south through Meade March toward [[Bregasland#Gravenmarch|Gravenmarch]], toward battle. At the same time, the Strong Reeds rise, launching a surprise attack against the Jotun garrison at Graven. With them are two thousand delicately deadly warriors of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] attired in breathtaking splendour of sky blue and sun gold; the household of ''Ser Alcedini'', the brightly feathered Kingfisher Castellan, who leads them into battle alongside the Bregas forces. The 'Reeds can't know for sure that help is coming, cut off from the rest of the Marches as they are. They can only trust that if they act, their allies will be there to support them. More than a few Bregas soldiers breathe a sigh of relief when the news that a major Imperial force has crossed the border into the 'March reaches them.

Battle is joined. The Tower of the North, the Fist of Ulven, and the Lion of the North respond quickly, Jotun warriors surging south to intercept the Imperial forces. The rising of the Strong Reeds, however, provides a powerful element of surprise. The eyes of the barbarians were to the north, toward Ottery and Fisher's Rock rather than towards Graven. By the time they realise the attack is underway, the town has been freed from the Jotun.

At first it seems as if the whole of Graven March will follow suit, but as the days unfold that hope begins to fade somewhat. While the initial fighting mostly involves the Tower, the Fist, and the Lion, reinforcements quickly arrive. Some six thousand Summer [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] - orc-like warriors with a distinct leonine cast to their features in crimson steel chain - join the battle. Knights of the [[Eleonaris|Lady of Summer]], they are equally enthusiastic about fighting Imperial troops as they are clashing with their kin from the Summer Realm. In particular the axe-wielding warriors lead by ''Ser Grumbar'' the Hound-knight seek out every opportunity to contend with the knights of ''Ser Helvennan'' who side with the Bloodcloaks.

Only a few days after the fighting begins, the Jotun are further bolstered by some fifteen thousand Lasambrian orcs - the entire Lasambrian Jotun force of the Hierro, the Corazón, and the Escuta. Yet even these allies are only sufficient to slow the Imperial advance, not to halt it entirely. The Drakes and the Bounders plough straight through the Jotun defenders to meet up with the Strong Reeds at Graven; three armies of Marcher soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder against the barbarians. The liveries of dozens of Marcher households flutter and dance in the wind from the west as stubborn yeofolk face the orcs who bedevil their homelands.

The Bloodcloaks swiftly establish a presence at the town that once served as a place for the Navarr to meet with the people of the Marches to trade stories of the wider world. And to trade herbs, especially valuable [[cerulean mazzarine]] from [[the Brass Coast]] in return for the unique plants gathered in the deep fens. Indeed, while the Bloodcloaks are establishing a field hospital in the little town they come across a hidden stash of healing herbs concealed beneath the floorboards - dozens of carefully wrapped packages of [[true vervain]] and [[Imperial roseweald]] and [[marrowort]]. There is a note, hastily written, wishing whoever finds the herbs well and expressing the hope that those who use them might remember the [[striding]] of ''Liath's Path''. It's clear to the Winterfolk that this cache was left by the Navarr trapped in Graven when the Jotun came, in the hope that it would find its way into Imperial hands. Of the Navarr themselves, there is no sign. Doubtless they were among those executed by the barbarians when Graven fell.

It proves to be a valuable find; the Winterfolk healers have their work cut out for them as they [[Army_qualities#Woundbinder|tend the wounds]] of their allies. The Jotun may have been put on the back foot by the attack into Gravenmarch, but they have rallied quickly, mounting a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|solid defence]] in the face of the Empire's furious assault.

Tough as the going is, the Marchers and their allies from the north are equal to the challenge. They liberate several of the smaller households and villages as they expand their control of the 'March outward from Graven. The arrival of the Lasambrians has nudged the butter churn a little, but Imperials rally quickly to the new situation and as slow as the going is it looks as if they will ultimately win the battle, if not the war.

Then, of course, the other shoe drops and the bad news arrives in the form of an exhausted Greywater messenger from Ottery.
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<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunMarch.jpg|align=left|width=500|caption=The Jotun have followed last season's raids with a full-on invasion of Mitwold.}}</div>

==Pride of the Marches==
The Greywater is injured, on the verge of collapse when they reach Graven and demand to speak to the Strong Reeds. Refusing to rest until they have discharged their duty - there were four of them when they set out from Ottery and only one survived the passage through the Jotun lines - they bring a dire message. The Lasambrians are not the ''only'' force of Jotun that has come into Bregasland since the Autumn equinox.

While the Tower, and the Fist, and the Lion, and their Lasambrian allies, have been fighting the Empire in Gravenmarch, a massive force of Jotun has gathered in Ottermire... and is sweeping east across the Otterway into Mitwold. Perhaps forty five thousand Jotun have joined the warbands raiding Oddmire, alongside several thousand crimson-and-gold clad knights of the Summer realm. Eight armies, marching up out of [[Liathaven]] and [[Hordalant]] through the western fens to Ottery. Rather than join the defence, they barely broke their march before crossing the walkway into Oddmire.

For the first time in a century or more, there are Jotun armies in Mitwold. The news spreads through the Imperial forces like wildfire. Soldiers of the Drakes demand to be allowed to return home to protect their farms, their families, their friends. Fear that the army might make it as far as Upwold grips the Bounders. Yet in the end, there are bonds of duty and loyalty that are stronger than the fear they feel. The Empire's forces are too tightly bound up in the fight in Gravenmarch to risk trying to break free and march back north. Everything is focused here, on seizing a foothold in Bregasland. Trying to turn back now would leave the four armies between the hammer and the anvil - and risk making the situation worse. At the moment, should disaster come upon them, they can retreat into [[Mournwold#Green_March|Green March]]. If they try to turn north, there is every chance they will end up trapped in Gravenmarch at the mercy of the Jotun.

It is a painful decision, but in the end the soldiers of the Marches and Wintermark have little choice but to trust the orders of their generals, to trust that the defenders of Mitwold will be equal to the challenge that faces them.
===Odd's Way===
Nearly fifty thousand Jotun. Two full contingents of the [[Knights of Glory]]. The Ice Fishers, and the Howling Bears, and the raven-banner of Helma Skutasdóttir. The traitors of the Mourn. They march along the Otterway into Oddmire. No simple raiding party, but a hammer blow against the Pride of the Marches.

Normally the western barbarians invade a territory with a crushing assault, seeking to overwhelm defenders with furious might and force of numbers. Uncharacteristically though, the Jotun attacking Mitwold seem to be favouring a more [[Army orders#Cautious Assault|cautious]] strategy. Most likely last season's raids established the presence of defending armies dug-in in Oddmire. Perhaps the Jotun commanders are simply being cautious of a trap, or careful about overextending their forces. Either way, they focus more on preserving their strength than smashing the Imperial armies... which are not there. The relative slowness of the Jotun response in Bregasland makes more sense if one assumed the barbarians were expecting the Imperial armies to still be in Mitwold rather than launching an attack of their own.

Eight armies, well-rested and well-provisioned from their stay in Liathaven and Hordalant. The Fell Hammers and the Iron Host are in the van, with the glory-hungry warriors of the Mandowla's Roar and Raging Thunder straining against the unfamiliar orders to advance cautiously rather than slam full-strength into whatever Mitwold has to offer. The knights that accompany those two armies are clearly no happier about this strategy than their orc friends, but they follow their orders. The Howling Night, the Skjaldirborn, and the Shield of the Mountain form the solid core at the heart of the Jotun expeditionary force, with the Southern Bear in the rearward position, [[Army_qualities#Resilient|grinding]] relentlessly forward even as they seek to lock down the land the advance guard claims. The army of Bjorgthorn Hammerhand prides itself on only moving forward, and even though the Jotun come with caution, move forward they do.

The defenders of Mitwold know about the Jotun invasion before the forces in Gravenmarch; the beaters who watch the borders immediately realise what is happening and raise the alarm. The news speeds eastward, galvanising the garrison of Forte Fidelis and sending the yeofolk and stewards to their armouries. Weapons and armour are passed out, as the folk of the Marches brace themselves for the Jotun advance. Just as with their neighbours to the east and the south, they will not cede one inch of ground save that the barbarians pry it from their clenched fists. Messengers are sent to Mournwold and Upwold, telling them of the invasion and while they do not directly ask for aid - Marchers are proud people - the implication is there. They may be rivals in peacetime, but as both Bregasland and Mournwold have shown, when war comes to the Marches, folk unite against the interloper.
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This grim pride, the courage of the yeofolk, is not in vain but it cannot hope to hold back the Jotun for long. At best, the garrison and the beaters, the households, and the walls of Oddmire can only delay what seems inevitable. Western Oddmire falls, and within a week the rest of the region follows suit. Odd's End is overwhelmed by the barbarians, forced to open its gates rather than see the entire town flattened by Jotun siege engines. Steward's Landing falls shortly afterward without any fighting at all - because ''Jarvey "Strongoar" Oddsboy'' and his entire household have loaded everyone they can onto their boats and slipped across the Gullet to [[Kallavesa#Wittal_Grove|Fisk]]. The Winterfolk who once kept a careful eye on the Marchers to the south welcome them, working with the steward and his levies to ensure that the northern shores of Mitwold can be kept supplied, should the worst come to the worst.

Despite the relatively cautious strategy the invasion of Mitwold follows a familiar pattern. Wherever they go, the Jotun offer Imperial citizens the Choice. Take up arms alongside the Jotun; lay aside the accoutrements of war and become thralls; or be given a swift and honourable death. Nobody takes the first choice. Most take the second. Few are stubborn enough to face the third. Many families make the decision to retreat before the Jotun, staunchly certain that they will reclaim their land soon enough when the Drakes return and drive the Jotun back into the western fens. The refugees are welcomed by their neighbours to the east with open grumbling about the inconvenience - but they ''are'' welcomed and found places to stay.

===The Walls of Meade===
Oddmire is quickly taken, and then the Jotun march on [[Mitwold#Meade|Meade]]. The first [[market town]] and the oldest. The largest settlement south of [[Hahnmark#Kalpaheim|Kalpaheim]], the city-port of the Marches. Revitalised by the dredging of the Westmere, by trade with the [[Faraden]], and by decades of prosperity and security, Meade stands ready to repel the Jotun just as they did the [[Harvest_of_infamy|Asavean raiders]] last Autumn.

Of course, last Autumn the Marchers had ample warning that the attack was coming, and the garrison of Forte Fidelis was bolstered by the Drakes. This year, the defenders of Meade are on their own. The city has walls of course, but while there has been some talk of [[Three_keys#The_Walls_of_Meade|further work]] it has been over a decade since the defences were [[Fortify_Town_defences|reinforced]] by the Senate. The walls are stout, but to stand against eight armies of Jotun bent on conquest? That would be a challenge even for a true [[fortification]] - there's little doubt that if the Jotun turned south-east into the [[Mitwold#Golden_Downs|'Downs]] even Forte Fidelis would be hard pressed to keep them out.

So the Jotun come up through Meade March towards the pride of the Marches. The people turned back the Asaveans, and they fight just as valiantly against the Jotun, but they are outnumbered and ultimately outmatched. A Jotun messenger offers the people of Meade one chance to surrender, but if anything the proud refusal of the defenders both impresses and pleases the herald sent to deliver the offer. She returns to the armies, and they waste no time besieging the city. Not that it is a siege in any literal sense. The soldiers of Forte Fidelis garrison the walls as best they can, but the gates are riven to splinters by Jotun battering rams almost immediately. The warriors of the west pour into Meade, and those who fight back are swiftly overwhelmed. This is a city of prosperity, of clever merchants and wise scholars, not a city of warriors, after all.

The remaining garrison retreats east. A great many Marchers stay behind, refusing to give up their homes. They watch sullenly as the Jotun establish a command post in Meade, from which to direct the rest of their forces. With the city fallen, there is little chance for the households of Meade March to mount more than a token defence. Yet with the aid of the beaters and the Forte Fidelis soldiers, they do their best, and their courage at least helps to slow the Jotun invasion and give time for the rest of Mitwold to prepare for what is to come. As it is, the 'March is conquered and the Jotun continue to press forward into the heart of the Marches.

As the bulk of the Jotun move to back up the raiders attacking [[Mitwold#The_Meadows|the Meadows]], however, Stephen of Sarcombe moves to have the remaining [[The_Marches_economic_interests#Alder|alders]] of Meade and their families hanged, sending his yegarra also to try and capture the bailiffs of [[Bailiff of Meade|Meade]] and the [[Bailiff of the Grand Market|Grand Market]], the [[Alder of Meade]], and even the [[Master of the Root and Stem]] so they can face similar treatment. Before he can do much more than mobilise his people, they are confronted by Helma Skutasdóttir and her warband. Denouncing him as a coward and unfit to call himself Jotun, Helma herself challenges him to defend his honour. Actual fighting between the orcs of Helma's raven-banner and Stephens yegarra breaks out in the centre of Meade. Bjorgthorn Hammerhand, general of the Southern Bear, is forced to send his own warriors to separate the two warbands - but not before several fighters on both sides are slain. He does not bother to hide his utter contempt for Stephen and his clear support for Helma in this matter. According to witnesses, it looks as if the traitor-Marchers are squaring up to actually take on the Southern Bear, but in the end they back down and retreat from Meade with their tails between their legs. It becomes common knowledge that Bjorgthorn has dispatched messengers north to the King and Queen, demanding that something be done about the "rabid dog" in the midst of the Jotun before he is forced to deal with the matter himself.

Flies like Stephen aside, though, the rest of the Jotun invasion goes off with barely a hitch. After Oddmire and Meade March, the Jotun press heavily into the Meadows. North-eastern Mitwold borders [[Kallavesa#Wittal Grove|Wittal Grove]], some of the only dry land in the whole of [[Kallavesa]], and allows easy access to [[Upwold#Stock_March|Stock March]] in Upwold. If the Jotun can secure it, and secure their lines across northern Mitwold, the threat they represent is multiplied significantly.

Yet despite their fervour, and their sheer numbers, their invasion slows and begins to falter once they hit the Meadows. As the Winter Solstice approaches, the weather worsens significantly. Torrential rains give way to heavy snowfall in the approach to midwinter, and while the Jotun are no strangers to cold and snow they are not foolhardy enough to throw themselves into the teeth of the storm while there are defenders still fighting. Across the northern Marches, camps are established as the Jotun make the preparations needed to keep what they have taken so far - and presumably to continue to conquer Mitwold until the entire Pride of the Marches is in their hands.
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==Between Beats==
It is easy to imagine that every warrior in the Jotun lands is in the Marches; six armies in Bregasland fighting the Empire's attempt to liberate Gravenmarch. Eight armies in Mitwold. Thousands of would-be champions fighting under the banners of their warlords, even as thousands of Imperial captains fight in support of the armies of the Empire. Knights of Glory on both sides, urging their compatriots to fight boldly, to neither give nor ask for quarter, to seek to build enduring legends that will live on in the songs of the bards long after their bodies are gone to rot and treeroots.

The fighting in Bregasland has been bloody - three thousand Imperial heroes dead or broken. The number would have been higher without the Bloodcloaks; the Jotun have suffered more grievous losses simply because they lack the medical expertise of the Winterfolk, their losses closer to four thousand. The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward taking Gravenmarch from the barbarians, but the fighting continues. Behind them, the armies of the west rampage across Mitwold, slowed by the stubborn defenders, but only a little. Oddmire and Meade March - and the city of Meade - are in their hands. They are halfway toward claiming the whole of the Meadows, and who knows where their ambition will take them after that?

The ultimate goal of the Jotun may be unclear, but one thing ''is'' clear. The Marchers will not give up without a fight, not in Mitwold, and not anywhere else. The Jotun have been beaten before, time and again, and this time will be no different. Just as the Strong Reeds fight for the people of Bregasland, just as the Tusks battled the odds and risked everything to free their folk in Mournwold, the people of Mitwold trust that the Drakes will be back and make the Jotun pay a high price for their trespass.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofBregasland.png|align=right|width=300}}
==Game Information==
* '''The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward claiming Gravenmarch'''
* '''The Jotun have conquered Oddmire and Meade March, and are halfway towards claiming the Meadows'''
* '''All titles connected to the city of Meade have lost access to their resources'''
Following the battle opportunity in Autumn, the Jotun have struck back against the Strong Reeds, causing them to take 200 casualties. They have now risen up, however, openly fighting the barbarians. As such, the information the Jotun scouts gathered about their movements and dispositions is no longer useful. If the Strong Reeds choose to start lying low again, they will not face any ongoing losses unless and until the Jotun are able to scour the territory for them once again. The "counter" on their ability to rise up would be reset at this point given they still maintain the absolute support of the Bregas people. Alternatively, they could leave the territory without difficulty either alone or with other Imperial armies.

The Imperial forces have not taken Gravenmarch but they are four-fifths of the way there. While the route they entered Bregasland by, has been cut off - Oddmire and Meade March being in Jotun hands - there is nothing to stop them retreating into the Mournwold, or even circling round through Mournwold into Golden Downs or Maiden Downs. If they wish to return to Mitwold directly - into Oddmire or Meade March - they will have to fight the Jotun to do so.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofMitwold.png|align=right|width=300}}
The city of Meade is in Jotun hands. While they are not going out of the way to loot the place, there is still massive disruption here. As such the [[Bailiff of Meade]], [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]], [[Master of the Root and Stem]], and [[Alder of Meade]] have all lost access to their production - whether sinecure or ministry. The titles still exist, they simply can't wield their powers to secure resources. In addition, the Bounder's Hall in Meade is now in Jotun hands and unfortunately that means that it is no longer possible for beaters to [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] in Mitwold. There is nothing to stop characters instead [[Military_unit#Guarding|supporting Forte Fidelis]] but they won't receive any income for doing so unless that action is assigned [[Military_unit#Guerdon_Shares|Guerdon shares]]. Likewise, until Oddmire and Steward's Landing are once again in Marcher hands it is no longer possible for Marcher [[fleet|fleets]] to take the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]].

==Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks==
* '''Characters who took the Beating the Bounds or Raid Kalsea's Coastline actions have had a busy season'''
* '''The General of the Bloodcloaks retains some of the healing herbs recovered from the Navarr herb cache in Graven'''
Any character who took the [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] [[venture]] in Mitwold this season, or who undertook the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]] is encouraged to roleplay their part in the events taking place in the Marches. In particular, they may have been involved in helping [[military unit|military units]] sneak into Bregasland to join the Strong Reads, helped deliver the desperate warning of the Jotun assault to the defenders of Mitwold, or been involved in evacuating Steward's Landing. If your military unit or fleet supported one of these actions, you may have been injured engaging in risky heroism against the Jotun. Anyone who did so can email {{plot}} before the end of March and request a [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|lingering wound]] sustained in the campaign. A lingering wound can help support your roleplaying on the field as one of the defenders of Mitwold. Bear in mind however that, if left untreated, lingering wounds can also be fatal.

The Navarr herb cache uncovered by the Bloodcloaks in Graven has been distributed to the healers of the Wintermark army, but a portion has also been set aside for the [[general]]. As such,'''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''' will find six drams of each of the five medicinal herbs in their pack, all that remains of this bounty.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=The crimson and gold pennants of Queen Eleonaris flutter over the Fields of Glory in the Summer Realm|align=left|width=200}}</div>

===Participation : Knights of Glory===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought with the Drakes, the Bounders, or the Strong Reeds receive a special benefit'''
The Knights of Glory who fought alongside the Drakes, Bounders, and Strong Reeds revel in the uncompromising tactics the three armies employed. As is their wont they communicate some of their enthusiasm to the soldiers who fight alongside them. A character whose military unit supported one of these three armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Winter Solstice.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Winter Solstice regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]] that lasts until the end of the Winter Solstice: ''You feel the urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and take particular pleasure from approval and adulation. You feel the urge to do things that demonstrate your prowess as a powerful warrior. Being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:36:53Z

Vsabo: /* Fist, Lion, Tower */

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:35:20Z

Vsabo: /* Fist, Lion, Tower */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Winter]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Beater on the Field.jpg|caption=Beaters secure the boundaries of the Marches against all intrusion. Some times this is more challenging than others.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Loyal to the People==
The Strong Reeds were raised from the Bregas. To this day the bulk of their soldiers come from the Dour Fens, and they know the wetlands better than anyone else. Since the [[Only forward|Jotun returned]] to steal their homeland, they have been amid the reeds, resisting the invaders. This despite the unhappiness some of their countryfolk still feel towards the Empire - and we must not forget that many Bregas are marshfolk first, Marchers second, and Imperial citizens a distant third. Yet the 'Reeds have remained true to the oath of their General, fighting from the rushes and the deep fens to bamboozle the barbarian invaders wherever they can.

They are in a perilous situation, for all their skill at [[Army_qualities#Secretive|laying low]]. The Queen of Kalsea herself, ''Yrsa Jansdóttir'', set the Lion of the North to root out the 'Reeds and their sympathisers. The Bregas army has been left exposed, and those who offer them succour left in mortal danger. The Jotun are closing in on their hidden encampments, deep in the fens. It has become more and more difficult for them to move or take action without the barbarians descending on them in force.

During the Autumn Equinox, Imperial heroes used the [[Sentinel Gate]] to [[So_our_path_is_laid#Battle_Opportunity_:_How_Will_They_Rise_Up?|come to their aid]]. In [[Bregasland#Grey Fens|Grey Fens]] they intercepted the Jotun champions [[So_our_path_is_laid#Objective:_Recover_the_scouting_orders|ordered]] to hunt out the havens of the Strong Reeds. Both ''Ghodi Melker'' and the yegarra champion ''Eisa Winterborn'' were brought low - the latter success in particular being cause for muted celebration. A thorn in the Empire's side for years, Imperial heroes brought Eisa to ground at ''Leakey Moss'', and her warband has withdrawn back to their stronghold in [[Skallahn#Mindrkyst|Skallahn]]. They will not return to fight in the Empire again until some new hero raises the walrus banner and walks the path of the rare yegarra champions.
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds">This game of fox and hound is at an end. No quarter shall be given. Not any more. Rise up! Rise from the reeds and be a tidal wave of fury to wash the scum from our fields. I march with you as a soldier, as a marcher, as your friend. I march with my husband by my side for us, for land, for the Marches. And when we are done, will bring in the harvest and toast to the turning of the seasons.</quote></div>

Unfortunately, their success was not unqualified. They were unable to prevent one of the champions from rallying her warband. Barely has the equinox ended before ''Seeker Alma'' - a skilled tracker from the hills of [[Reinos]] - leads a contingent of Lasambrian Jotun into the sleepy village of ''Catchment'', deep in the fens. Some two hundred Marcher soldiers, taken by surprise, are slain or captured before they can flee. A grievous loss - but one that could have been significantly worse had the Empire's heroes been less thorough. Alma continues to harry the Bregas across the marshes, striking without warning against sanctuaries that have been secret for generations.

Yet despite this, the 'Reeds remain in Bregasland. They endure, and when the order comes, they will [[If_one_be_gone_we_carry_on#Objective:_Rouse_the_Strong_Reeds|rise]].
===Rise===
Granite-faced Derun Stonetower and the Tower of the North continues to work alongside Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir, standing in for King Gudmundr Arasonn as general of the Fist of Ulven, ruling Bregasland with a mailed fist. Yet many of the barbarian "heroes" are champing at the bit, eager for honourable battle against the Marcher-folk and their allies. As a people, the Jotun tend to have little time for stealth and the subtle manoeuvring of spies and scouts; let others seek the Strong Reeds, the champions of Kalsea and Narkyst will build their bridge across the [[Howling Abyss]] in glorious battle! Throughout the long Summer into Autumn, [[So_our_path_is_laid#Pride_of_the_Marches|barbarian raiders]] came reaving across the border into prosperous [[Mitwold]].

<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Mary Birchsmith, General of the Bounders">Bounders, show me your strength and your loyalty. We bring the knights of Eleonaris with us to fight alongside our friends and siblings in Gravenmarch. We will support the strong reeds to rise up and show the Jotun what we stand for. This is marcher land and we take pride in that. We will overwhelming assault into Graven March, Bregasland. A Marcher! A Marcher!</quote>
<quote by="William Guildenstern, General of the Drakes">Make of them a scarecrow. Make our enemy a living effigy of your will - Shrive yourselves, pour your anger and sorrow into your greatswords and poleaxes… First army be shriven of sin and malignancy drive it into the invaders. It is not Sin however to hate the Jotun. To repel the invaders virtue demands it. So Shrive yourselves in battle my Drakes. Liberate the fens and furrows of Bregasland and be born anew. Do this for me now. For fellow, our commander, our stoats and all who have suffered this evil. Should you find the fire of the Marches - send me to her, so I may love my wife amidst the chaos of the land. Our Overwhelming Assault will be the battle song of my love for this and all of you.</quote>
<quote by="Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt, General of the Bloodcloaks">Cloaks, we march to free the reeds, we march to recover the lost and aid the Marchers, we march with the Champions of Eleonaris. A good friend has just become one of their champions and I hope she can march to battle with the Winterfolk once more. Blaze Dunn! A Hero has a name!</quote></div>

The ''Ice Fishers of Ldansk'' have been in Bregasland for a year or more, growing more restless with each season that passes. ''Helma Skutasdóttir'' plants her raven-banner in Ottery, splitting her attention between rooting out the Strong Reeds and testing the borders to the east. The Howling Bears under the standard of ''Yanya Uranduln'' have had their eyes on the wealth of Mitwold since they arrived. With the death of ''Eisa Winterborn'' it is as if grief has unhinged their champion who drives their warband to fight the Marchers wherever possible even when it is perhaps not wise to do so.

Their desire for bloodshed is nothing, however, beside that of the traitor-yegarra who gather around the banners of ''Stephen of Sarcombe''. While the other champion-warbands seek wealth and challenge, the yegarra of the [[Mournwold|Mourn]] look to sate their bloodlust on the [[Yeoman of the Marches|yeofolk]] of Mitwold and Bregasland alike. Rumours that other Jotun warbands will not fight alongside Stephen's yegarra for fear of dishonouring themselves and their ancestors have solidified. In desperation Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir has loosed the choke-chain King Gudmundr used to control the furious human champion, letting him lead his troops into Mitwold in the hope, perhaps, that the Marchers will end the problem he represents before the King returns.

And so the raids continue after the Autumn Equinox. The Imperial defenders of Mitwold are able to ensure they do reach much further east than [[Mitwold#Oddmire|Oddmire]] and occasionally [[Mitwold#Meade March|Meade March]], but their focus is elsewhere. The task of dealing with the raiders falls to the [[beater|beaters]] who [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|patrol the borders]], and to the garrison of [[Mitwold#Forte Fidelis|Forte Fidelis]]. The [[Valiant Pegasus]] and the [[Autumn Hammers]] have quit Mitwold leaving only the [[Drakes]] and the [[Bloodcloaks]] in Mitwold - and they are busy preparing for what is to come.

Fortunately the absence left by the armies marching north is quickly filled for by the arrival of the [[Bounders]] from neighbouring [[Upwold]]. A fortnight after the Equinox, a grand cohort of [[Knights of Glory|elfin knights and goblin-kind infantryfolk]] emerge from an old battlefield in Meade March, drawn from the demesne of [[Eleonaris]]. Without delay they march west to join the Imperial armies, splitting into three distinct groups and setting their brightly-coloured pavilions and fluttering banners alongside the tents of the Imperial soldiers.
<div style="float:left; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amberlain7869.jpg||caption='''Amberlain P. Black''', General of the Strong Reeds}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GenBounders.jpg|caption='''Mary Birchsmith''', General of the Bounders}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Marcher Plate.jpg|caption='''William Guildenstern''', General of the Drakes}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt.png|caption='''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''', General of the Bloodcloaks}}
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To aid the Drakes comes ''Kore'' the lion-maned warlord, glorious in their scarlet armour. They command only half the number of warriors brought by the others, but each of their knights is twice the size of their comrades. While their torso, head, and arms are humanlike their lower bodies are those of deadly predatory cats. These crimson knights use their lances to great effect, devastating their enemies with a thundering charge. ''Ser Helvennan'', resplendent in gold and red chain, quietly joins the Bloodcloaks. The Stag-knight leads a mixed band of elfin spearmasters and grizzled goblin-kin with shield and javelin. ''Ollavan the Reeve'', the sharp-eared bowmaster, comes at the head of a band of wily archers and rust-red hunting hounds. They are eager not only to face their foes, but to test their skill against the marksmen of the Bounders. The knights attract comment wherever they go, their richly coloured garb and merry voices something of a contrast with the fields of Meade March.

The Drakes are further reinforced by nearly five thousand troops lead by Imperial captains from every Imperial nation save the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They have come to fight the Jotun; some offer their aid to the beaters while they wait but few can keep up with the fast-moving Marchers. Others seek the beaters for different reasons however. Perhaps as many as nine thousand more soldiers wish to sneak across the border into Bregasland to join the Strong Reeds. The expertise of the beaters is tested, but they are found equal to the challenge. Others take the riskier route along the southern shores of the Westmere with the aid of sailors from [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Steward's Landing]], slipping into the conquered territories through [[Bregasland#Eel's_Landing|Eel's Landing]] or isolated fishing villages along the coastline.

===Fist, Lion, Tower===
Once everyone is in place, on a certain day, at an appointed hour, the camps are struck. The Drakes, Bounders, and Bloodcloaks begin to move south through Meade March toward [[Bregasland#Gravenmarch|Gravenmarch]], toward battle. At the same time, the Strong Reeds rise, launching a surprise attack against the Jotun garrison at Graven. With them are two thousand delicately deadly warriors of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] attired in breathtaking splendour of sky blue and sun gold; the household of ''Ser Alcedini'', the brightly feathered Kingfisher Castellan, who leads them into battle alongside the Bregas forces. The 'Reeds can't know for sure that help is coming, cut off from the rest of the Marches as they are. They can only trust that if they act, their allies will be there to support them. More than a few Bregas soldiers breathe a sigh of relief when the news that a major Imperial force has crossed the border into the 'March reaches them.

Battle is joined. The Tower of the North, the Fist of Ulven, and the Lion of the North respond quickly, Jotun warriors surging south to intercept the Imperial forces. The rising of the Strong Reeds, however, provides a powerful element of surprise. The eyes of the barbarians were to the north, toward Ottery and Fisher's Rock rather than towards Graven. By the time they realise the attack is underway, the town has been freed from the Jotun.

At first it seems as if the whole of Graven March will follow suit, but as the days unfold that hope begins to fade somewhat. While the initial fighting mostly involves the Tower, the Fist, and the Lion, reinforcements quickly arrive. Some six thousand Summer [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] - orc-like warriors with a distinct leonine cast to their features in crimson steel chain - join the battle. Knights of the [[Eleonaris|Lady of Summer]], they are equally enthusiastic about fighting Imperial troops as they are clashing with their kin from the Summer Realm. In particular the axe-wielding warriors lead by ''Ser Grumbar'' the Hound-knight seek out every opportunity to contend with the knights of ''Ser Helvennan'' who side with the Bloodcloaks.

Only a few days after the fighting begins, the Jotun are further bolstered by some fifteen thousand Lasambrian orcs - the entire Lasambrian Jotun force of the Hierro, the Corazón, and the Escuta. Yet even these allies are only sufficient to slow the Imperial advance, not to halt it entirely. The Drakes and the Bounders plough straight through the Jotun defenders to meet up with the Strong Reeds at Graven; three armies of Marcher soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder against the barbarians. The liveries of dozens of Marcher households flutter and dance in the wind from the west as stubborn yeofolk face the orcs who bedevil their homelands.

The Bloodcloaks swiftly establish a presence at the town that once served as a place for the Navarr to meet with the people of the Marches to trade stories of the wider world. And to trade herbs, especially valuable [[cerulean mazzarine]] from [[the Brass Coast]] in return for the unique plants gathered in the deep fens. Indeed, while the Bloodcloaks are establishing a field hospital in the little town they come across a hidden stash of healing herbs concealed beneath the floorboards - dozens of carefully wrapped packages of [[true vervain]] and [[Imperial roseweald]] and [[marrowort]]. There is a note, hastily written, wishing whoever finds the herbs well and expressing the hope that those who use them might remember the [[striding]] of ''Liath's Path''. It's clear to the Winterfolk that this cache was left by the Navarr trapped in Graven when the Jotun came, in the hope that it would find its way into Imperial hands. Of the Navarr themselves, there is no sign. Doubtless they were among those executed by the barbarians when Graven fell.

It proves to be a valuable find; the Winterfolk healers have their work cut out for them as they [[Army_qualities#Woundbinder|tend the wounds]] of their allies. The Jotun may have been put on the back foot by the attack into Gravenmarch, but they have rallied quickly, mounting a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|solid defence]] in the face of the Empire's furious assault.

Tough as the going is, the Marchers and their allies from the north are equal to the challenge. They liberate several of the smaller households and villages as they expand their control of the 'March outward from Graven. The arrival of the Lasambrians has nudged the butter churn a little, but Imperial rally quickly to the new situation and as slow as the going is it looks as if they will ultimately win the battle, if not the war.

Then, of course, the other shoe drops and the bad news arrives in the form of an exhausted Greywater messenger from Ottery.
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<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunMarch.jpg|align=left|width=500|caption=The Jotun have followed last season's raids with a full-on invasion of Mitwold.}}</div>

==Pride of the Marches==
The Greywater is injured, on the verge of collapse when they reach Graven and demand to speak to the Strong Reeds. Refusing to rest until they have discharged their duty - there were four of them when they set out from Ottery and only one survived the passage through the Jotun lines - they bring a dire message. The Lasambrians are not the ''only'' force of Jotun that has come into Bregasland since the Autumn equinox.

While the Tower, and the Fist, and the Lion, and their Lasambrian allies, have been fighting the Empire in Gravenmarch, a massive force of Jotun has gathered in Ottermire... and is sweeping east across the Otterway into Mitwold. Perhaps forty five thousand Jotun have joined the warbands raiding Oddmire, alongside several thousand crimson-and-gold clad knights of the Summer realm. Eight armies, marching up out of [[Liathaven]] and [[Hordalant]] through the western fens to Ottery. Rather than join the defence, they barely broke their march before crossing the walkway into Oddmire.

For the first time in a century or more, there are Jotun armies in Mitwold. The news spreads through the Imperial forces like wildfire. Soldiers of the Drakes demand to be allowed to return home to protect their farms, their families, their friends. Fear that the army might make it as far as Upwold grips the Bounders. Yet in the end, there are bonds of duty and loyalty that are stronger than the fear they feel. The Empire's forces are too tightly bound up in the fight in Gravenmarch to risk trying to break free and march back north. Everything is focused here, on seizing a foothold in Bregasland. Trying to turn back now would leave the four armies between the hammer and the anvil - and risk making the situation worse. At the moment, should disaster come upon them, they can retreat into [[Mournwold#Green_March|Green March]]. If they try to turn north, there is every chance they will end up trapped in Gravenmarch at the mercy of the Jotun.

It is a painful decision, but in the end the soldiers of the Marches and Wintermark have little choice but to trust the orders of their generals, to trust that the defenders of Mitwold will be equal to the challenge that faces them.
===Odd's Way===
Nearly fifty thousand Jotun. Two full contingents of the [[Knights of Glory]]. The Ice Fishers, and the Howling Bears, and the raven-banner of Helma Skutasdóttir. The traitors of the Mourn. They march along the Otterway into Oddmire. No simple raiding party, but a hammer blow against the Pride of the Marches.

Normally the western barbarians invade a territory with a crushing assault, seeking to overwhelm defenders with furious might and force of numbers. Uncharacteristically though, the Jotun attacking Mitwold seem to be favouring a more [[Army orders#Cautious Assault|cautious]] strategy. Most likely last season's raids established the presence of defending armies dug-in in Oddmire. Perhaps the Jotun commanders are simply being cautious of a trap, or careful about overextending their forces. Either way, they focus more on preserving their strength than smashing the Imperial armies... which are not there. The relative slowness of the Jotun response in Bregasland makes more sense if one assumed the barbarians were expecting the Imperial armies to still be in Mitwold rather than launching an attack of their own.

Eight armies, well-rested and well-provisioned from their stay in Liathaven and Hordalant. The Fell Hammers and the Iron Host are in the van, with the glory-hungry warriors of the Mandowla's Roar and Raging Thunder straining against the unfamiliar orders to advance cautiously rather than slam full-strength into whatever Mitwold has to offer. The knights that accompany those two armies are clearly no happier about this strategy than their orc friends, but they follow their orders. The Howling Night, the Skjaldirborn, and the Shield of the Mountain form the solid core at the heart of the Jotun expeditionary force, with the Southern Bear in the rearward position, [[Army_qualities#Resilient|grinding]] relentlessly forward even as they seek to lock down the land the advance guard claims. The army of Bjorgthorn Hammerhand prides itself on only moving forward, and even though the Jotun come with caution, move forward they do.

The defenders of Mitwold know about the Jotun invasion before the forces in Gravenmarch; the beaters who watch the borders immediately realise what is happening and raise the alarm. The news speeds eastward, galvanising the garrison of Forte Fidelis and sending the yeofolk and stewards to their armouries. Weapons and armour are passed out, as the folk of the Marches brace themselves for the Jotun advance. Just as with their neighbours to the east and the south, they will not cede one inch of ground save that the barbarians pry it from their clenched fists. Messengers are sent to Mournwold and Upwold, telling them of the invasion and while they do not directly ask for aid - Marchers are proud people - the implication is there. They may be rivals in peacetime, but as both Bregasland and Mournwold have shown, when war comes to the Marches, folk unite against the interloper.
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This grim pride, the courage of the yeofolk, is not in vain but it cannot hope to hold back the Jotun for long. At best, the garrison and the beaters, the households, and the walls of Oddmire can only delay what seems inevitable. Western Oddmire falls, and within a week the rest of the region follows suit. Odd's End is overwhelmed by the barbarians, forced to open its gates rather than see the entire town flattened by Jotun siege engines. Steward's Landing falls shortly afterward without any fighting at all - because ''Jarvey "Strongoar" Oddsboy'' and his entire household have loaded everyone they can onto their boats and slipped across the Gullet to [[Kallavesa#Wittal_Grove|Fisk]]. The Winterfolk who once kept a careful eye on the Marchers to the south welcome them, working with the steward and his levies to ensure that the northern shores of Mitwold can be kept supplied, should the worst come to the worst.

Despite the relatively cautious strategy the invasion of Mitwold follows a familiar pattern. Wherever they go, the Jotun offer Imperial citizens the Choice. Take up arms alongside the Jotun; lay aside the accoutrements of war and become thralls; or be given a swift and honourable death. Nobody takes the first choice. Most take the second. Few are stubborn enough to face the third. Many families make the decision to retreat before the Jotun, staunchly certain that they will reclaim their land soon enough when the Drakes return and drive the Jotun back into the western fens. The refugees are welcomed by their neighbours to the east with open grumbling about the inconvenience - but they ''are'' welcomed and found places to stay.

===The Walls of Meade===
Oddmire is quickly taken, and then the Jotun march on [[Mitwold#Meade|Meade]]. The first [[market town]] and the oldest. The largest settlement south of [[Hahnmark#Kalpaheim|Kalpaheim]], the city-port of the Marches. Revitalised by the dredging of the Westmere, by trade with the [[Faraden]], and by decades of prosperity and security, Meade stands ready to repel the Jotun just as they did the [[Harvest_of_infamy|Asavean raiders]] last Autumn.

Of course, last Autumn the Marchers had ample warning that the attack was coming, and the garrison of Forte Fidelis was bolstered by the Drakes. This year, the defenders of Meade are on their own. The city has walls of course, but while there has been some talk of [[Three_keys#The_Walls_of_Meade|further work]] it has been over a decade since the defences were [[Fortify_Town_defences|reinforced]] by the Senate. The walls are stout, but to stand against eight armies of Jotun bent on conquest? That would be a challenge even for a true [[fortification]] - there's little doubt that if the Jotun turned south-east into the [[Mitwold#Golden_Downs|'Downs]] even Forte Fidelis would be hard pressed to keep them out.

So the Jotun come up through Meade March towards the pride of the Marches. The people turned back the Asaveans, and they fight just as valiantly against the Jotun, but they are outnumbered and ultimately outmatched. A Jotun messenger offers the people of Meade one chance to surrender, but if anything the proud refusal of the defenders both impresses and pleases the herald sent to deliver the offer. She returns to the armies, and they waste no time besieging the city. Not that it is a siege in any literal sense. The soldiers of Forte Fidelis garrison the walls as best they can, but the gates are riven to splinters by Jotun battering rams almost immediately. The warriors of the west pour into Meade, and those who fight back are swiftly overwhelmed. This is a city of prosperity, of clever merchants and wise scholars, not a city of warriors, after all.

The remaining garrison retreats east. A great many Marchers stay behind, refusing to give up their homes. They watch sullenly as the Jotun establish a command post in Meade, from which to direct the rest of their forces. With the city fallen, there is little chance for the households of Meade March to mount more than a token defence. Yet with the aid of the beaters and the Forte Fidelis soldiers, they do their best, and their courage at least helps to slow the Jotun invasion and give time for the rest of Mitwold to prepare for what is to come. As it is, the 'March is conquered and the Jotun continue to press forward into the heart of the Marches.

As the bulk of the Jotun move to back up the raiders attacking [[Mitwold#The_Meadows|the Meadows]], however, Stephen of Sarcombe moves to have the remaining [[The_Marches_economic_interests#Alder|alders]] of Meade and their families hanged, sending his yegarra also to try and capture the bailiffs of [[Bailiff of Meade|Meade]] and the [[Bailiff of the Grand Market|Grand Market]], the [[Alder of Meade]], and even the [[Master of the Root and Stem]] so they can face similar treatment. Before he can do much more than mobilise his people, they are confronted by Helma Skutasdóttir and her warband. Denouncing him as a coward and unfit to call himself Jotun, Helma herself challenges him to defend his honour. Actual fighting between the orcs of Helma's raven-banner and Stephens yegarra breaks out in the centre of Meade. Bjorgthorn Hammerhand, general of the Southern Bear, is forced to send his own warriors to separate the two warbands - but not before several fighters on both sides are slain. He does not bother to hide his utter contempt for Stephen and his clear support for Helma in this matter. According to witnesses, it looks as if the traitor-Marchers are squaring up to actually take on the Southern Bear, but in the end they back down and retreat from Meade with their tails between their legs. It becomes common knowledge that Bjorgthorn has dispatched messengers north to the King and Queen, demanding that something be done about the "rabid dog" in the midst of the Jotun before he is forced to deal with the matter himself.

Flies like Stephen aside, though, the rest of the Jotun invasion goes off with barely a hitch. After Oddmire and Meade March, the Jotun press heavily into the Meadows. North-eastern Mitwold borders [[Kallavesa#Wittal Grove|Wittal Grove]], some of the only dry land in the whole of [[Kallavesa]], and allows easy access to [[Upwold#Stock_March|Stock March]] in Upwold. If the Jotun can secure it, and secure their lines across northern Mitwold, the threat they represent is multiplied significantly.

Yet despite their fervour, and their sheer numbers, their invasion slows and begins to falter once they hit the Meadows. As the Winter Solstice approaches, the weather worsens significantly. Torrential rains give way to heavy snowfall in the approach to midwinter, and while the Jotun are no strangers to cold and snow they are not foolhardy enough to throw themselves into the teeth of the storm while there are defenders still fighting. Across the northern Marches, camps are established as the Jotun make the preparations needed to keep what they have taken so far - and presumably to continue to conquer Mitwold until the entire Pride of the Marches is in their hands.
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==Between Beats==
It is easy to imagine that every warrior in the Jotun lands is in the Marches; six armies in Bregasland fighting the Empire's attempt to liberate Gravenmarch. Eight armies in Mitwold. Thousands of would-be champions fighting under the banners of their warlords, even as thousands of Imperial captains fight in support of the armies of the Empire. Knights of Glory on both sides, urging their compatriots to fight boldly, to neither give nor ask for quarter, to seek to build enduring legends that will live on in the songs of the bards long after their bodies are gone to rot and treeroots.

The fighting in Bregasland has been bloody - three thousand Imperial heroes dead or broken. The number would have been higher without the Bloodcloaks; the Jotun have suffered more grievous losses simply because they lack the medical expertise of the Winterfolk, their losses closer to four thousand. The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward taking Gravenmarch from the barbarians, but the fighting continues. Behind them, the armies of the west rampage across Mitwold, slowed by the stubborn defenders, but only a little. Oddmire and Meade March - and the city of Meade - are in their hands. They are halfway toward claiming the whole of the Meadows, and who knows where their ambition will take them after that?

The ultimate goal of the Jotun may be unclear, but one thing ''is'' clear. The Marchers will not give up without a fight, not in Mitwold, and not anywhere else. The Jotun have been beaten before, time and again, and this time will be no different. Just as the Strong Reeds fight for the people of Bregasland, just as the Tusks battled the odds and risked everything to free their folk in Mournwold, the people of Mitwold trust that the Drakes will be back and make the Jotun pay a high price for their trespass.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofBregasland.png|align=right|width=300}}
==Game Information==
* '''The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward claiming Gravenmarch'''
* '''The Jotun have conquered Oddmire and Meade March, and are halfway towards claiming the Meadows'''
* '''All titles connected to the city of Meade have lost access to their resources'''
Following the battle opportunity in Autumn, the Jotun have struck back against the Strong Reeds, causing them to take 200 casualties. They have now risen up, however, openly fighting the barbarians. As such, the information the Jotun scouts gathered about their movements and dispositions is no longer useful. If the Strong Reeds choose to start lying low again, they will not face any ongoing losses unless and until the Jotun are able to scour the territory for them once again. The "counter" on their ability to rise up would be reset at this point given they still maintain the absolute support of the Bregas people. Alternatively, they could leave the territory without difficulty either alone or with other Imperial armies.

The Imperial forces have not taken Gravenmarch but they are four-fifths of the way there. While the route they entered Bregasland by, has been cut off - Oddmire and Meade March being in Jotun hands - there is nothing to stop them retreating into the Mournwold, or even circling round through Mournwold into Golden Downs or Maiden Downs. If they wish to return to Mitwold directly - into Oddmire or Meade March - they will have to fight the Jotun to do so.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofMitwold.png|align=right|width=300}}
The city of Meade is in Jotun hands. While they are not going out of the way to loot the place, there is still massive disruption here. As such the [[Bailiff of Meade]], [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]], [[Master of the Root and Stem]], and [[Alder of Meade]] have all lost access to their production - whether sinecure or ministry. The titles still exist, they simply can't wield their powers to secure resources. In addition, the Bounder's Hall in Meade is now in Jotun hands and unfortunately that means that it is no longer possible for beaters to [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] in Mitwold. There is nothing to stop characters instead [[Military_unit#Guarding|supporting Forte Fidelis]] but they won't receive any income for doing so unless that action is assigned [[Military_unit#Guerdon_Shares|Guerdon shares]]. Likewise, until Oddmire and Steward's Landing are once again in Marcher hands it is no longer possible for Marcher [[fleet|fleets]] to take the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]].

==Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks==
* '''Characters who took the Beating the Bounds or Raid Kalsea's Coastline actions have had a busy season'''
* '''The General of the Bloodcloaks retains some of the healing herbs recovered from the Navarr herb cache in Graven'''
Any character who took the [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] [[venture]] in Mitwold this season, or who undertook the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]] is encouraged to roleplay their part in the events taking place in the Marches. In particular, they may have been involved in helping [[military unit|military units]] sneak into Bregasland to join the Strong Reads, helped deliver the desperate warning of the Jotun assault to the defenders of Mitwold, or been involved in evacuating Steward's Landing. If your military unit or fleet supported one of these actions, you may have been injured engaging in risky heroism against the Jotun. Anyone who did so can email {{plot}} before the end of March and request a [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|lingering wound]] sustained in the campaign. A lingering wound can help support your roleplaying on the field as one of the defenders of Mitwold. Bear in mind however that, if left untreated, lingering wounds can also be fatal.

The Navarr herb cache uncovered by the Bloodcloaks in Graven has been distributed to the healers of the Wintermark army, but a portion has also been set aside for the [[general]]. As such, '''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''' will find six drams of each of the five medicinal herbs in their pack, all that remains of this bounty.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=The crimson and gold pennants of Queen Eleonaris flutter over the Fields of Glory in the Summer Realm|align=left|width=200}}</div>

===Participation : Knights of Glory===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought with the Drakes, the Bounders, or the Strong Reeds receive a special benefit'''
The Knights of Glory who fought alongside the Drakes, Bounders, and Strong Reeds revel in the uncompromising tactics the three armies employed. As is their wont they communicate some of their enthusiasm to the soldiers who fight alongside them. A character whose military unit supported one of these three armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Winter Solstice.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Winter Solstice regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]] that lasts until the end of the Winter Solstice: ''You feel the urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and take particular pleasure from approval and adulation. You feel the urge to do things that demonstrate your prowess as a powerful warrior. Being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:34:10Z

Vsabo: /* Fist, Lion, Tower */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Winter]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Beater on the Field.jpg|caption=Beaters secure the boundaries of the Marches against all intrusion. Some times this is more challenging than others.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Loyal to the People==
The Strong Reeds were raised from the Bregas. To this day the bulk of their soldiers come from the Dour Fens, and they know the wetlands better than anyone else. Since the [[Only forward|Jotun returned]] to steal their homeland, they have been amid the reeds, resisting the invaders. This despite the unhappiness some of their countryfolk still feel towards the Empire - and we must not forget that many Bregas are marshfolk first, Marchers second, and Imperial citizens a distant third. Yet the 'Reeds have remained true to the oath of their General, fighting from the rushes and the deep fens to bamboozle the barbarian invaders wherever they can.

They are in a perilous situation, for all their skill at [[Army_qualities#Secretive|laying low]]. The Queen of Kalsea herself, ''Yrsa Jansdóttir'', set the Lion of the North to root out the 'Reeds and their sympathisers. The Bregas army has been left exposed, and those who offer them succour left in mortal danger. The Jotun are closing in on their hidden encampments, deep in the fens. It has become more and more difficult for them to move or take action without the barbarians descending on them in force.

During the Autumn Equinox, Imperial heroes used the [[Sentinel Gate]] to [[So_our_path_is_laid#Battle_Opportunity_:_How_Will_They_Rise_Up?|come to their aid]]. In [[Bregasland#Grey Fens|Grey Fens]] they intercepted the Jotun champions [[So_our_path_is_laid#Objective:_Recover_the_scouting_orders|ordered]] to hunt out the havens of the Strong Reeds. Both ''Ghodi Melker'' and the yegarra champion ''Eisa Winterborn'' were brought low - the latter success in particular being cause for muted celebration. A thorn in the Empire's side for years, Imperial heroes brought Eisa to ground at ''Leakey Moss'', and her warband has withdrawn back to their stronghold in [[Skallahn#Mindrkyst|Skallahn]]. They will not return to fight in the Empire again until some new hero raises the walrus banner and walks the path of the rare yegarra champions.
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds">This game of fox and hound is at an end. No quarter shall be given. Not any more. Rise up! Rise from the reeds and be a tidal wave of fury to wash the scum from our fields. I march with you as a soldier, as a marcher, as your friend. I march with my husband by my side for us, for land, for the Marches. And when we are done, will bring in the harvest and toast to the turning of the seasons.</quote></div>

Unfortunately, their success was not unqualified. They were unable to prevent one of the champions from rallying her warband. Barely has the equinox ended before ''Seeker Alma'' - a skilled tracker from the hills of [[Reinos]] - leads a contingent of Lasambrian Jotun into the sleepy village of ''Catchment'', deep in the fens. Some two hundred Marcher soldiers, taken by surprise, are slain or captured before they can flee. A grievous loss - but one that could have been significantly worse had the Empire's heroes been less thorough. Alma continues to harry the Bregas across the marshes, striking without warning against sanctuaries that have been secret for generations.

Yet despite this, the 'Reeds remain in Bregasland. They endure, and when the order comes, they will [[If_one_be_gone_we_carry_on#Objective:_Rouse_the_Strong_Reeds|rise]].
===Rise===
Granite-faced Derun Stonetower and the Tower of the North continues to work alongside Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir, standing in for King Gudmundr Arasonn as general of the Fist of Ulven, ruling Bregasland with a mailed fist. Yet many of the barbarian "heroes" are champing at the bit, eager for honourable battle against the Marcher-folk and their allies. As a people, the Jotun tend to have little time for stealth and the subtle manoeuvring of spies and scouts; let others seek the Strong Reeds, the champions of Kalsea and Narkyst will build their bridge across the [[Howling Abyss]] in glorious battle! Throughout the long Summer into Autumn, [[So_our_path_is_laid#Pride_of_the_Marches|barbarian raiders]] came reaving across the border into prosperous [[Mitwold]].

<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Mary Birchsmith, General of the Bounders">Bounders, show me your strength and your loyalty. We bring the knights of Eleonaris with us to fight alongside our friends and siblings in Gravenmarch. We will support the strong reeds to rise up and show the Jotun what we stand for. This is marcher land and we take pride in that. We will overwhelming assault into Graven March, Bregasland. A Marcher! A Marcher!</quote>
<quote by="William Guildenstern, General of the Drakes">Make of them a scarecrow. Make our enemy a living effigy of your will - Shrive yourselves, pour your anger and sorrow into your greatswords and poleaxes… First army be shriven of sin and malignancy drive it into the invaders. It is not Sin however to hate the Jotun. To repel the invaders virtue demands it. So Shrive yourselves in battle my Drakes. Liberate the fens and furrows of Bregasland and be born anew. Do this for me now. For fellow, our commander, our stoats and all who have suffered this evil. Should you find the fire of the Marches - send me to her, so I may love my wife amidst the chaos of the land. Our Overwhelming Assault will be the battle song of my love for this and all of you.</quote>
<quote by="Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt, General of the Bloodcloaks">Cloaks, we march to free the reeds, we march to recover the lost and aid the Marchers, we march with the Champions of Eleonaris. A good friend has just become one of their champions and I hope she can march to battle with the Winterfolk once more. Blaze Dunn! A Hero has a name!</quote></div>

The ''Ice Fishers of Ldansk'' have been in Bregasland for a year or more, growing more restless with each season that passes. ''Helma Skutasdóttir'' plants her raven-banner in Ottery, splitting her attention between rooting out the Strong Reeds and testing the borders to the east. The Howling Bears under the standard of ''Yanya Uranduln'' have had their eyes on the wealth of Mitwold since they arrived. With the death of ''Eisa Winterborn'' it is as if grief has unhinged their champion who drives their warband to fight the Marchers wherever possible even when it is perhaps not wise to do so.

Their desire for bloodshed is nothing, however, beside that of the traitor-yegarra who gather around the banners of ''Stephen of Sarcombe''. While the other champion-warbands seek wealth and challenge, the yegarra of the [[Mournwold|Mourn]] look to sate their bloodlust on the [[Yeoman of the Marches|yeofolk]] of Mitwold and Bregasland alike. Rumours that other Jotun warbands will not fight alongside Stephen's yegarra for fear of dishonouring themselves and their ancestors have solidified. In desperation Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir has loosed the choke-chain King Gudmundr used to control the furious human champion, letting him lead his troops into Mitwold in the hope, perhaps, that the Marchers will end the problem he represents before the King returns.

And so the raids continue after the Autumn Equinox. The Imperial defenders of Mitwold are able to ensure they do reach much further east than [[Mitwold#Oddmire|Oddmire]] and occasionally [[Mitwold#Meade March|Meade March]], but their focus is elsewhere. The task of dealing with the raiders falls to the [[beater|beaters]] who [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|patrol the borders]], and to the garrison of [[Mitwold#Forte Fidelis|Forte Fidelis]]. The [[Valiant Pegasus]] and the [[Autumn Hammers]] have quit Mitwold leaving only the [[Drakes]] and the [[Bloodcloaks]] in Mitwold - and they are busy preparing for what is to come.

Fortunately the absence left by the armies marching north is quickly filled for by the arrival of the [[Bounders]] from neighbouring [[Upwold]]. A fortnight after the Equinox, a grand cohort of [[Knights of Glory|elfin knights and goblin-kind infantryfolk]] emerge from an old battlefield in Meade March, drawn from the demesne of [[Eleonaris]]. Without delay they march west to join the Imperial armies, splitting into three distinct groups and setting their brightly-coloured pavilions and fluttering banners alongside the tents of the Imperial soldiers.
<div style="float:left; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amberlain7869.jpg||caption='''Amberlain P. Black''', General of the Strong Reeds}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GenBounders.jpg|caption='''Mary Birchsmith''', General of the Bounders}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Marcher Plate.jpg|caption='''William Guildenstern''', General of the Drakes}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt.png|caption='''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''', General of the Bloodcloaks}}
</div>
To aid the Drakes comes ''Kore'' the lion-maned warlord, glorious in their scarlet armour. They command only half the number of warriors brought by the others, but each of their knights is twice the size of their comrades. While their torso, head, and arms are humanlike their lower bodies are those of deadly predatory cats. These crimson knights use their lances to great effect, devastating their enemies with a thundering charge. ''Ser Helvennan'', resplendent in gold and red chain, quietly joins the Bloodcloaks. The Stag-knight leads a mixed band of elfin spearmasters and grizzled goblin-kin with shield and javelin. ''Ollavan the Reeve'', the sharp-eared bowmaster, comes at the head of a band of wily archers and rust-red hunting hounds. They are eager not only to face their foes, but to test their skill against the marksmen of the Bounders. The knights attract comment wherever they go, their richly coloured garb and merry voices something of a contrast with the fields of Meade March.

The Drakes are further reinforced by nearly five thousand troops lead by Imperial captains from every Imperial nation save the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They have come to fight the Jotun; some offer their aid to the beaters while they wait but few can keep up with the fast-moving Marchers. Others seek the beaters for different reasons however. Perhaps as many as nine thousand more soldiers wish to sneak across the border into Bregasland to join the Strong Reeds. The expertise of the beaters is tested, but they are found equal to the challenge. Others take the riskier route along the southern shores of the Westmere with the aid of sailors from [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Steward's Landing]], slipping into the conquered territories through [[Bregasland#Eel's_Landing|Eel's Landing]] or isolated fishing villages along the coastline.

===Fist, Lion, Tower===
Once everyone is in place, on a certain day, at an appointed hour, the camps are struck. The Drakes, Bounders, and Bloodcloaks begin to move south through Meade March toward [[Bregasland#Gravenmarch|Gravenmarch]], toward battle. At the same time, the Strong Reeds rise, launching a surprise attack against the Jotun garrison at Graven. With them are two thousand delicately deadly warriors of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] attired in breathtaking splendour of sky blue and sun gold; the household of ''Ser Alcedini'', the brightly feathered Kingfisher Castellan, who leads them into battle alongside the Bregas forces. The 'Reeds can't know for sure that help is coming, cut off from the rest of the Marches as they are. They can only trust that if they act, their allies will be there to support them. More than a few Bregas soldiers breathe a sigh of relief when the news that a major Imperial force has crossed the border into the 'March reaches them.

Battle is joined. The Tower of the North, the Fist of Ulven, and the Lion of the North respond quickly, Jotun warriors surging south to intercept the Imperial forces. The rising of the Strong Reeds, however, provides a powerful element of surprise. The eyes of the barbarians were to the north, toward Ottery and Fisher's Rock rather than towards Graven. By the time they realise the attack is underway, the town has been freed from the Jotun.

At first it seems as if the whole of Graven March will follow suit, but as the days unfold that hope begins to fade somewhat. While the initial fighting mostly involves the Tower, the Fist, and the Lion, reinforcements quickly arrive. Some six thousand Summer [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] - orc-like warriors with a distinct leonine cast to their features in crimson steel chain - join the battle. Knights of the [[Eleonaris|Lady of Summer]], they are equally enthusiastic about fighting Imperial troops as they are clashing with their kin from the Summer Realm. In particular the axe-wielding warriors lead by ''Ser Grumbar'' the Hound-knight seek out every opportunity to contend with the knights of ''Ser Helvennan'' who side with the Bloodcloaks.

Only a few days after the fighting begins, the Jotun are further bolstered by some fifteen thousand Lasambrian orcs - the entire Lasambrian Jotun force of the Hierro, the Corazón, and the Escuta. Yet even these allies are only sufficient to slow the Imperial advance, not to halt it entirely. The Drakes and the Bounders plough straight through the Jotun defenders to meet up with the Strong Reeds at Graven; three armies of Marcher soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder against the barbarians. The liveries of dozens of Marcher households flutter and dance in the wind from the west as stubborn yeofolk face the orcs who bedevil their homelands.

The Bloodcloaks swiftly establish a presence at the town that once served as a place for the Navarr to meet with the people of the Marches to trade stories of the wider world. And to trade herbs, especially valuable [[cerulean mazzarine]] from [[the Brass Coast]] in return for the unique plants gathered in the deep fens. Indeed, while the Bloodcloaks are establishing a field hospital in the little town they come across a hidden stash of healing herbs concealed beneath the floorboards - dozens of carefully wrapped packages of [[true vervain]] and [[imperial roseweald]] and [[marrowort]]. There is a note, hastily written, wishing whoever finds the herbs well and expressing the hope that those who use them might remember the [[striding]] of ''Liath's Path''. It's clear to the Winterfolk that this cache was left by the Navarr trapped in Graven when the Jotun came, in the hope that it would find its way into Imperial hands. Of the Navarr themselves, there is no sign. Doubtless they were among those executed by the barbarians when Graven fell.

It proves to be a valuable find; the Winterfolk healers have their work cut out for them as they [[Army_qualities#Woundbinder|tend the wounds]] of their allies. The Jotun may have been put on the back foot by the attack into Gravenmarch, but they have rallied quickly, mounting a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|solid defence]] in the face of the Empire's furious assault.

Tough as the going is, the Marchers and their allies from the north are equal to the challenge. They liberate several of the smaller households and villages as they expand their control of the 'March outward from Graven. The arrival of the Lasambrians has nudged the butter churn a little, but Imperial rally quickly to the new situation and as slow as the going is it looks as if they will ultimately win the battle, if not the war.

Then, of course, the other shoe drops and the bad news arrives in the form of an exhausted Greywater messenger from Ottery.
<fourpicture>
{{CaptionedImage|file=BloodCloak_Colour.png|align=right|width=300}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Bounders_Colour.png|align=right|width=300}}
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{{CaptionedImage|file=StrongReeds_Colour.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
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<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunMarch.jpg|align=left|width=500|caption=The Jotun have followed last season's raids with a full-on invasion of Mitwold.}}</div>

==Pride of the Marches==
The Greywater is injured, on the verge of collapse when they reach Graven and demand to speak to the Strong Reeds. Refusing to rest until they have discharged their duty - there were four of them when they set out from Ottery and only one survived the passage through the Jotun lines - they bring a dire message. The Lasambrians are not the ''only'' force of Jotun that has come into Bregasland since the Autumn equinox.

While the Tower, and the Fist, and the Lion, and their Lasambrian allies, have been fighting the Empire in Gravenmarch, a massive force of Jotun has gathered in Ottermire... and is sweeping east across the Otterway into Mitwold. Perhaps forty five thousand Jotun have joined the warbands raiding Oddmire, alongside several thousand crimson-and-gold clad knights of the Summer realm. Eight armies, marching up out of [[Liathaven]] and [[Hordalant]] through the western fens to Ottery. Rather than join the defence, they barely broke their march before crossing the walkway into Oddmire.

For the first time in a century or more, there are Jotun armies in Mitwold. The news spreads through the Imperial forces like wildfire. Soldiers of the Drakes demand to be allowed to return home to protect their farms, their families, their friends. Fear that the army might make it as far as Upwold grips the Bounders. Yet in the end, there are bonds of duty and loyalty that are stronger than the fear they feel. The Empire's forces are too tightly bound up in the fight in Gravenmarch to risk trying to break free and march back north. Everything is focused here, on seizing a foothold in Bregasland. Trying to turn back now would leave the four armies between the hammer and the anvil - and risk making the situation worse. At the moment, should disaster come upon them, they can retreat into [[Mournwold#Green_March|Green March]]. If they try to turn north, there is every chance they will end up trapped in Gravenmarch at the mercy of the Jotun.

It is a painful decision, but in the end the soldiers of the Marches and Wintermark have little choice but to trust the orders of their generals, to trust that the defenders of Mitwold will be equal to the challenge that faces them.
===Odd's Way===
Nearly fifty thousand Jotun. Two full contingents of the [[Knights of Glory]]. The Ice Fishers, and the Howling Bears, and the raven-banner of Helma Skutasdóttir. The traitors of the Mourn. They march along the Otterway into Oddmire. No simple raiding party, but a hammer blow against the Pride of the Marches.

Normally the western barbarians invade a territory with a crushing assault, seeking to overwhelm defenders with furious might and force of numbers. Uncharacteristically though, the Jotun attacking Mitwold seem to be favouring a more [[Army orders#Cautious Assault|cautious]] strategy. Most likely last season's raids established the presence of defending armies dug-in in Oddmire. Perhaps the Jotun commanders are simply being cautious of a trap, or careful about overextending their forces. Either way, they focus more on preserving their strength than smashing the Imperial armies... which are not there. The relative slowness of the Jotun response in Bregasland makes more sense if one assumed the barbarians were expecting the Imperial armies to still be in Mitwold rather than launching an attack of their own.

Eight armies, well-rested and well-provisioned from their stay in Liathaven and Hordalant. The Fell Hammers and the Iron Host are in the van, with the glory-hungry warriors of the Mandowla's Roar and Raging Thunder straining against the unfamiliar orders to advance cautiously rather than slam full-strength into whatever Mitwold has to offer. The knights that accompany those two armies are clearly no happier about this strategy than their orc friends, but they follow their orders. The Howling Night, the Skjaldirborn, and the Shield of the Mountain form the solid core at the heart of the Jotun expeditionary force, with the Southern Bear in the rearward position, [[Army_qualities#Resilient|grinding]] relentlessly forward even as they seek to lock down the land the advance guard claims. The army of Bjorgthorn Hammerhand prides itself on only moving forward, and even though the Jotun come with caution, move forward they do.

The defenders of Mitwold know about the Jotun invasion before the forces in Gravenmarch; the beaters who watch the borders immediately realise what is happening and raise the alarm. The news speeds eastward, galvanising the garrison of Forte Fidelis and sending the yeofolk and stewards to their armouries. Weapons and armour are passed out, as the folk of the Marches brace themselves for the Jotun advance. Just as with their neighbours to the east and the south, they will not cede one inch of ground save that the barbarians pry it from their clenched fists. Messengers are sent to Mournwold and Upwold, telling them of the invasion and while they do not directly ask for aid - Marchers are proud people - the implication is there. They may be rivals in peacetime, but as both Bregasland and Mournwold have shown, when war comes to the Marches, folk unite against the interloper.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotra.png}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Verys.png}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tykonus.png}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Feresh.png}}
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This grim pride, the courage of the yeofolk, is not in vain but it cannot hope to hold back the Jotun for long. At best, the garrison and the beaters, the households, and the walls of Oddmire can only delay what seems inevitable. Western Oddmire falls, and within a week the rest of the region follows suit. Odd's End is overwhelmed by the barbarians, forced to open its gates rather than see the entire town flattened by Jotun siege engines. Steward's Landing falls shortly afterward without any fighting at all - because ''Jarvey "Strongoar" Oddsboy'' and his entire household have loaded everyone they can onto their boats and slipped across the Gullet to [[Kallavesa#Wittal_Grove|Fisk]]. The Winterfolk who once kept a careful eye on the Marchers to the south welcome them, working with the steward and his levies to ensure that the northern shores of Mitwold can be kept supplied, should the worst come to the worst.

Despite the relatively cautious strategy the invasion of Mitwold follows a familiar pattern. Wherever they go, the Jotun offer Imperial citizens the Choice. Take up arms alongside the Jotun; lay aside the accoutrements of war and become thralls; or be given a swift and honourable death. Nobody takes the first choice. Most take the second. Few are stubborn enough to face the third. Many families make the decision to retreat before the Jotun, staunchly certain that they will reclaim their land soon enough when the Drakes return and drive the Jotun back into the western fens. The refugees are welcomed by their neighbours to the east with open grumbling about the inconvenience - but they ''are'' welcomed and found places to stay.

===The Walls of Meade===
Oddmire is quickly taken, and then the Jotun march on [[Mitwold#Meade|Meade]]. The first [[market town]] and the oldest. The largest settlement south of [[Hahnmark#Kalpaheim|Kalpaheim]], the city-port of the Marches. Revitalised by the dredging of the Westmere, by trade with the [[Faraden]], and by decades of prosperity and security, Meade stands ready to repel the Jotun just as they did the [[Harvest_of_infamy|Asavean raiders]] last Autumn.

Of course, last Autumn the Marchers had ample warning that the attack was coming, and the garrison of Forte Fidelis was bolstered by the Drakes. This year, the defenders of Meade are on their own. The city has walls of course, but while there has been some talk of [[Three_keys#The_Walls_of_Meade|further work]] it has been over a decade since the defences were [[Fortify_Town_defences|reinforced]] by the Senate. The walls are stout, but to stand against eight armies of Jotun bent on conquest? That would be a challenge even for a true [[fortification]] - there's little doubt that if the Jotun turned south-east into the [[Mitwold#Golden_Downs|'Downs]] even Forte Fidelis would be hard pressed to keep them out.

So the Jotun come up through Meade March towards the pride of the Marches. The people turned back the Asaveans, and they fight just as valiantly against the Jotun, but they are outnumbered and ultimately outmatched. A Jotun messenger offers the people of Meade one chance to surrender, but if anything the proud refusal of the defenders both impresses and pleases the herald sent to deliver the offer. She returns to the armies, and they waste no time besieging the city. Not that it is a siege in any literal sense. The soldiers of Forte Fidelis garrison the walls as best they can, but the gates are riven to splinters by Jotun battering rams almost immediately. The warriors of the west pour into Meade, and those who fight back are swiftly overwhelmed. This is a city of prosperity, of clever merchants and wise scholars, not a city of warriors, after all.

The remaining garrison retreats east. A great many Marchers stay behind, refusing to give up their homes. They watch sullenly as the Jotun establish a command post in Meade, from which to direct the rest of their forces. With the city fallen, there is little chance for the households of Meade March to mount more than a token defence. Yet with the aid of the beaters and the Forte Fidelis soldiers, they do their best, and their courage at least helps to slow the Jotun invasion and give time for the rest of Mitwold to prepare for what is to come. As it is, the 'March is conquered and the Jotun continue to press forward into the heart of the Marches.

As the bulk of the Jotun move to back up the raiders attacking [[Mitwold#The_Meadows|the Meadows]], however, Stephen of Sarcombe moves to have the remaining [[The_Marches_economic_interests#Alder|alders]] of Meade and their families hanged, sending his yegarra also to try and capture the bailiffs of [[Bailiff of Meade|Meade]] and the [[Bailiff of the Grand Market|Grand Market]], the [[Alder of Meade]], and even the [[Master of the Root and Stem]] so they can face similar treatment. Before he can do much more than mobilise his people, they are confronted by Helma Skutasdóttir and her warband. Denouncing him as a coward and unfit to call himself Jotun, Helma herself challenges him to defend his honour. Actual fighting between the orcs of Helma's raven-banner and Stephens yegarra breaks out in the centre of Meade. Bjorgthorn Hammerhand, general of the Southern Bear, is forced to send his own warriors to separate the two warbands - but not before several fighters on both sides are slain. He does not bother to hide his utter contempt for Stephen and his clear support for Helma in this matter. According to witnesses, it looks as if the traitor-Marchers are squaring up to actually take on the Southern Bear, but in the end they back down and retreat from Meade with their tails between their legs. It becomes common knowledge that Bjorgthorn has dispatched messengers north to the King and Queen, demanding that something be done about the "rabid dog" in the midst of the Jotun before he is forced to deal with the matter himself.

Flies like Stephen aside, though, the rest of the Jotun invasion goes off with barely a hitch. After Oddmire and Meade March, the Jotun press heavily into the Meadows. North-eastern Mitwold borders [[Kallavesa#Wittal Grove|Wittal Grove]], some of the only dry land in the whole of [[Kallavesa]], and allows easy access to [[Upwold#Stock_March|Stock March]] in Upwold. If the Jotun can secure it, and secure their lines across northern Mitwold, the threat they represent is multiplied significantly.

Yet despite their fervour, and their sheer numbers, their invasion slows and begins to falter once they hit the Meadows. As the Winter Solstice approaches, the weather worsens significantly. Torrential rains give way to heavy snowfall in the approach to midwinter, and while the Jotun are no strangers to cold and snow they are not foolhardy enough to throw themselves into the teeth of the storm while there are defenders still fighting. Across the northern Marches, camps are established as the Jotun make the preparations needed to keep what they have taken so far - and presumably to continue to conquer Mitwold until the entire Pride of the Marches is in their hands.
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==Between Beats==
It is easy to imagine that every warrior in the Jotun lands is in the Marches; six armies in Bregasland fighting the Empire's attempt to liberate Gravenmarch. Eight armies in Mitwold. Thousands of would-be champions fighting under the banners of their warlords, even as thousands of Imperial captains fight in support of the armies of the Empire. Knights of Glory on both sides, urging their compatriots to fight boldly, to neither give nor ask for quarter, to seek to build enduring legends that will live on in the songs of the bards long after their bodies are gone to rot and treeroots.

The fighting in Bregasland has been bloody - three thousand Imperial heroes dead or broken. The number would have been higher without the Bloodcloaks; the Jotun have suffered more grievous losses simply because they lack the medical expertise of the Winterfolk, their losses closer to four thousand. The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward taking Gravenmarch from the barbarians, but the fighting continues. Behind them, the armies of the west rampage across Mitwold, slowed by the stubborn defenders, but only a little. Oddmire and Meade March - and the city of Meade - are in their hands. They are halfway toward claiming the whole of the Meadows, and who knows where their ambition will take them after that?

The ultimate goal of the Jotun may be unclear, but one thing ''is'' clear. The Marchers will not give up without a fight, not in Mitwold, and not anywhere else. The Jotun have been beaten before, time and again, and this time will be no different. Just as the Strong Reeds fight for the people of Bregasland, just as the Tusks battled the odds and risked everything to free their folk in Mournwold, the people of Mitwold trust that the Drakes will be back and make the Jotun pay a high price for their trespass.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofBregasland.png|align=right|width=300}}
==Game Information==
* '''The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward claiming Gravenmarch'''
* '''The Jotun have conquered Oddmire and Meade March, and are halfway towards claiming the Meadows'''
* '''All titles connected to the city of Meade have lost access to their resources'''
Following the battle opportunity in Autumn, the Jotun have struck back against the Strong Reeds, causing them to take 200 casualties. They have now risen up, however, openly fighting the barbarians. As such, the information the Jotun scouts gathered about their movements and dispositions is no longer useful. If the Strong Reeds choose to start lying low again, they will not face any ongoing losses unless and until the Jotun are able to scour the territory for them once again. The "counter" on their ability to rise up would be reset at this point given they still maintain the absolute support of the Bregas people. Alternatively, they could leave the territory without difficulty either alone or with other Imperial armies.

The Imperial forces have not taken Gravenmarch but they are four-fifths of the way there. While the route they entered Bregasland by, has been cut off - Oddmire and Meade March being in Jotun hands - there is nothing to stop them retreating into the Mournwold, or even circling round through Mournwold into Golden Downs or Maiden Downs. If they wish to return to Mitwold directly - into Oddmire or Meade March - they will have to fight the Jotun to do so.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofMitwold.png|align=right|width=300}}
The city of Meade is in Jotun hands. While they are not going out of the way to loot the place, there is still massive disruption here. As such the [[Bailiff of Meade]], [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]], [[Master of the Root and Stem]], and [[Alder of Meade]] have all lost access to their production - whether sinecure or ministry. The titles still exist, they simply can't wield their powers to secure resources. In addition, the Bounder's Hall in Meade is now in Jotun hands and unfortunately that means that it is no longer possible for beaters to [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] in Mitwold. There is nothing to stop characters instead [[Military_unit#Guarding|supporting Forte Fidelis]] but they won't receive any income for doing so unless that action is assigned [[Military_unit#Guerdon_Shares|Guerdon shares]]. Likewise, until Oddmire and Steward's Landing are once again in Marcher hands it is no longer possible for Marcher [[fleet|fleets]] to take the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]].

==Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks==
* '''Characters who took the Beating the Bounds or Raid Kalsea's Coastline actions have had a busy season'''
* '''The General of the Bloodcloaks retains some of the healing herbs recovered from the Navarr herb cache in Graven'''
Any character who took the [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] [[venture]] in Mitwold this season, or who undertook the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]] is encouraged to roleplay their part in the events taking place in the Marches. In particular, they may have been involved in helping [[military unit|military units]] sneak into Bregasland to join the Strong Reads, helped deliver the desperate warning of the Jotun assault to the defenders of Mitwold, or been involved in evacuating Steward's Landing. If your military unit or fleet supported one of these actions, you may have been injured engaging in risky heroism against the Jotun. Anyone who did so can email {{plot}} before the end of March and request a [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|lingering wound]] sustained in the campaign. A lingering wound can help support your roleplaying on the field as one of the defenders of Mitwold. Bear in mind however that, if left untreated, lingering wounds can also be fatal.

The Navarr herb cache uncovered by the Bloodcloaks in Graven has been distributed to the healers of the Wintermark army, but a portion has also been set aside for the [[general]]. As such, '''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''' will find six drams of each of the five medicinal herbs in their pack, all that remains of this bounty.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=The crimson and gold pennants of Queen Eleonaris flutter over the Fields of Glory in the Summer Realm|align=left|width=200}}</div>

===Participation : Knights of Glory===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought with the Drakes, the Bounders, or the Strong Reeds receive a special benefit'''
The Knights of Glory who fought alongside the Drakes, Bounders, and Strong Reeds revel in the uncompromising tactics the three armies employed. As is their wont they communicate some of their enthusiasm to the soldiers who fight alongside them. A character whose military unit supported one of these three armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Winter Solstice.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Winter Solstice regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]] that lasts until the end of the Winter Solstice: ''You feel the urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and take particular pleasure from approval and adulation. You feel the urge to do things that demonstrate your prowess as a powerful warrior. Being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

Rose grow the rushes o'

2026-02-14T23:32:57Z

Vsabo: /* Fist, Lion, Tower */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Winter]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Beater on the Field.jpg|caption=Beaters secure the boundaries of the Marches against all intrusion. Some times this is more challenging than others.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Loyal to the People==
The Strong Reeds were raised from the Bregas. To this day the bulk of their soldiers come from the Dour Fens, and they know the wetlands better than anyone else. Since the [[Only forward|Jotun returned]] to steal their homeland, they have been amid the reeds, resisting the invaders. This despite the unhappiness some of their countryfolk still feel towards the Empire - and we must not forget that many Bregas are marshfolk first, Marchers second, and Imperial citizens a distant third. Yet the 'Reeds have remained true to the oath of their General, fighting from the rushes and the deep fens to bamboozle the barbarian invaders wherever they can.

They are in a perilous situation, for all their skill at [[Army_qualities#Secretive|laying low]]. The Queen of Kalsea herself, ''Yrsa Jansdóttir'', set the Lion of the North to root out the 'Reeds and their sympathisers. The Bregas army has been left exposed, and those who offer them succour left in mortal danger. The Jotun are closing in on their hidden encampments, deep in the fens. It has become more and more difficult for them to move or take action without the barbarians descending on them in force.

During the Autumn Equinox, Imperial heroes used the [[Sentinel Gate]] to [[So_our_path_is_laid#Battle_Opportunity_:_How_Will_They_Rise_Up?|come to their aid]]. In [[Bregasland#Grey Fens|Grey Fens]] they intercepted the Jotun champions [[So_our_path_is_laid#Objective:_Recover_the_scouting_orders|ordered]] to hunt out the havens of the Strong Reeds. Both ''Ghodi Melker'' and the yegarra champion ''Eisa Winterborn'' were brought low - the latter success in particular being cause for muted celebration. A thorn in the Empire's side for years, Imperial heroes brought Eisa to ground at ''Leakey Moss'', and her warband has withdrawn back to their stronghold in [[Skallahn#Mindrkyst|Skallahn]]. They will not return to fight in the Empire again until some new hero raises the walrus banner and walks the path of the rare yegarra champions.
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds">This game of fox and hound is at an end. No quarter shall be given. Not any more. Rise up! Rise from the reeds and be a tidal wave of fury to wash the scum from our fields. I march with you as a soldier, as a marcher, as your friend. I march with my husband by my side for us, for land, for the Marches. And when we are done, will bring in the harvest and toast to the turning of the seasons.</quote></div>

Unfortunately, their success was not unqualified. They were unable to prevent one of the champions from rallying her warband. Barely has the equinox ended before ''Seeker Alma'' - a skilled tracker from the hills of [[Reinos]] - leads a contingent of Lasambrian Jotun into the sleepy village of ''Catchment'', deep in the fens. Some two hundred Marcher soldiers, taken by surprise, are slain or captured before they can flee. A grievous loss - but one that could have been significantly worse had the Empire's heroes been less thorough. Alma continues to harry the Bregas across the marshes, striking without warning against sanctuaries that have been secret for generations.

Yet despite this, the 'Reeds remain in Bregasland. They endure, and when the order comes, they will [[If_one_be_gone_we_carry_on#Objective:_Rouse_the_Strong_Reeds|rise]].
===Rise===
Granite-faced Derun Stonetower and the Tower of the North continues to work alongside Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir, standing in for King Gudmundr Arasonn as general of the Fist of Ulven, ruling Bregasland with a mailed fist. Yet many of the barbarian "heroes" are champing at the bit, eager for honourable battle against the Marcher-folk and their allies. As a people, the Jotun tend to have little time for stealth and the subtle manoeuvring of spies and scouts; let others seek the Strong Reeds, the champions of Kalsea and Narkyst will build their bridge across the [[Howling Abyss]] in glorious battle! Throughout the long Summer into Autumn, [[So_our_path_is_laid#Pride_of_the_Marches|barbarian raiders]] came reaving across the border into prosperous [[Mitwold]].

<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;"><quote by="Mary Birchsmith, General of the Bounders">Bounders, show me your strength and your loyalty. We bring the knights of Eleonaris with us to fight alongside our friends and siblings in Gravenmarch. We will support the strong reeds to rise up and show the Jotun what we stand for. This is marcher land and we take pride in that. We will overwhelming assault into Graven March, Bregasland. A Marcher! A Marcher!</quote>
<quote by="William Guildenstern, General of the Drakes">Make of them a scarecrow. Make our enemy a living effigy of your will - Shrive yourselves, pour your anger and sorrow into your greatswords and poleaxes… First army be shriven of sin and malignancy drive it into the invaders. It is not Sin however to hate the Jotun. To repel the invaders virtue demands it. So Shrive yourselves in battle my Drakes. Liberate the fens and furrows of Bregasland and be born anew. Do this for me now. For fellow, our commander, our stoats and all who have suffered this evil. Should you find the fire of the Marches - send me to her, so I may love my wife amidst the chaos of the land. Our Overwhelming Assault will be the battle song of my love for this and all of you.</quote>
<quote by="Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt, General of the Bloodcloaks">Cloaks, we march to free the reeds, we march to recover the lost and aid the Marchers, we march with the Champions of Eleonaris. A good friend has just become one of their champions and I hope she can march to battle with the Winterfolk once more. Blaze Dunn! A Hero has a name!</quote></div>

The ''Ice Fishers of Ldansk'' have been in Bregasland for a year or more, growing more restless with each season that passes. ''Helma Skutasdóttir'' plants her raven-banner in Ottery, splitting her attention between rooting out the Strong Reeds and testing the borders to the east. The Howling Bears under the standard of ''Yanya Uranduln'' have had their eyes on the wealth of Mitwold since they arrived. With the death of ''Eisa Winterborn'' it is as if grief has unhinged their champion who drives their warband to fight the Marchers wherever possible even when it is perhaps not wise to do so.

Their desire for bloodshed is nothing, however, beside that of the traitor-yegarra who gather around the banners of ''Stephen of Sarcombe''. While the other champion-warbands seek wealth and challenge, the yegarra of the [[Mournwold|Mourn]] look to sate their bloodlust on the [[Yeoman of the Marches|yeofolk]] of Mitwold and Bregasland alike. Rumours that other Jotun warbands will not fight alongside Stephen's yegarra for fear of dishonouring themselves and their ancestors have solidified. In desperation Gjeirfund Haggarsdóttir has loosed the choke-chain King Gudmundr used to control the furious human champion, letting him lead his troops into Mitwold in the hope, perhaps, that the Marchers will end the problem he represents before the King returns.

And so the raids continue after the Autumn Equinox. The Imperial defenders of Mitwold are able to ensure they do reach much further east than [[Mitwold#Oddmire|Oddmire]] and occasionally [[Mitwold#Meade March|Meade March]], but their focus is elsewhere. The task of dealing with the raiders falls to the [[beater|beaters]] who [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|patrol the borders]], and to the garrison of [[Mitwold#Forte Fidelis|Forte Fidelis]]. The [[Valiant Pegasus]] and the [[Autumn Hammers]] have quit Mitwold leaving only the [[Drakes]] and the [[Bloodcloaks]] in Mitwold - and they are busy preparing for what is to come.

Fortunately the absence left by the armies marching north is quickly filled for by the arrival of the [[Bounders]] from neighbouring [[Upwold]]. A fortnight after the Equinox, a grand cohort of [[Knights of Glory|elfin knights and goblin-kind infantryfolk]] emerge from an old battlefield in Meade March, drawn from the demesne of [[Eleonaris]]. Without delay they march west to join the Imperial armies, splitting into three distinct groups and setting their brightly-coloured pavilions and fluttering banners alongside the tents of the Imperial soldiers.
<div style="float:left; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amberlain7869.jpg||caption='''Amberlain P. Black''', General of the Strong Reeds}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=GenBounders.jpg|caption='''Mary Birchsmith''', General of the Bounders}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Marcher Plate.jpg|caption='''William Guildenstern''', General of the Drakes}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt.png|caption='''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''', General of the Bloodcloaks}}
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To aid the Drakes comes ''Kore'' the lion-maned warlord, glorious in their scarlet armour. They command only half the number of warriors brought by the others, but each of their knights is twice the size of their comrades. While their torso, head, and arms are humanlike their lower bodies are those of deadly predatory cats. These crimson knights use their lances to great effect, devastating their enemies with a thundering charge. ''Ser Helvennan'', resplendent in gold and red chain, quietly joins the Bloodcloaks. The Stag-knight leads a mixed band of elfin spearmasters and grizzled goblin-kin with shield and javelin. ''Ollavan the Reeve'', the sharp-eared bowmaster, comes at the head of a band of wily archers and rust-red hunting hounds. They are eager not only to face their foes, but to test their skill against the marksmen of the Bounders. The knights attract comment wherever they go, their richly coloured garb and merry voices something of a contrast with the fields of Meade March.

The Drakes are further reinforced by nearly five thousand troops lead by Imperial captains from every Imperial nation save the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They have come to fight the Jotun; some offer their aid to the beaters while they wait but few can keep up with the fast-moving Marchers. Others seek the beaters for different reasons however. Perhaps as many as nine thousand more soldiers wish to sneak across the border into Bregasland to join the Strong Reeds. The expertise of the beaters is tested, but they are found equal to the challenge. Others take the riskier route along the southern shores of the Westmere with the aid of sailors from [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Steward's Landing]], slipping into the conquered territories through [[Bregasland#Eel's_Landing|Eel's Landing]] or isolated fishing villages along the coastline.

===Fist, Lion, Tower===
Once everyone is in place, on a certain day, at an appointed hour, the camps are struck. The Drakes, Bounders, and Bloodcloaks begin to move south through Meade March toward [[Bregasland#Gravenmarch|Gravenmarch]], toward battle. At the same time, the Strong Reeds rise, launching a surprise attack against the Jotun garrison at Graven. With them are two thousand delicately deadly warriors of the [[Realms#Summer|Summer realm]] attired in breathtaking splendour of sky blue and sun gold; the household of ''Ser Alcedini'', the brightly feathered Kingfisher Castellan, who leads them into battle alongside the Bregas forces. The 'Reeds can't know for sure that help is coming, cut off from the rest of the Marches as they are. They can only trust that if they act, their allies will be there to support them. More than a few Bregas soldiers breathe a sigh of relief when the news that a major Imperial force has crossed the border into the 'March reaches them.

Battle is joined. The Tower of the North, the Fist of Ulven, and the Lion of the North respond quickly, Jotun warriors surging south to intercept the Imperial forces. The rising of the Strong Reeds, however, provides a powerful element of surprise. The eyes of the barbarians were to the north, toward Ottery and Fisher's Rock rather than towards Graven. By the time they realise the attack is underway, the town has been freed from the Jotun.

At first it seems as if the whole of Graven March will follow suit, but as the days unfold that hope begins to fade somewhat. While the initial fighting mostly involves the Tower, the Fist, and the Lion, reinforcements quickly arrive. Some six thousand Summer [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|heralds]] - orc-like warriors with a distinct leonine cast to their features in crimson steel chain - join the battle. Knights of the [[Eleonaris|Lady of Summer]], they are equally enthusiastic about fighting Imperial troops as they are clashing with their kin from the Summer Realm. In particular the axe-wielding warriors lead by ''Ser Grumbar'' the Hound-knight seek out every opportunity to contend with the knights of ''Set Helvennan'' who side with the Bloodcloaks.

Only a few days after the fighting begins, the Jotun are further bolstered by some fifteen thousand Lasambrian orcs - the entire Lasambrian Jotun force of the Hierro, the Corazón, and the Escuta. Yet even these allies are only sufficient to slow the Imperial advance, not to halt it entirely. The Drakes and the Bounders plough straight through the Jotun defenders to meet up with the Strong Reeds at Graven; three armies of Marcher soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder against the barbarians. The liveries of dozens of Marcher households flutter and dance in the wind from the west as stubborn yeofolk face the orcs who bedevil their homelands.

The Bloodcloaks swiftly establish a presence at the town that once served as a place for the Navarr to meet with the people of the Marches to trade stories of the wider world. And to trade herbs, especially valuable [[cerulean mazzarine]] from [[the Brass Coast]] in return for the unique plants gathered in the deep fens. Indeed, while the Bloodcloaks are establishing a field hospital in the little town they come across a hidden stash of healing herbs concealed beneath the floorboards - dozens of carefully wrapped packages of [[true vervain]] and [[imperial roseweald]] and [[marrowort]]. There is a note, hastily written, wishing whoever finds the herbs well and expressing the hope that those who use them might remember the [[striding]] of ''Liath's Path''. It's clear to the Winterfolk that this cache was left by the Navarr trapped in Graven when the Jotun came, in the hope that it would find its way into Imperial hands. Of the Navarr themselves, there is no sign. Doubtless they were among those executed by the barbarians when Graven fell.

It proves to be a valuable find; the Winterfolk healers have their work cut out for them as they [[Army_qualities#Woundbinder|tend the wounds]] of their allies. The Jotun may have been put on the back foot by the attack into Gravenmarch, but they have rallied quickly, mounting a [[Army orders#Solid Defence|solid defence]] in the face of the Empire's furious assault.

Tough as the going is, the Marchers and their allies from the north are equal to the challenge. They liberate several of the smaller households and villages as they expand their control of the 'March outward from Graven. The arrival of the Lasambrians has nudged the butter churn a little, but Imperial rally quickly to the new situation and as slow as the going is it looks as if they will ultimately win the battle, if not the war.

Then, of course, the other shoe drops and the bad news arrives in the form of an exhausted Greywater messenger from Ottery.
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<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunMarch.jpg|align=left|width=500|caption=The Jotun have followed last season's raids with a full-on invasion of Mitwold.}}</div>

==Pride of the Marches==
The Greywater is injured, on the verge of collapse when they reach Graven and demand to speak to the Strong Reeds. Refusing to rest until they have discharged their duty - there were four of them when they set out from Ottery and only one survived the passage through the Jotun lines - they bring a dire message. The Lasambrians are not the ''only'' force of Jotun that has come into Bregasland since the Autumn equinox.

While the Tower, and the Fist, and the Lion, and their Lasambrian allies, have been fighting the Empire in Gravenmarch, a massive force of Jotun has gathered in Ottermire... and is sweeping east across the Otterway into Mitwold. Perhaps forty five thousand Jotun have joined the warbands raiding Oddmire, alongside several thousand crimson-and-gold clad knights of the Summer realm. Eight armies, marching up out of [[Liathaven]] and [[Hordalant]] through the western fens to Ottery. Rather than join the defence, they barely broke their march before crossing the walkway into Oddmire.

For the first time in a century or more, there are Jotun armies in Mitwold. The news spreads through the Imperial forces like wildfire. Soldiers of the Drakes demand to be allowed to return home to protect their farms, their families, their friends. Fear that the army might make it as far as Upwold grips the Bounders. Yet in the end, there are bonds of duty and loyalty that are stronger than the fear they feel. The Empire's forces are too tightly bound up in the fight in Gravenmarch to risk trying to break free and march back north. Everything is focused here, on seizing a foothold in Bregasland. Trying to turn back now would leave the four armies between the hammer and the anvil - and risk making the situation worse. At the moment, should disaster come upon them, they can retreat into [[Mournwold#Green_March|Green March]]. If they try to turn north, there is every chance they will end up trapped in Gravenmarch at the mercy of the Jotun.

It is a painful decision, but in the end the soldiers of the Marches and Wintermark have little choice but to trust the orders of their generals, to trust that the defenders of Mitwold will be equal to the challenge that faces them.
===Odd's Way===
Nearly fifty thousand Jotun. Two full contingents of the [[Knights of Glory]]. The Ice Fishers, and the Howling Bears, and the raven-banner of Helma Skutasdóttir. The traitors of the Mourn. They march along the Otterway into Oddmire. No simple raiding party, but a hammer blow against the Pride of the Marches.

Normally the western barbarians invade a territory with a crushing assault, seeking to overwhelm defenders with furious might and force of numbers. Uncharacteristically though, the Jotun attacking Mitwold seem to be favouring a more [[Army orders#Cautious Assault|cautious]] strategy. Most likely last season's raids established the presence of defending armies dug-in in Oddmire. Perhaps the Jotun commanders are simply being cautious of a trap, or careful about overextending their forces. Either way, they focus more on preserving their strength than smashing the Imperial armies... which are not there. The relative slowness of the Jotun response in Bregasland makes more sense if one assumed the barbarians were expecting the Imperial armies to still be in Mitwold rather than launching an attack of their own.

Eight armies, well-rested and well-provisioned from their stay in Liathaven and Hordalant. The Fell Hammers and the Iron Host are in the van, with the glory-hungry warriors of the Mandowla's Roar and Raging Thunder straining against the unfamiliar orders to advance cautiously rather than slam full-strength into whatever Mitwold has to offer. The knights that accompany those two armies are clearly no happier about this strategy than their orc friends, but they follow their orders. The Howling Night, the Skjaldirborn, and the Shield of the Mountain form the solid core at the heart of the Jotun expeditionary force, with the Southern Bear in the rearward position, [[Army_qualities#Resilient|grinding]] relentlessly forward even as they seek to lock down the land the advance guard claims. The army of Bjorgthorn Hammerhand prides itself on only moving forward, and even though the Jotun come with caution, move forward they do.

The defenders of Mitwold know about the Jotun invasion before the forces in Gravenmarch; the beaters who watch the borders immediately realise what is happening and raise the alarm. The news speeds eastward, galvanising the garrison of Forte Fidelis and sending the yeofolk and stewards to their armouries. Weapons and armour are passed out, as the folk of the Marches brace themselves for the Jotun advance. Just as with their neighbours to the east and the south, they will not cede one inch of ground save that the barbarians pry it from their clenched fists. Messengers are sent to Mournwold and Upwold, telling them of the invasion and while they do not directly ask for aid - Marchers are proud people - the implication is there. They may be rivals in peacetime, but as both Bregasland and Mournwold have shown, when war comes to the Marches, folk unite against the interloper.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Jotra.png}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Verys.png}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tykonus.png}}
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</div>
This grim pride, the courage of the yeofolk, is not in vain but it cannot hope to hold back the Jotun for long. At best, the garrison and the beaters, the households, and the walls of Oddmire can only delay what seems inevitable. Western Oddmire falls, and within a week the rest of the region follows suit. Odd's End is overwhelmed by the barbarians, forced to open its gates rather than see the entire town flattened by Jotun siege engines. Steward's Landing falls shortly afterward without any fighting at all - because ''Jarvey "Strongoar" Oddsboy'' and his entire household have loaded everyone they can onto their boats and slipped across the Gullet to [[Kallavesa#Wittal_Grove|Fisk]]. The Winterfolk who once kept a careful eye on the Marchers to the south welcome them, working with the steward and his levies to ensure that the northern shores of Mitwold can be kept supplied, should the worst come to the worst.

Despite the relatively cautious strategy the invasion of Mitwold follows a familiar pattern. Wherever they go, the Jotun offer Imperial citizens the Choice. Take up arms alongside the Jotun; lay aside the accoutrements of war and become thralls; or be given a swift and honourable death. Nobody takes the first choice. Most take the second. Few are stubborn enough to face the third. Many families make the decision to retreat before the Jotun, staunchly certain that they will reclaim their land soon enough when the Drakes return and drive the Jotun back into the western fens. The refugees are welcomed by their neighbours to the east with open grumbling about the inconvenience - but they ''are'' welcomed and found places to stay.

===The Walls of Meade===
Oddmire is quickly taken, and then the Jotun march on [[Mitwold#Meade|Meade]]. The first [[market town]] and the oldest. The largest settlement south of [[Hahnmark#Kalpaheim|Kalpaheim]], the city-port of the Marches. Revitalised by the dredging of the Westmere, by trade with the [[Faraden]], and by decades of prosperity and security, Meade stands ready to repel the Jotun just as they did the [[Harvest_of_infamy|Asavean raiders]] last Autumn.

Of course, last Autumn the Marchers had ample warning that the attack was coming, and the garrison of Forte Fidelis was bolstered by the Drakes. This year, the defenders of Meade are on their own. The city has walls of course, but while there has been some talk of [[Three_keys#The_Walls_of_Meade|further work]] it has been over a decade since the defences were [[Fortify_Town_defences|reinforced]] by the Senate. The walls are stout, but to stand against eight armies of Jotun bent on conquest? That would be a challenge even for a true [[fortification]] - there's little doubt that if the Jotun turned south-east into the [[Mitwold#Golden_Downs|'Downs]] even Forte Fidelis would be hard pressed to keep them out.

So the Jotun come up through Meade March towards the pride of the Marches. The people turned back the Asaveans, and they fight just as valiantly against the Jotun, but they are outnumbered and ultimately outmatched. A Jotun messenger offers the people of Meade one chance to surrender, but if anything the proud refusal of the defenders both impresses and pleases the herald sent to deliver the offer. She returns to the armies, and they waste no time besieging the city. Not that it is a siege in any literal sense. The soldiers of Forte Fidelis garrison the walls as best they can, but the gates are riven to splinters by Jotun battering rams almost immediately. The warriors of the west pour into Meade, and those who fight back are swiftly overwhelmed. This is a city of prosperity, of clever merchants and wise scholars, not a city of warriors, after all.

The remaining garrison retreats east. A great many Marchers stay behind, refusing to give up their homes. They watch sullenly as the Jotun establish a command post in Meade, from which to direct the rest of their forces. With the city fallen, there is little chance for the households of Meade March to mount more than a token defence. Yet with the aid of the beaters and the Forte Fidelis soldiers, they do their best, and their courage at least helps to slow the Jotun invasion and give time for the rest of Mitwold to prepare for what is to come. As it is, the 'March is conquered and the Jotun continue to press forward into the heart of the Marches.

As the bulk of the Jotun move to back up the raiders attacking [[Mitwold#The_Meadows|the Meadows]], however, Stephen of Sarcombe moves to have the remaining [[The_Marches_economic_interests#Alder|alders]] of Meade and their families hanged, sending his yegarra also to try and capture the bailiffs of [[Bailiff of Meade|Meade]] and the [[Bailiff of the Grand Market|Grand Market]], the [[Alder of Meade]], and even the [[Master of the Root and Stem]] so they can face similar treatment. Before he can do much more than mobilise his people, they are confronted by Helma Skutasdóttir and her warband. Denouncing him as a coward and unfit to call himself Jotun, Helma herself challenges him to defend his honour. Actual fighting between the orcs of Helma's raven-banner and Stephens yegarra breaks out in the centre of Meade. Bjorgthorn Hammerhand, general of the Southern Bear, is forced to send his own warriors to separate the two warbands - but not before several fighters on both sides are slain. He does not bother to hide his utter contempt for Stephen and his clear support for Helma in this matter. According to witnesses, it looks as if the traitor-Marchers are squaring up to actually take on the Southern Bear, but in the end they back down and retreat from Meade with their tails between their legs. It becomes common knowledge that Bjorgthorn has dispatched messengers north to the King and Queen, demanding that something be done about the "rabid dog" in the midst of the Jotun before he is forced to deal with the matter himself.

Flies like Stephen aside, though, the rest of the Jotun invasion goes off with barely a hitch. After Oddmire and Meade March, the Jotun press heavily into the Meadows. North-eastern Mitwold borders [[Kallavesa#Wittal Grove|Wittal Grove]], some of the only dry land in the whole of [[Kallavesa]], and allows easy access to [[Upwold#Stock_March|Stock March]] in Upwold. If the Jotun can secure it, and secure their lines across northern Mitwold, the threat they represent is multiplied significantly.

Yet despite their fervour, and their sheer numbers, their invasion slows and begins to falter once they hit the Meadows. As the Winter Solstice approaches, the weather worsens significantly. Torrential rains give way to heavy snowfall in the approach to midwinter, and while the Jotun are no strangers to cold and snow they are not foolhardy enough to throw themselves into the teeth of the storm while there are defenders still fighting. Across the northern Marches, camps are established as the Jotun make the preparations needed to keep what they have taken so far - and presumably to continue to conquer Mitwold until the entire Pride of the Marches is in their hands.
<fourpicture>
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==Between Beats==
It is easy to imagine that every warrior in the Jotun lands is in the Marches; six armies in Bregasland fighting the Empire's attempt to liberate Gravenmarch. Eight armies in Mitwold. Thousands of would-be champions fighting under the banners of their warlords, even as thousands of Imperial captains fight in support of the armies of the Empire. Knights of Glory on both sides, urging their compatriots to fight boldly, to neither give nor ask for quarter, to seek to build enduring legends that will live on in the songs of the bards long after their bodies are gone to rot and treeroots.

The fighting in Bregasland has been bloody - three thousand Imperial heroes dead or broken. The number would have been higher without the Bloodcloaks; the Jotun have suffered more grievous losses simply because they lack the medical expertise of the Winterfolk, their losses closer to four thousand. The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward taking Gravenmarch from the barbarians, but the fighting continues. Behind them, the armies of the west rampage across Mitwold, slowed by the stubborn defenders, but only a little. Oddmire and Meade March - and the city of Meade - are in their hands. They are halfway toward claiming the whole of the Meadows, and who knows where their ambition will take them after that?

The ultimate goal of the Jotun may be unclear, but one thing ''is'' clear. The Marchers will not give up without a fight, not in Mitwold, and not anywhere else. The Jotun have been beaten before, time and again, and this time will be no different. Just as the Strong Reeds fight for the people of Bregasland, just as the Tusks battled the odds and risked everything to free their folk in Mournwold, the people of Mitwold trust that the Drakes will be back and make the Jotun pay a high price for their trespass.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofBregasland.png|align=right|width=300}}
==Game Information==
* '''The Empire is four-fifths of the way toward claiming Gravenmarch'''
* '''The Jotun have conquered Oddmire and Meade March, and are halfway towards claiming the Meadows'''
* '''All titles connected to the city of Meade have lost access to their resources'''
Following the battle opportunity in Autumn, the Jotun have struck back against the Strong Reeds, causing them to take 200 casualties. They have now risen up, however, openly fighting the barbarians. As such, the information the Jotun scouts gathered about their movements and dispositions is no longer useful. If the Strong Reeds choose to start lying low again, they will not face any ongoing losses unless and until the Jotun are able to scour the territory for them once again. The "counter" on their ability to rise up would be reset at this point given they still maintain the absolute support of the Bregas people. Alternatively, they could leave the territory without difficulty either alone or with other Imperial armies.

The Imperial forces have not taken Gravenmarch but they are four-fifths of the way there. While the route they entered Bregasland by, has been cut off - Oddmire and Meade March being in Jotun hands - there is nothing to stop them retreating into the Mournwold, or even circling round through Mournwold into Golden Downs or Maiden Downs. If they wish to return to Mitwold directly - into Oddmire or Meade March - they will have to fight the Jotun to do so.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofMitwold.png|align=right|width=300}}
The city of Meade is in Jotun hands. While they are not going out of the way to loot the place, there is still massive disruption here. As such the [[Bailiff of Meade]], [[Bailiff of the Grand Market]], [[Master of the Root and Stem]], and [[Alder of Meade]] have all lost access to their production - whether sinecure or ministry. The titles still exist, they simply can't wield their powers to secure resources. In addition, the Bounder's Hall in Meade is now in Jotun hands and unfortunately that means that it is no longer possible for beaters to [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] in Mitwold. There is nothing to stop characters instead [[Military_unit#Guarding|supporting Forte Fidelis]] but they won't receive any income for doing so unless that action is assigned [[Military_unit#Guerdon_Shares|Guerdon shares]]. Likewise, until Oddmire and Steward's Landing are once again in Marcher hands it is no longer possible for Marcher [[fleet|fleets]] to take the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]].

==Participation : Beaters and Bloodcloaks==
* '''Characters who took the Beating the Bounds or Raid Kalsea's Coastline actions have had a busy season'''
* '''The General of the Bloodcloaks retains some of the healing herbs recovered from the Navarr herb cache in Graven'''
Any character who took the [[Venture#Beating_the_Bounds|beat the bounds]] [[venture]] in Mitwold this season, or who undertook the [[Voyage#Raid_Kalsea's_Coastline|Raid Kalsea's Coastline]] [[voyage]] is encouraged to roleplay their part in the events taking place in the Marches. In particular, they may have been involved in helping [[military unit|military units]] sneak into Bregasland to join the Strong Reads, helped deliver the desperate warning of the Jotun assault to the defenders of Mitwold, or been involved in evacuating Steward's Landing. If your military unit or fleet supported one of these actions, you may have been injured engaging in risky heroism against the Jotun. Anyone who did so can email {{plot}} before the end of March and request a [[Combat#Traumatic_Wounds|lingering wound]] sustained in the campaign. A lingering wound can help support your roleplaying on the field as one of the defenders of Mitwold. Bear in mind however that, if left untreated, lingering wounds can also be fatal.

The Navarr herb cache uncovered by the Bloodcloaks in Graven has been distributed to the healers of the Wintermark army, but a portion has also been set aside for the [[general]]. As such, '''Tager Defender of the Fallen Tyrshalt''' will find six drams of each of the five medicinal herbs in their pack, all that remains of this bounty.
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|caption=The crimson and gold pennants of Queen Eleonaris flutter over the Fields of Glory in the Summer Realm|align=left|width=200}}</div>

===Participation : Knights of Glory===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought with the Drakes, the Bounders, or the Strong Reeds receive a special benefit'''
The Knights of Glory who fought alongside the Drakes, Bounders, and Strong Reeds revel in the uncompromising tactics the three armies employed. As is their wont they communicate some of their enthusiasm to the soldiers who fight alongside them. A character whose military unit supported one of these three armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Winter Solstice.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Winter Solstice regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a [[roleplaying effect]] that lasts until the end of the Winter Solstice: ''You feel the urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and take particular pleasure from approval and adulation. You feel the urge to do things that demonstrate your prowess as a powerful warrior. Being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

Mushroom, mushroom, mushroom

2026-02-06T17:56:33Z

Vsabo: /* Skin of the Mushroom */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
{{stub}}
<ic>"Can I help you?" Renard kept his voice neutral, hoping that diplomacy was still an option. He was intimately aware of the distance between himself and the two treewardens that had brought this potentially threatening visitor to his attention.

The entity stopped poking at the petrified tree and slowly turned around to focus its attention on the Navarr priest. It barely came up to his shoulder, but it was three times as broad as he was. It had long, spindly, sinewy arms that reached almost to the ground, and squat legs that seemed to be little more than stumps. It was clearly not anything mortal - the wide spreading red cap that seemed to be part of its head marked it out as some kind of ambulatory toadstool. Renard noted that it didn't seem to have a face as such, but directed his wary smile at where he imagined one might be.

"The question. Is. Rather." The creature spoke in stops and starts, it's voice surprisingly soft and breathy for a clumpy mass of fungus with no obvious way of speaking. Or breathing. It tailed off. Renard wondered if it was broken. Then it spoke again, that same stilted pattern to its speech. "Rather. It is whether. I can help. You."

When it was obvious that there was no more coming, Renard asked what it meant. The thing gestured to the petrified tree, and the priest swallowed nervously as its sheer length, and the club-like hand at its end, became more apparent. It didn't seem to have any joints as such, and Renard was pretty confident that if the thing decided to hit him with it, then it would end badly.

"This. Is a thing. That should not. Be." It said, and Renard fancied he could hear just the tinge of anger in its voice. "It should. Not. Be like. This."

"It was the Cold Sun," Renard explained quickly. He didn't want the thing thinking ''he'' was to blame. "When the Empty Hands came they did this. There's trees like it all over Miaren. We're working on a way to deal with them but... it takes time. Sorry. "

He wasn't sure why he was apologising. The mushroom being rested its misshapen hand against the calcified "bark" of the tree. It was one of those that passing artists had decorated, turning the bone-white aberration into something if not beautiful then at least symbolic of the defiance of the Navarr people.

"Trees die." Said the visitor, as if it had not really listened to what Renard had said. "They die. They rot. New trees grow. This is. An abomination. I will. Take care. Of it. For you."

Renard felt the air shift then, and took an involuntary step back. The treewardens, sensitive to his worry, readied their spears. The mushroom creature began to sing, then, softly. A wordless, shifting, throbbing song that the priest felt in his skin and bones rather than heard with his ears. Colours pulsed across the pale surface of the fungusman - soft pink, deep red, startling violet - and then with a loud ''snap'' the petrified trunk of the tree split straight up the middle. Cracks ran maze-like across the surface, and pieces began to fall away. Still the visitor sang its weird song and Renard saw pale tendrils spread from where its stumpy legs touched the ground into the ashen soil that surrounded the accursed tree. In less than a minute the destruction was complete. The corrupted tree lay in pieces, and the blasted ground around it... swelled with life. Mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, and less identifiable things began to cover the remains, as dark green ferns uncoiled and opened their feathered leaves all around it.

The mushroom fellow observed the transformation calmly then turned its attention back to Renard who was staring speechless at the little blue and purple flowers beginning to open across several of the ferns.

"It will take. Time. For new trees. To grow." Said the visitor. "But. They will. Grow."

It shook itself - a wave going from the top of its wide cap to the ground and then back again. Renard noted that the tendrils which had emerged from its feet had broken off, and now lay drained and lifeless amid the burgeoning growth.

"I misspoke. Before. You can. Help me. Maybe." It said. "I have been sent. To speak. With your people. About gardens. And Life. Is that. Something. You can. Assist me. With?"

Renard took a breath, and ratchetted his smile up a notch, as he tried to think of a suitable response.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 275px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Mushroom Sage.jpg|caption=The heralds of Llofir have been abroad in the Empire, especially in Navarr.|align=left|width=275}}</div>
==Overview==
In 384YE, Llofir [[Alignment|demanded amity]] in response to a request for [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]]. At that time it [[I_knew_you_were_trouble#Llofir|explicitly stated that it would use that amity]] to take revenge for the [[383YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_war#Destroying_Angels|destruction of its garden]] at [[Reikos#Tamarbode|Tamarbode]]. The request was denied and there was little further contact, but the most recent summit saw another attempt to call the eternal for a plenipotentiary. This time Llofir responded by [[Has_reared_himself_a_throne#Hours_Breathing_Faint_and_Low|demanding the Empire first perform the dangerous ritual]] [[Hallow of the Green World]] as a show of trust.

Unwilling to take such a risky step, the [[Conclave]] appear to have offered a compromise - [[387YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Alignment:_Llofir,_Neutrality|declaring neutrality]] with [[Llofir]]. The removal of enmity represents a more cautious approach. Llofir's heralds can now move freely about the Empire, which is a potential matter for concern, but it can't wield its power freely, as it could if it were granted amity.

To the surprise of some, it seems to be a compromise the eternal is prepared to accept - to a degree. Earlier that year heralds of Llofir had [[The_first_shot#Miaren|suggested that the eternal would be willing to aid a war against the vallorn]]. The eternal is clear that it has not yet forgiven the Empire for the destruction of the garden, but it seems it is keen to fight against an enemy so inimical to everything the ''Rotlord'' stands for.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Ibiss8557.jpg||caption='''Ibiss Briarheart''', Archmage of Spring|align=right|width=250}}</div>
==Cautious Detente==
* '''The Conclave has declared neutrality with Llofir'''
* '''Llofir has accepted the compromise this decision represents but the eternal continues to nurse a grudge for Highguard, the League and Urizen'''
* '''Ibiss Briarheart is the current Archmage of Spring'''
Llofir's message is clear - it is not interested in plenipotentiary. It offered a way that the Conclave could restore trust and they chose a halfway house and that is absolutely fine. But it does not erase the crimes of the past, and if something new is going to grow out of destruction it will be on Llofir's terms.

Specifically Llofir focuses its disgruntlement on the nations it holds responsible for the destruction of its garden - [[the League]], [[Highguard]], and the people of [[Urizen]]. They'll receive no favours, no assistance, no wisdom, and Llofir makes no secret of its willingness to support anyone prepared to bring these nations to account. Perhaps, say the heralds, it is time to test them; to see if they are still healthy or if it is time for them to fade from history. It could all just be talk; the heralds of Llofir are not visiting these nations and there's no sign of immediate retribution taking place.

==Conversations With Navarr==
* '''Llofir is prepared to help the Navarr construct an army'''
* '''The Advisor on the Vallorn has been asked to gather Navarr together - and only Navarr - to speak with heralds of Llofir at TBC'''
* '''''Seren Embercast'' is the current Advisor on the Vallorn'''
<div style="float:left; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Seren Embercast.jpg|caption='''Seren Embercast''', Advisor on the Vallorn|align=right|width=250}}</div>
Following the olive branch extended by the Conclave, the ''Lady of Spores'' is prepared to aid the Navarr in their fight against the [[vallorn]]. Shortly after the Autumn Equinox, several heralds of the Spring eternal appear in [[Brocéliande]], [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]], keen to talk to the magicians and vates of the nation about this matter. They're adamant however that the ''Great Fungus'' is interested in aiding ''the Navarr'' and not ''the Empire'' in this matter.

The heralds are enthusiastic about the [[A thousand years of longing|grand plan]] to unite the vallorn hearts and render the entity mortal. They are aware that only two vallorn hearts remain unconnected to the great network of [[trods]] - the one in [[Sarangrave]] (a territory now claimed by the Empire) and the one in [[Axos]]. The heralds are interested to hear how the Navarr plan to complete the "mycelial network" that will begin the war with the vallorn in earnest.

As such some heralds are planning to visit Anvil to talk to the Navarr. They will visit them in their camp, and they are interested in speaking to Spring magicians (and not just the vates) of the nation. They have asked '''Seren Embercast''', the [[Advisor on the Vallorn]] to gather then together to talk about the vallorn and the progress of the great plan. They are not interested in talking to anyone other than Navarri however - and ask that the Navarr ensure that there are not members of other nations present.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Orange_Pore_Fungus.jpg|caption=The ''Lady of Spores'' has expressed support for the war against the Vallorn.|align=right|width=300}}</div>
===A New Army===
* '''Llofir offers help to the army raised in Miaren if it is dedicated to the destruction of the vallorn'''
The ''Rotlord'' is prepared to offer its support for the new Navarr army to help it fight the vallorn, ''provided the meeting with the Navarr mages goes well''. To ensure that there is no misunderstanding, the heralds are happy to make the offer clear. If the negotiations are successful, then scores of Llofir's heralds will join the army, providing spores that spread rot and putrefaction, scouring the landscape, but leaving it ready for new life to emerge. If that happened, the army would gain the scouring quality allowing the general to issue the following orders.
====Scouring====
* '''Can use the ''Scour the Land'' order while attacking'''
* '''Can use the ''Turn the Circle'' order while defending'''

If the Navarr can convince Llofir's heralds to join the new army in Miaren it would gain the "scouring" quality granting it access to two unique orders. Scouring the land would help the army drive the vallorn back and inflict heavy casulaties on it, while salt

<box>'''Scour the Land'''<br>
* '''All casualties inflicted by this army on forces of the vallorn are increased by two fifths'''
* '''The ability of this army to contest territory against the vallorn is increased by three tenths'''
* '''All casualties suffered by this army are increased by a fifth'''
* '''The army does not benefit from any effects that reduce casualties suffered'''
With the aid of Llofir's heralds, the army spreads spores unleashing a wave of rot and decay against the the forces of the vallorn. Lifeless husks, twisted ettercaps, and mutated insects alike are exposed to infection from the spores. This infection is deep enough to overcome even the supernatural vitality of the vallorn so that the slightest wounds turning deadly. Unfortunately the army also suffers similar effects - they also suffer increased casualties and it is impossible for them to reduce casualties from effects like Rivers of Life or the support of a [[Army_qualities#Physick|physick]] army ''while using this order''.</box>

<box>'''Turn the Circle'''<br>
* '''All casualties inflicted by this army on forces of the vallorn are increased by a tenth'''
* '''All casualties suffered by this army are increased by a tenth'''
* '''All ruins in the targeted regions are destroyed'''
* '''The army cannot benefit from any effects that reduce casualties suffered'''
The seeds and spores that Llofir spreads can do more than just destroy the forces of the vallorn - they can also tear down abandoned buildings allowing them to quickly consume ruins. The heralds will target any ruins in the territory, tearing them down as they scour the land clear. One or more regions in the territory will lose the ruined quality, sites of antiquity will be consumed as the slate is wiped clean. As things rot and decay, they leave the soil in the area as rich and fertile as it has ever been. Taking this order won't turn a desert into a garden, but ruins and the like will be replaced by verdant landscapes. The order is completely indiscriminate, attacking anything that is old and decaying in the territory. As always, handling the spores of Llofir is not without its risks, the army suffers increased casualties and it is impossible for them to reduce casualties from effects like Rivers of Life or the support of a [[Army_qualities#Physick|physick]] army ''while using this order''.</box>

===A New Garden===
<div style="width: 400px; float: right; clear: right; margin-left:10px;">
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightBlue;">'''Llofir's Paludarium'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Commission Type:''' Fane</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Location:''' Greenfalls, Miaren</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Cost:''' 10 weirwood, 10 rings of ilium and 30 crowns in labour</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Time:''' 1 season</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Special:''' Must be ceded to Llofir by the Senate</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Effect:'''
* Allows Llofir to claim the entire region of Greenfalls turning it into a vast garden.
* Allows the [[Imperial Apothecaries Guild|Apothecaries Guild]] to appoint the Tender of Llofir's Garden</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Availability:''' Opportunity ends if not commissioned before the end of Autumn Equinox 388YE</td></tr>
</table>
<table class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><tr><td style="background-color: LightGreen;">'''Tender of Llofir's Garden'''</tr>
<tr><td>'''Type:''' Navarr</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Appointment:''' Apothecaries Guild</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Powers:''' Receives mushrooms each season</td></tr>
<tr><td>'''Responsibilities:''' To oversee the garden and lead the defence against any attacks on the garden</td></tr>
</table></div>
* '''There has been talk of the Navarr granting Llofir a new garden to replace the one in Tamarbode that was destroyed'''
* '''Llofir's Paludarium is a commission that requires 10 wains of weirwood, 10 rings of ilium, and 30 crowns in labour costs'''
* '''The Senate would need to cede the commission to Llofir'''
* '''The entire region where the garden is built will be claimed by Llofir over the coming year'''
There has been suggestions that the Navarr might allow Llofir to create a new garden to replace the one that was destroyed in Tamarbode. It seems that Llofir is prepared to accept an offer of a new garden in Navarr lands. It has accepted that the Tamarbode garden is gone but there is new life, provided the location is suitable. When Llofir created the first garden, it did so as part of unleashing a great wave of magic that scoured the territory of [[Reikos]]. Plants bloomed, tearing down ruined structures, devouring graves and crypts. The scars of the Druj occupation were erased, but with them went much of the Highborn history in the territory.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Panellus Stipticus.jpg|caption=The ''Quiet One'' wishes to establish a new mushroom garden in Miaren.|align=right|width=300}}
Having scoured lands claimed by the Navarr, the heralds say that the location Llofir would choose is [[Miaren#Greenfalls|Greenfalls]] in [[Miaren]]. This location is safe and secure, far from the vallorn and similar destructive threats like Highguard and Urizen. Sadly it is dangerously close to Temeschwar and Tassato, but Llofir is confident that this time, its forces would be strong enough to defeat this enemy should it be attacked again. Greenfalls contains many important Navarr ruins which would inevitably be altered as a minimum, if not destroyed by Llofir's embrace, but for the servants of the Rotlord such renewal is one of the reasons why the region interests the eternal.

If the Navarr were minded to provide Llofir's with a new garden, they would need to [[commission]] Llofir's Paludarium in Greenfalls. This structure is equivalent to a [[fane]] and would need to be ceded to the eternal to function. Once the structure is complete and has been ceded to the Rotlord, then it will slowly spread to consume the entire region in which it is built. The entire region of Greenfalls will be converted into a rich verdant garden by the Lady of Spores, teeming with mushrooms, fungus and molds. If that happens, then the Llofir would allow the Apothecaries Guild to appoint a Navarr citizen to tend the garden and protect its borders. In return they would be invited to gather a handful of mushrooms with magical abilities each season.

Llofir's heralds are unable to provide information on what properties these mushrooms might have, saying that it would depend how the garden is grown. However that appears to be something the Navarr could affect.

====Old Rope====
* '''Llofir seeks 1000 herbs to power the transformation of Greenfalls into a verdant garden'''
* '''In return it offers material support worth 15 wains of mithril for the new army being raised in Miaren'''
* '''The type of herb provided will affect the nature of the garden Llofir creates'''
Even with the Paludarium, the transformation of Greenfalls will require a huge undertaking of magic by Llofir. Creating a vast garden is a hugely ''expensive'' endeavour, and while the Rotlord has the power to accomplish the deed, it would apparently leave them quiescent for many moons. That is a fate it would rather avoid, so rather than drive the transformation themselves, Llofir would prefer to utilise herbs to power the change.

Huge numbers of herbs would be required to perform the magic. Llofir's heralds believe the eternal could use up to a thousand herbs to complete the transformation of the region. The ''Quiet One'' does not ask for this aid as a gift however - instead it offers a simple trade. If the Navarr and their allies were willing to provide the necessary herbs, then in return the eternal will provide the Navarr with weapons and armour fashioned from mycelium that has grown so old and hard that it is as light and strong as [[mithril]]. Based on the samples shown, the civil service calculate that this would reduce the amount of mithril required to raise the army in Miaren by 15 wains. If less herbs were provided, then the exchange could still be made, but the eternal would provide proportionally less aid to the new army.

The Rotlord is content to allow the Navarr to choose which herb might be exchanged in this way - but it would need to be all the ''same'' type of herb. Mixing different herbs would be a catastrophe as the innate properties of the herbs would clash with each other. The heralds claim that whichever herb the Navarr chose would determine the properties of the garden Llofir created, affecting the mushrooms available to the Tender of Llofir's Garden and any future benefits the garden might offer.

Llofir's heralds will discuss the offer with the Navarr when they meet at the coming summit and provide arrangements if they wish to proceed.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Amanita_muscaria.jpg|caption=Llofir is... interested... in the fall of the Druj empire.|align=right|width=300}}
==''End of Empire''==
* '''Llofir sees the Druj nation in decline and offers to help hasten that end'''
* '''This is risky because it might instead revitalise the Druj'''
* '''It proposes that Hallow of the Green World be performed in Therunin while it remains under Druj control'''
There's one other matter that is of interest to Llofir. That of the Druj. The eternal seems to believe that the "Empire of the Druj" is in decline, that Imperial aggression has weakened it so much that it may be on the brink of collapse. It proposes to test if this is the case.

If the Empire are prepared to evoke [[Hallow of the Green World]] in [[Therunin]], then that [[enchantment]] will settle over the Druj Empire (such as it is) rather than the Imperial Empire - due to the [[Laws_of_magic#The_Law_of_Boundaries|magical Law of Boundaries]]. The effects will be concentrated in Therunin itself, in the [[Forest of Ulnak]], and in the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. The ritual will provide some succour to the Druj of course - it helps to promote the growth of [[herb|healing herbs]] in [[herb garden|herb gardens]] - but that may be of little comfort to the orcs of the Mallum. It will also allow Llofir to focus his power freely on the Druj, to fulfil its identity as the "Ender of Empires." With the tools at it's disposal it will act to hasten the collapse of the Druj, bringing sickness and ruin. The eternal cannot predict exactly what form this will take, but it will be impactful.

The ritual will ''also'' free the other Spring eternals to act directly in the Druj Empire. [[Yaw'nagrah]] and [[Arhallogen]] already have a fair amount of freedom to operate there, and are broadly inclined to support the Druj. On the other hand it seems the [[Irra Harah|Prince with a Thousand Foes]] is chomping at the bit to be able to act freely in the Mallum against the Druj. And while [[Siakha]] shows no favour where the Druj are concerned, she revels in ''any'' chance to destroy. For that matter, there are other Spring eternals with no interest in the Empire who might be goaded to intervene in the Druj empire if the doors were opened for them to do so.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Cassandra11972.jpg|caption='''Cassandra i Periera i Erigo''', Imperial Censor (Summer 385-Autumn 386)|align=right|width=250}}</div>
Obviously, invoking this ritual is no simple matter - but the magnitude required to affect the Druj right now is ''significantly'' lower than that required to effect the entire Empire. It could be cast at magnitude 100 at the coming Winter Solstice, if it were targeted against the Druj territories. It would still be tricky - and risky - because it would require a strong Spring regio in a Druj held territory, so it would be impossible to cast from Anvil. Anyone prepared to make the attempt would need to find an opportunity to use the [[Sentinel Gate]] to a suitable location in the Druj empire containing a Spring regio.
{{stub}}
Another piece of good news is that there would be no legal obstacles involved. The [[Interdiction]] that was [[385YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction_:_Empire_Wide_Enchantments|raised two years ago]] by [[Imperial Censor]] '''Cassandra i Periera i Erigo''' is very specific. It is the practice of ''weaving an enchantment across the entire Empire'' that is forbidden. Using the ritual to affect the Druj empire is entirely legal.

Llofir's heralds try to be plain that the eternal has no particular enmity against the Druj - it is simply that it believes they are on the cusp of falling into ruin. If they are too sickly to survive, Llofir would see them perish, and new life rise from their remains. "They will either fall, or rise," says one philosophical little herald. "We will either hasten their inevitable end, or they will be rejuvenated. Either outcome is acceptable."
===Waves of Ruin (Conjunction)===
* '''There is a pair of conjoined conjunctions to Eastring in Therunin at TBD'''
* '''The Druj are attempting to use Spring magic to rile up the vallorn even further'''
* '''If they can be stopped and driven off from the ritual site, then ritualists could travel to the area to perform Hallow the Green World on the remaining Mallum territories'''
* '''This conjunction takes place within the ''vallorn miasma'''''
There is a pair of strange conjoined conjunctions to Eastring in Therunin late on Saturday at the next summit. The first is a large conjunction for 60 people, the second conjunction is to the same location but smaller, and occurs just ten minutes after the first one. Conjoined conjunctions are rare, but not completely unknown - and this one would be ideal for Llofir's plan.

Even if the Empire is not minded to take up Llofir's offer, the conjunction is still crucial. The Druj have moved a group of ''[[Druj_lore#Ghulai|ghulai]]'' to the area, looking to repeat the ritual they used a year ago to rile the vallorn. If they are not stopped then the current risks in Therunin will grow significantly worse. The expansionist threat of the vallorn will continue, and will last for another year, potentially seeing the whole of Therunin swallowed up. The Druj are clearly desperate to do something that might draw the Empire's attention away from their homelands.

The area is, inevitably, within the [[Vallorn#Vallorn_Miasma|vallorn miasma]] which presents its own difficulties. At least the miasma does not play favourites; the Druj will be as effected by it as Imperial forces. It might be prudent, however, to make preparations for dealing with the effects even if only arranging a way to remove [[Calls#VENOM|venom]] from those who return from the conjunctions.

Stopping the ritual is a victory in itself but if the Druj are stopped and the area is secured, then a ritual team of up to twenty five people could use the second conjunction to join the heroes in Therunin. They could use the regio to perform Hallow the Green World - they may even be able to take advantage of any resources or items the Druj are carrying to help them perform their own magic. With their ritual team defeated, the Druj would be in no position to counter any such ritual.

If the enchantment is cast, it will wash out of Therunin and take hold across the Mallum. [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|Heralds]] of the [[Realms#Spring|Spring realm]], and the eternals themselves, will be freed to exert influence over the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]] and the [[Forest of Ulnak]]. It is impossible to say what the impact that might have - beyond saying there will definitely ''be'' one.

It is easier to assess the effect on Therunin itself. Llofir's heralds will spread the power of ruin across the territory, weakening and sapping strength from the [[vallorn]]. It's ability to claim another region will be significantly reduced - falling by 5,000 from its current total. Imperial armies fighting in the territory will find it easier to hold the vallorn back during the season, but will still suffer the effect of fighting an active vallorn. Assuming the Druj ritual is stopped, by the start of the Spring Equinox the vallorn will settle back into relative quiescence - active but not expanding. It will keep any land it has already expanded into of course but the threat of any further expansion will be gone for the time being.

At the same time, Llofir will "rejuvenate" the marshy territory. Given what happened in [[Reikos]] when the eternal did the same, it will mean that any ruins in the regions the Navarr once occupied will be swept away. New life will rise from the destruction with supernatural speed - seeing [[Therunin#Peakedge Song|Peakedge Song]] and [[Therunin#Upper Tarn Valley|Upper Tarn Valley]] gain the ''forested'' quality. The Lower Tarn Valley will lose the ''poisoned'' quality, but in the process gain the ''Mycelial'' quality as all kinds of fungus and mushrooms - most natural but some infused with Spring magic - sprout across it. The scars of war with the Druj will be erased, but in the process any damaged or ruined structures or settlements will be consumed by Llofir's power.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: right;"><box>'''Whisperspore'''<br>If you plan to take the boon Llofir is offering, you will need a suitable phys-rep for the resultant ''whisperspore''. A pouch containing an amount of pale powder such as sherbet or flour makes an adequate phys-rep for whisperspore. The whisperspore itself is provided in the form of a typical rip-on-use card. The only way to find out exactly what it does is to use it (by inhaling it).</box></div>

==Rot and the Magic==
* '''Whisperspore is still available to Imperial magicians who seek it through Madyn's Gift'''
* '''The strange material can be used to involve the eternal in the casting of certain rituals during the Winter Solstice'''
Despite, or perhaps because of, the change in status, the Rotlord has [[Has_reared_himself_a_throne#Trust|continued to offer Whisperspore]] to any Imperial magicians prepared to pay its price. During the Winter Solstice, any Imperial magician can perform the Spring ritual [[Madyn's Gift]] but include up to five measures of [[beggar's lye]] alongside the [[realmsroot]]. For each pair of realmsroot and beggar's lye, the casters will receive a dose of ''whisperspore''. Any leftover realmsroot or beggar's lye will be returned untouched.

This substance is valuable in it's own right, but during the Solstice the substance can also be used to capture the attention of Llofir. Obviously, both the creation of whisperspore and its use to gain boons from Llofir is only legal while the eternal has neutrality; if the Conclave restores enmity than accepting any of these boons would be a crime.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=LlofirArt.jpg|caption=The ''Wisdom of Fallen Wood'' offers magical boons to some of the Empire's masters of Spring magic.|align=right|width=250}}</div>
===Skin of the Mushroom===
* '''Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber will provide additional endurance if cast with a dose of whisperspore
* '''The target becomes subject to VENOM, and their body will swiftly fall apart if they die
* '''This will prevent them rising as a husk or vallornspawn husk
[[Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber]] is a potent enchantment of Spring magic that brings vitality. Yet Llofir and its servants often speak of the way new life rises from death. If at least one dose of whisperspore is used in the performance of the ritual during the Winter Solstice, the ritual will provide an additional rank of Endurance to the target, but they will also become subject to VENOM. If the VENOM is removed, the enchantment immediately ends. If the subject dies while the enchantment is in place, their body will swiftly break down in the same way as if someone had cast [[Turns the Circle]] on it. This means that subjects will not rise as [[vallornspawn husks]] or otherwise leave bodies to be possessed or claimed.

The ritual can be cast on multiple targets as normal, but in this case it requires a dose of whisperspore for each target. Otherwise everyone involved will simply gain the usual effects of ''Skin of Bark, Blood of Amber''. If the enchantment is placed on a single target, it can be made [[Ilium#Using_ilium_in_rituals|permanent with ilium]] in the usual way. If this happens, the heightened effects - for good or ill - are permanently infused into the target.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: right;"><box>'''Magical Mushrooms'''<br>Like [[Yaw'nagrah]], Llofir's demesne in the [[Realms#Spring|Spring realm]] overflows with the magical substances known as ''donahorti''. They take the form of fungus, spores, rots and rusts of all kinds. Common effects include boons for magicians casting Spring rituals (especially those associated with the resonance of [[Spring magic#Ruin|ruin]]); endurance or healing at a price (often represented by [[Calls#VENOM|venom]] or [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakness]]; or gifts of strange insight, exhilaration, or awareness similar to those experienced by consuming some mundane fungi (albeit much more pronounced and powerful).

Ideal phys-reps for such substances might be actual pieces of mushroom or toadstool, or small bags of powder representing spores.</box></div>

===Blessing of Old Winter===
* '''Blessing of New Spring has additional effects if cast with whisperspore
* '''A farm will provide 6 fewer crowns for one year but four doses of magical mushrooms of various kinds
* '''The effect lasts for a full year
* '''A farm enchanted with Llofir's power cannot be targeted with Strong Ox, Golden Sun or Gathering the Harvest
[[Blessing of New Spring]] is a very old ritual widely used across the Empire to enchant farms to make them fertile and productive. It is especially powerful when used in conjunction with [[Strong Ox, Golden Sun]] and [[Gathering the Harvest]], rituals that build on the effects of this magic to increase a farm's yield even further.

Llofir offers an alternative for those who are eager to embrace the gifts that the ''Great Fungus'' offers. If a dose of whisperspore is used while performing the ritual - then a new enchantment will settle over the farm - something his heralds call "The Blessing of the Rotlord". This new enchantment will last for one year, unless the ritual is replaced in that time. During that time, the farm will produce a small crop of magical mushrooms, in place of the normal crops that would grow. While that happens, the farm will produce six crowns less but gain four magical mushrooms in their place.

A ritual group could invoke the Blessing of the Rotlord on multiple farms at once, but it would require one dose of whisperspore for each farm that is targeted by the ritual, otherwise the normal Blessing of New Spring will settle over all the farms instead. A farm enchanted with ''Blessing of the Rotlord'' cannot benefit from [[Strong Ox, Golden Sun]] or [[Gathering the Harvest]].

===Regrow the Land's Heart===
* '''Regrow the Land's Heart can be infused with Llofir's power if the entire cost is paid with whisperspore and vital honey, and no crystal mana is included
* '''The territory will experience a burst of renewal focused around transforming places of ruin and rot into fertile land
* '''Farms and herb gardens in the territory will produce less money or fewer herbs, but provide additional magical mushrooms
The ''Great Fungus'' perceives death and decay as a route to new life. Sometimes its blessings are terrible, bringing disease and infection. Sometimes, however, its blessing promotes the blooming of new life from mulch and putrefaction. The final boon it offers Imperial magicians is an offer to weave this growth into any casting of [[Regrow the Land's Heart]] that targets an Imperial territory. To claim this boon, the ritual must be cast with both ''whisperspore'' and [[Vis#Vital Honey|vital honey]], and no crystal mana must be used (although mana from other sources such as [[Balms of the Fountainhead#Suffusion of Blood|Suffusion of Blood]] is fine), and the performance must include an evocation of Llofir by at least three of its names.

If this is done Llofir will pour its own power into the enchantment. It will still have its normal effect - indeed it will be even more effective. Areas scarred by war or natural disaster, will quickly become overgrown with new plants and mushrooms. Regions with the [[Region_qualities#Ruined|ruined]] quality will not lose it, but the areas of ruin will swiftly be transformed into gardens or even woodlands. Every [[farm]] in the territory will provide 3 crowns fewer in income in the period leading up to the Spring Equinox, and every [[herb garden]] will produce six fewer true vervain. Instead they will provide three doses of magical mushrooms from the demesne of Llofir.

The exception is a territory that is part of the League, Highguard, or Urizen. The heralds of Llofir will not prevent the boon being used to cast ''Regrow the Land's Heart'' on those nations, but they warn that doing so will invite the eternal to take a measure of vengeance against the enchanted territory. No boons will be provided; what exactly will happen is unpredictable but the [[Unfettered Mind]] and [[Celestial Arch]] theorise that the eternal's influence will cause the ritual to deploy its effects in the most unhelpful fashion. Yet there is also a possibility here to drain away some of the enmity Llofir feels towards those nations - targeting a territory from one of those nations, especially if the ritual is performed by magicians of that nation, will satisfy the eternal's anger and repair the relationship with the ''Rot Lord''.

==Further Reading==
* [[Llofir]]
* [[Has_reared_himself_a_throne#Hours_Breathing_Faint_and_Low|Has reared himself a throne]] - Autumn 387YE plenipotentiary wind of fortune
* [[383YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_war#Destroying_Angels|Destroying angels]] - Summer 383YE wind of war

Even darkness must pass

2025-09-08T21:18:07Z

Vsabo: /* Battlefield Opportunity: Eliminate the Fireblood Skinks */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Autumn]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Even Darkness Must Pass.jpg|caption=In the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==To See Such Times==
In the [[Sarangrave]], chaos reigns. It is a season of ruin, of madness, bloodshed and terror, fury and despair, magic and steel and water and twisted bough, poison and hope, light and darkness, endings and beginnings. You can feel it in the air. The red dice are rolling, the world is in free-fall and nobody has the slightest idea of what will be showing when they finally come to rest.

The blight of [[Rivers Run Red|ruinous Spring magic]] begins to settle over the waters here, but at the last moment it frays and falls to pieces. Instead, a different power of magic spreads out, filling the waters with [[Rivers of Life|wholesome healing power]]. Imperial magicians have undone the scheme of the Druj, replacing their malign curse of death with a benign curse of life for everyone fighting here.

There is plenty of other magic at work here. The behemoth god-beast Kroll has risen from the nameless lake to loom over the [[Sarangrave#Palace of the Sleepers|Palace of the Sleepers]], and yet the Palace itself [[Root_and_branch#Shine_a_Light_(Battle_Opportunity)|has vanished]]. Wards and traps unfold across the marshes and the forests laid down by fleeing magicians and desperate covens. The [[Druj miasma]] clings to everything here, heightening feelings of fear and despair, but the Imperial armies are accompanied by thousands of golden knights drawn from the court of [[Eleonaris|Queen Eleonaris]]. Part of Zenith has fallen under Druj control, trapping Imperial armies in [[Sarangrave#Bloodwater Marsh|Bloodwater Marsh]], but the Empire moves its own soldiers to try and reclaim it. The power of the [[Irra Harah|Shackle Smasher]] has been unleashed in the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak Forest|Nesustak Forest]], while wicked wards of [[Spring magic|Spring]] and [[Night magic|Night]] run riot across the marshlands. Alliances shift, and nobody can be entirely sure who is a potential friend and who is secret foe.
==All Seem Accursed==
{{audio|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDv8UaWeWJg}}
The chaos spills south into [[Zenith]]. The [[Towerjacks]] have come to the forest of [[Zenith#Lustri|Lustri]]. There they meet the [[Argent Sword]]; the army of [[Inhabitants of the realms#heralds|heralds]], [[Inhabitants of the realms#Guardians|guardians]], and [[Inhabitants of the realms#Soldiers|soldiers]] from the [[Realms#Autumn|Iron Labyrinth]] who march as part of a costly bargain wrought with the Sovereign Lords of the Cities of Autumn.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:ArgentSword_Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Argent Sword]]
[[File:TowerJacks Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Towerjacks]]</div>
The second army of [[Urizen]] is a thing of wonder. An army of minotaurs, their horns adorned with gold and steel, who march in the shadow of three dozen many-armed bronze colossi each a head taller than any mortal being. An army of hammer-wielding smiths, as broad as they are tall, warriors of the [[Estavus|City of Fire and Stone]] under contract to [[Callidus|Callidus of the Coins]]. An army of both swift-moving almost fox-like scouts with a supernatural sense for the presence of wealth, and of ox-sized silver spiders recruited from the [[Prospero|City of Bridges]] to provide expert support on matters of logistics. They march under orders from a human general, and they are unlike anything that has been seen in the Empire in living memory.

During the Summer Solstice, the [[Druj]] attempted to [[Root_and_branch#A_Sackful_Of_Poison_(Battle_Opportunity)|assail]] the marshes of [[Zenith#Proceris|Proceris]]. With the aid of the [[Yaw'nagrah|Green Mother]] they sought to [[Root_and_branch#Objective:_Stop_the_Verdant_Tenders|transform the bog octopuses]] of the waterlogged region into ravenous monsters; if not for Imperial heroes the many-legged tasty cephalopods would have undergone an unnatural growth spurt. Their scheme was stopped, those responsible scattered.

Now a [[Dripping Echoes of the Fen|ward of Night magic]] hangs over Proceris protecting it from further trouble - there are [[sentinel|sentinels]] already at work seeking out any remaining Druj and giving them swift justice. Even with the power of the ritual reduced to protect only the region where it is cast, there is nowhere for these guerrillas and ambushers to hide - the empowered magic of Night sees to that. Ironic, given that empowerment was worked by the Druj in the first place…

Two armies then march to the woodlands of Lustri. The Urizen of Zenith are first to warn of the Druj trap. The [[Druj armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] have worked their own enchantment on the forest, weaving an entangling net of Spring magic between the trees. The effect is horribly familiar - a ward that is all too easy to pass into but almost impossible to escape. Druj warriors and awful venomous abominations alike sneak and skitter between the trunks of the dark woodlands waiting for the armies to put a foot wrong.

They have reckoned, however, without the ingenuity of the Towerjacks. This trap may be magical in nature but ultimately it is just another kind of fortification. There are safe paths here, as well as deadly ones. There are choke-points and dead-ends, killing grounds and barriers, but the Holberg engineers are no stranger to such concepts. It takes a little less than a week to reconfigure the Imperial strategy, and then with the Towerjacks in the vanguard the armies [[Army_qualities#Engineer|storm the walls]] the Druj have raised.

The fighting is bloody and terrible. The Argent Sword are disciplined but fundamentally unfamiliar with woodland fighting. The Towerjacks are adept at predicting and defusing the traps of the Druj wards, but they must still deal with the warriors and beasts protected by that magic. Blood spills and pools beneath the trees as the season rolls on. It is slow going, every step risks setting off a trap or an ambush. Yet the armies do make progress, do take those steps.

Almost immediately it is clear that the armies of the Druj are not ''in'' Lustri. It is clear they are relying on their ward to hold back any Imperial counterattack while the six armies that [[Root_and_branch#Dark_Beneath_the_Boughs|came down from Therunin]] have pressed into the Sarangrave in hope of slaughtering the Empire’s soldiers in the southern Sarangrave.

It might have worked. The ward is powerful, but the Towerjacks make all the difference. They unravel the puzzle, match cunning for cunning, disable the traps, and break through the dead-ends and barricades of writhing thorns. Ten days before the Autumn Equinox news comes from the front; the armies of Urizen and the League have been victorious. Lustri is now in Imperial hands once more.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:WinterSun Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Winter Sun]]</div>
==So Our Path Is Laid==
Six armies of Druj, out of Therunin, fresh from the [[Zenith#The_Stork's_Gaze_(Ruined)|ruination of the Stork’s Gaze]]. Without exception they hurl themselves into the fray, an [[Army orders#Overwhelming Assault|overwhelming assault]] against the Bloodwater Marsh and the Imperial army caught between their hammer and the twin anvils of the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and the colossal [[fortification]] of the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]].

There is a desperation to their strategy; it seems that several of these [[Druj armies|armies]] are drawn from the septs of the marshlands. Six armies. The [[Druj armies#Arrow Viper|Arrow Viper]] and the [[Druj armies#Thorn Born|Thorn Born]], the [[Druj armies#Jagged Claws|Jagged Claws]] and the [[Druj armies#Hunting Scorpion|Hunting Scorpion]]; the [[Druj armies#Flame Beetle|Flame Beetle]] and of course the Tainted Basilisk. They have pulled out all the stops; almost all of them bear an [[enchantment]] of [[Spring magic]] that grants them the cunning of the predators coupled with a thirst for blood and mayhem found nowhere in the animal kingdom. The blessings of the Tainted Basilisk.

They face just a single Imperial army - the [[Winter Sun]] - the rest having used rituals and other methods to join the armies in the north. The Winter Sun bear a strange enchantment of Night magic whose effects are at first not entirely clear. The Winter Sun focus on [[Army_qualities#Freedom_Fighters|seeking out native forces]] that might aid the Empire’s plans.

Battle erupts across the Bloodwater Marshes again - the Empire fights against the desperate, furious Druj and their vicious enchantments. Like the orcs, they are also caught between hammers and Anvils. From the south-west, six armies. From the east, the Tower of the Skink. To the north of them, the vallorn and the feverwater. A war in microcosm, as the orcs of the Winter Sun must split their attention between pushing into Whisperwood and fighting off nearly thirty thousand powerfully enchanted Druj warriors.

==Watcher in the Water==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:CitadelGuard Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Citadel Guard]]
[[File:EasternSky Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Eastern Sky]]
[[File:TheFireoftheSouth Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Fire of the South]]
[[File:GoldenAxe Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Golden Axe]]
[[File:GranitePillar Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Granite Pillar]]
[[File:GryphonPride Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Gryphon's Pride]]
[[File:LionsAdelmar Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Lions of Adelmar]]
[[File:NorthernEagle Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Northern Eagle]]
[[File:QuietStep Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Quiet Step]]</div>
In the north, the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|ghulai]] of the Palace of the Sleepers, along with their college of magic, have disappeared. They have left behind a terrible beast; the catastrophically large single-eyed octopoid horror that they called from the lake below their conical hill. As large as a castle, the supernatural terror sweeps aside the soldiers arrayed against it with its immense muscular tentacles.

As it fights, it lets loose terrible booming cries that cause the lake around it to surge and explode upwards. The ground itself runs like water, miring those trying to fight their way clear of the area. It soon becomes clear that the god-beast Kroll does not intend to fight alone. In answer to its thunderous call come hundreds upon hundreds of bog octopuses. Not the tiny cephalopods that throng in the marshes of Proceris to the south, but full-grown beasts that sometimes rival an ox-wagon in size. They erupt from the marshes, falling on the Imperial armies.

While they fight, the Druj forces battling to keep Sarangrave fall back. They seek to take advantage of the confusion to flank the northern force - the [[Eastern Sky]], the [[Fire of the South]], the [[Gryphon's Pride]], the [[Lions of Adelmar]], the [[Granite Pillar]], the [[Northern Eagle]] and the [[Boyar's Hasta]], and the [[Summer Storm]], joined by the [[Quiet Step]] from the Barrens, and the [[Citadel Guard]] and [[Golden Axe]] driving north with some preternatural force.

Arrayed against them are the [[Druj armies#Deadly Blade|Deadly Blade]] and the [[Druj armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], the [[Druj armies#Hidden Widow|Hidden Widow]] and the [[Druj armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]], the [[Druj armies#White Lion|White Lion]] and the [[Druj armies#Red Lizard|Red Lizard]]. They are no less desperate than those attacking in the south, and many of them bear the same enchantment - a parting gift from the ghulai of the Palace of the Sleepers, no doubt. The Deadly Blade and the Hidden Widow supplement their vicious attacks with terrible venoms, which they distribute among the other armies freely. Their aim is clearly to kill as many Imperial soldiers as possible; an aim that is proudly supported by the cruelty and merciless tactics of the [[Druj armies#Black Wind|Black Wind]]. They wield the power of fear and despair as a weapon that is well-suited to their hands.

It is just as well that the water here runs with life, or their murderous plan would have taken an unspeakable toll against the Empire.

Completing the conquest of Kroll requires a confrontation with the god-beast of the lake and its multitude of progeny. The Eastern Sky and the Gryphon’s Pride hurl themselves against the immense octopus with resolute fury, revelling in the chance to accrue unlooked for [[glory]] by facing this monstrous beast. The [[Lions of Adelmar]] need all their defensive mastery to ensure the other Dawnish armies are not torn to pieces by their courageous assault. In the end, they cannot defeat the beast alone; it takes the arrows of the [[Golden Axe]] to finally inflict enough damage on the beast that it is forced to retreat. Not slain - but driven off. It dives deep into the depths of the lake, leaving behind a lake stained black with ichor. Presumably, it has returned whence it came - back to the Spring realm to recover from its wounds. Hopefully this will take a long time indeed.

The beast inflicts serious casualties on the armies arrayed against it, and even after it is driven off, its progeny continue to harass the Imperial forces and the Druj armies with equal indiscrimination.

==Where You Might Be Swept Off To==
In the end, the Empire is victorious. Their magical mastery, their zeal, and sheer force of numbers win the day. It is a close-run thing; when the water begins to clear the Imperial forces have claimed Kroll in the east and are four-tenths of the way toward taking the Nesustak Forest in the west. In the south, the three armies have not only held off the six Druj armies, but they have pressed forward into the Whisperwood and are three-fifths of the way towards capturing it entirely.

Yet the chaos shows no sign of ending. When it is clear that the Empire has the upper hand, when Kroll disappears beneath the surface of the lake, most of the Druj armies abandon Sarangrave. Harried by Imperial raiders, they pull back into the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. That is not to say that the territory has been abandoned however; the Tower of the Skink still dominates the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]] and represents a major obstacle to Imperial control of the territory.

Not all the armies have retreated however; the Hidden Snake and the Poison Crane have pulled back to Thornfen to bolster the garrison of the fortification. In a way, they have no choice; the septs that support them are Sarangrave septs and if they abandon the territory they will suffer increasing losses. It is not a matter of courage or loyalty, but of fear - the fear that if they leave their territory they will be seen as weak and expendable by the other Druj of the Mallum.

In the south, the six armies that attacked out of Zenith are in an even worse state - they have been forced out of the Bloodwater Marshes but they cannot retreat into Lustri without facing catastrophic losses at the hands of the two armies there - and risking being trapped in their own web of traps. Their situation is a mirror of that which faced the Druj in Zenith several years ago when the Empire trapped them in the south. It is fortunate for the orcs - and unfortunate for the Empire - that the Tainted Basilisk are with the southern force. They have already demonstrated their ability to weave Night magic, to create a shroud of power that allows armies to move through dangerous territories. Yet where will they go? Will they risk slipping through the Imperial lines to the Salt Flats? Try to make a stand at the Tower of the Skink? Or perhaps find a way to escape into Therunin - and the uncertainty of the vallorn?

==Do Not Be Too Eager==
There is one other matter that demands Imperial attention. An unexpected development. As the Imperial armies in the north press into the Nesustak forest, they find the Druj defenders and the sept of the Banded Snake in disarray. Their defence seems uncoordinated, confused, and sporadic. The further the armies push west, the clearer it becomes that something is afoot.

The Druj magicians have raised a ward of Night magic here, and it serves to aid the defenders, but there is something else afoot. The Banded Snake seem to be fighting on two fronts. As the Autumn Equinox draws near, the truth of what is unfolding becomes clear. A force of former Druj slaves, subject septs, and children of the [[Irra Harah|Prince with a Thousand Foes]] have been quietly gathering in the depths of the forest, and now they have struck against the Druj. Taking their former overlords by surprise, exploiting the fact that the focus of the masters of the Mallum was on the Empire, they attacked without warning. The Druj panicked - unprepared to fight those they had considered broken. Their former masters were overwhelmed quickly thanks in large part to the support of the ''Thorn of the Ancestors''. Those who were not slaughtered by the Empire have fallen under the knives, spears, and clubs of the risen slaves. A week before the Autumn Equinox, it becomes clear that these free slaves have claimed the rest of the Nesustak Forest - that the Druj who remain are hunted fugitives.

At the same time, in the south, the power of Night magic enshrouds the Winter Sun. It hones the intuition of the soldiers, and urges them to find those who will make common cause with them, focusing their efforts to [[Army_qualities#Freedom_Fighters|break the chains]] of the Druj slaves. Those who fight to free the slaves and the conquered septs, rather than focusing on taking land or slaying the Druj, find that the voices of their ancestors become clearer and clearer - and that some of those ancestor voices are very old indeed. Ancient orcs of the Mallum, pressed into slavery by the old Imperials, drawn not from the Druj but from those who were their slaves. Terrible tales of those who fled tyranny to find death and enslavement waiting for them when they left the Mallum at the hands of humans who saw them as little better than beasts.

Normally, these voices are loud, angry, full of fear and hate. Under the influence of Night magic, those sincerely fighting to liberate the septs find these voices quiet, become clearer, become more lucid. Distant memories of ancient pacts and traditions empower the Winter Sun to reassure those who have spent too long under the thumb of the Druj that they are not the enemy. They can do little to moderate the fear that these orcs feel for the other Imperial armies… but it is a start. A unique chance to treat with the survivors of centuries of oppression.

It is while they fight in the Bloodwater Marsh and the Whisperwood that this approach bears dividends. The [[Make_it_happen#The_Bloodwater_Spears|Bloodwater Spears]] have been missing from the Sarangrave since the Imperial forces first crossed the border from Lustri. It now becomes clear that they had simply been waiting for an opportunity. Some are in Nesustak Forest working with the rebels there; others have been in the Whisperwood quietly recruiting the elders of the [[Make_it_happen#The_Water_Walkers|Water Walkers]] sept to their cause. An alliance between the two groups has been forged, and now they reach out to the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They make common cause - but they also know how to exploit the situation.

As the Winter Sun press forward, the Spears and the Walkers launch their own forays into the Whisperwood. The mighty Fortress of the Skink still provides a measure of support for the beleaguered Druj forces here, as they fall back. As the Empire advances, the rebel orcs give their own signal and bands of them attack where they can, picking off lone Druj warriors and exacting a bloody revenge. Druj scouts are discovered hanging from trees, their bodies held aloft by grim nooses formed from their own entrails. Druj supply wagons burned, the bodies of the paymasters chained to the charred remains. Corpses of Pakkad and Chikad warriors with their eyes and tongues torn out.

Beneath the dark boughs of the Whisperwood, the waters of the Sarangrave seethe with boiling fury, a thirst for vengeance that no amount of murder can slake. The Spears and the Walkers clearly have designs of their own on the Whisperwood and they are far from friends of the Empire. But for the Druj there is only the most pure and undiluted hatred.

==Even The Very Wise Cannot See All Ends==
As the Autumn Equinox draws close, the leaders of the ramshackle rebellion have a message for the Empire. Their message, relayed by those Winter Sun orcs who have fought most closely with them, is that they will not harass the Empire’s troops as long as they focus their attention on the Druj. If they seek to attack the rebels in Nesustak Forest or Whisperwood, they will protect themselves.

When the Druj are finally driven from the Sarangrave, there will be a chance to talk about what happens next. Then hopefully the Empire will know whether they have come to the Mallum as liberators or conquerors? They cannot be both, after all.

==Game Information==
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Regions of Sarangrave.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
===Sarangrave===
* '''Nobody has dominion of Sarangrave
* '''The Empire controls three regions'''
* '''The Druj control two regions'''
* '''The vallorn controls one region'''
* '''The rebels control one region'''
The Empire has claimed Kroll and now controls that region along with Turan Flats and Bloodwater Marsh. The Druj still hold the Tower of the Skink and the surrounding region of Thornfen, and for now they cling on in Whisperwood. Two armies - the Poison Crane and the Hidden Snake - are still in Thornfen, bolstering the fortification there. The other Druj armies in the north have abandoned the territory and withdrawn into the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]].

The Palace of the Sleepers appears to have disappeared. It is not clear if this is a permanent disappearance, a transportation of some kind similar to that used to try and protect the Halls of Knowledge, or simply a shroud of some kind. It’s also not clear what this will mean for the Tainted Basilisk, who rely on the Palace and the associated ghulai and septs to support their army.
===Rebel Orcs===
* '''Rebellious former slaves of the Druj claim the Nesustak Forest'''
* '''Some of the rebellious orc faction are Water Walkers who have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
Last season’s enchantment on the Nesustak Forest, placed by Imperial magicians, seems to have empowered [[Irra Harah]] to throw his entire weight behind these rebels, and that region is now in the control of the rebellious Sarangrave septs. Supported by Irra Harah, they have launched a surprise attack. With the Druj armies cut off from the region by the Imperial invasion, the Bloodwater Spears, the Water Walkers, and an unknown sept have taken the opportunity to overthrow the Druj, butchering the handful of remaining tepel and their guards to seize control.

It seems the rebels would like to have pulled off the same in the Whisperwood, but here the going is much harder, with the Druj armies based in Thornfen defending fiercely. If the Druj abandon the territory completely, or are forced out of Thornfen, then it's possible the rebels could claim more of the territory.

The Empire has made serious inroads into Nesustak (two-fifths towards claiming it) and Whisperwood (three-fifths towards claiming it). With Nesustak falling into the control of the rebels, it is impossible to take any more of the region without fighting and killing the rebel orcs that have risen up and displaced the Druj there - and the Senate recently recognised the Water Walkers as foreigners. The Whisperwood is a simpler prospect - the Empire could seize control of it by driving the Druj out, if they continue as they are.

The rebels show no signs of trusting or liking the Empire. There has been contact with the Winter Sun, but the most it has achieved so far is an agreement not to attack each other. The rebels won’t share what knowledge they have, and they don't have the force of arms to attack the Tower of the Skink. It is not clear if there is a basis to negotiate - they appear to want the Sarangrave for themselves, and for their fellows, rather than see it conquered by the Empire. At the moment their ability to do so is limited due to their lack of anything approaching an [[Imperial army]] in strength… but if they got control of the [[Sarangrave#Fingers of the Devourer|Fingers of the Devourer]] in the Whisperwood it would be dangerous to assume they cannot find a way to ''make'' an army.
===Disaster in the South===
* '''Six Druj armies are fighting on the border between Zenith and Sarangrave'''
* '''Their disposition depends on what happens during the Autumn Equinox'''
The six armies in the south of the Sarangrave have nowhere to go - they have been driven out of Sarangrave but cannot withdraw into a safe region. For the moment they are fighting on the border, but it is clear that they have plans to escape. They will likely intend to take advantage of Night magic to do so, as they did when they escaped Zenith after they were trapped by the Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
===The Weight of Glory===
* '''Soldiers in armies enchanted with Knights of Glory this season are becoming more attuned to the Summer Realm
* '''The Sarangrave armies under this enchantment this season can no longer use the ''Give Ground'' or ''Cautious Advance'' orders
In the reign of [[Empress Brannan]] there was a growing problem that armies were becoming reliant on Knights of Glory, but more importantly that exposure to the glorious knights of the Summer Realm was having an unlooked for effect on Imperial soldiers. It seems that the excitement of fighting in the Mallum is, indeed, starting to affect the Empire’s loyal warriors - possibly because of the oppressive aura of fear coupled with the feeling of pride and strength exposure to the heralds of the Fields of Glory brings.

During the next season, any Imperial army in Sarangrave that was supported by Knights of Glory this season cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders. If the [[general]] issues such an order it will default to [[Army orders#Balanced Attack|Balanced Attack]] or [[Army orders#Solid Defence|Solid Defence]] instead. This effect persists until the army in question has spent an entire year without experiencing the Knights of Glory enchantment.

It may be possible to ameliorate this effect by other means but it is not clear quite how this might be done. The national or virtue assemblies of the Imperial Synod may be able to assist in this matter, perhaps with a suitably worded statement of principle.

Magicians working with the armies point out that this is not something the heralds, or their eternal mistress, are actively ''doing''. It is rather a side effect of extended exposure to the enchantment, and to the magical warriors it summons, possibly compounded by the terrible aura of fear that hangs over the Mallum. Eleonaris is not able to "stop doing this" because she and her soldiers are not actually ''doing'' anything to make this happen.

==Participation==
===Citadel and Sky ===
* '''Characters whose military unit supported the Citadel Guard or the Eastern Sky receive a potent boon
The Knights of Glory are powerful soldiers summoned from the Summer Realm and often influence the mortal soldiers they fight alongside - especially when the army and its [[Army orders|orders]] are in synch with their mistress [[Eleonaris]]. The Eastern Sky engaged in a triumphant charge against the Druj this season, and the Citadel Guard drew on unique Summer magic to empower their own strategy. In both cases, the summoned Knights enthusiastically and vocally supported their actions, and threw themselves joyously into battle against the Druj.

The captain of any military unit that fought alongside either the Eastern Sky or the Citadel Guard begins the Autumn Equinox with an [[enchantment]] - [[Glory to the Sovereign]]. This gives them two ranks of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]] and the ability to call [[Calls#CLEAVE|cleave]] twice each day when wielding a [[Weapons & armour#One-handed Weapons|one-handed weapon]], [[Weapons & armour#One-handed Spears|one-handed spear]], [[Weapons & armour#Great weapons|great weapon]] or [[Weapons & armour#Pole-arms|polearm]] with which they are proficient.

As well as the game benefits, the aura creates a [[roleplaying effects|roleplaying effect]]: ''You feel a strong urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and you take particular pleasure in approval and adulation. You particularly want to do things that will make you be seen as worthy, strong and powerful warriors; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

The boon can be removed [[Enchantment#Removing_Enchantments|as normal]] - “overwritten” with a new enchantment - and will have faded by the start of the Winter Solstice.
===Other Knights===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought alongside any other army enchanted with Knights of Glory in Sarangrave receive a different benefit'''
Knights of Glory also fought alongside the Fire of the South, the Golden Axe, Gryphon's Pride, Lions of Adelmar, Northern Eagle, and the Granite Pillar. A character whose military unit supported one of these armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Autumn Equinox.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Autumn Equinox regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Autumn Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and you take particular pleasure in approval and adulation. You particularly want to do things that will make you be seen as worthy, strong and powerful warriors; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

==Battle Opportunity : To Deal Out Death in Judgement==
The situation in the south of [[Sarangrave]] has seen [[Druj]] leaders attempting to bring up reinforcements; perhaps in an effort to hunt down the rebels in [[Sarangrave#Whisperwood|Whisperwood]], or to prepare to assail the [[Winter Sun]] with as large a force as possible. It is a desperate gambit that requires the drawing of elite [[arkad]] troops from [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]], where they currently aid the defence of the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]].

The Druj are on the back foot, their supply lines are stretched to breaking point and cut into pieces by [[Even_darkness_must_pass|the Imperial advance]]. The hammer blow dealt by the Empire has clearly rattled the barbarians - forcing them onto the back foot. There is a brief opportunity to strike against them before they can regroup to take advantage of their disarray. It would be wise to be [[Vigilance|Vigilant]] however, the Druj are at their most deadly and determined when cornered.

On the Saturday of the equinox, the Sentinel Gate can be used to access the ''Uklead Groves'' in the central Whisperwood.

===Objective: Seize the Whisperwood===
* '''The Empire has a chance to capture the region of Whisperwood'''
* '''There are two approaches that can be taken to secure victory'''
* '''Success with either approach will give the Empire control of the Whisperwood and dominion over the Sarangrave'''

The two approaches offer a choice for the [[Field Marshal]] on how to approach the engagement. That will force the Druj to adapt their own strategies in response. The battlefield presents a difficult environment in which to operate, and threats will most certainly change how they fight to deny the Empire's strengths and expose their vulnerabilities.

Success with either approach will see the Druj forces lose cohesion and force them to withdraw from the region. The arkad forces will fall back to Thornfen, the last bastion of Druj power in the Sarangrave. The Winter Sun, and independent military units operating in the area will be able to quickly wrest control of the area, securing the Whisperwood for the Empire. That will tip control of the entire Sarangrave to the Empire, granting [[Laws_of_magic#The_Law_of_Dominion|dominion]] over the [[territory]] and enabling it to be [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Assignment|assigned to an Imperial nation]].

If the [[Imperial Military Council|Military Council]] can arrange the capture of the Whisperwood, then a Senator could raise a motion to assign the territory to an Imperial nation. Otherwise, the [[Civil Service]] will raise an administrative motion at the following summit, once they have had time to prepare a [[opportunity|briefing]] on the new territory with an assessment of how each nation might benefit from it.

====Tactical Option: Dismiss the Miasma====
* '''There are three pillars in the area that anchor the miasma across the region'''
* '''If they are destroyed with Chimes of Annulment or Consecration they must all be done within ten minutes of each other'''
* '''If they are destroyed with Dreadful Ending, they can be done sequentially'''
* '''If all three are destroyed, the Druj will fall back and the Empire will capture the Whisperwood'''

The [[Druj miasma]] is a boon to the enemy who are used to fighting under its effects but it requires a network of pillars to maintain it. The pillars here in the ''Uklead Groves'' anchor the miasma in place across the Whisperwood - if they can be destroyed, then the miasma in this region will fade. This would enable the Empire to swiftly advance as the Druj fall back, giving them control of the region. It would also and make it easier for Imperial forces to operate in the Whisperwood in future, either during seasonal campaigns or when accessed through conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate.

The Empire has destroyed miasma pillars using the Day ritual, [[Chimes of Annulment]] and with powerful consecrations in the past. These pillars appear more powerful than those the Empire encountered in Zenith and may require more than fifteen doses of liao to overcome their auras. The weakness of this approach is that all three pillars have to be destroyed within ten minutes of each other which requires very careful strategic planning given the distances involved. The untested alternative is to use the Winter ritual, [[Dreadful Ending]], which is much harder to cast but would allow the Empire to destroy the pillars one by one.

If all three pillars are destroyed, then the Druj will fall back, allowing the Empire to seize control of the Whisperwood and with it the territory of Sarangrave.

====Tactical Option: Hold the Ground====
* '''Hold the ground between the pillars to tie up the Druj's forces for an hour'''
* '''The Druj will give up after an hour and retreat if they cannot force the Empire to retreat'''

Instead of striking out to destroy the miasma pillars, the Field Marshal could elect to hold the ground between them against the advancing Druj. This would require Imperial forces to secure the area, and capture at least one or more of the pillars to force the Druj to engage them. Once they control one or more of the pillars, that will draw Druj to their position like wasps to honey as they seek to engage the Empire and protect the pillars.

With the Druj on the back foot and their forces outmanoeuvred, they don't have the numbers to press the attack indefinitely. If the Empire can hold the field for an hour, the Druj morale will break and they will give up the attack. At that point, the battlefield would be theirs, the Druj forces would fall back, and the Imperial forces could return to Anvil in good order.

If the Empire hold the ground between the pillars for an hour and weather the Druj counter-attack, then the Druj will fall back, allowing the Empire to seize control of the Whisperwood and with it the territory of Sarangrave.

===Battlefield Opportunity: Eliminate the ''Fireblood Skinks''===
* '''Bassk Bloodburner has brought their arkad fighters to ''Uklead Groves'''''
* '''Slay the het and his Chikad force on the field of battle'''
* '''Killing Bassk and the arkad fighters will prevent the Druj from using poison or venom in the Sarangrave next season'''

The Druj are infamous across the continent for their use of poison and venom. The local expert in this area is Het Bassk, the ''Bloodburner'', and his Chikad. Adept at brewing their own concoctions and applying them in combat, the ''Fireblood Skinks'' have already reaped a painful toll on Imperial soldiers this season, killing those that could not get to the apothecaries in time.

Eliminating Bassk and the unit will deny the Druj crucial skills, making it impossible for them to employ any poisons or venoms in the Sarangrave next season. Their [[Army_qualities#Venomous|venomous]] armies won't be able to employ Fire in the Blood and they won't have poisons or venoms to deploy on battlefields and skirmishes. The Buruk Tepel will soon replace Het Bassk, but it will give the Empire a season's grace from the Druj's murderous ways.

===Battlefield Opportunity: Save the Fallen Sentinel===
* '''Rescue ''Corisande of Vertigon Spire'' and save their soul'''
* '''The Druj have begun to transform the sentinel into a tortured soul'''
* '''Priests and apothecaries will need to work together to bring the sentinel back from the brink of death'''

A captured Urizen sentinel, Corisande, is being broken and tortured close to the ''Uklead Groves''. She is physically wounded, and has been forced to imbibe dire concoctions by the tepel who are holding her. Her will is broken, and she is close to death - it is clear that the Druj are trying to use her to create one of their tortured souls. There is every chance that the lost sentinel can be rescued and saved, which could save their soul and provide valuable intelligence on how the corrupted Druj alchemy is employed. Priests and apothecaries might both be needed to alleviate Corisande's suffering; healing her physical wounds, purifying the toxins from her body and exorcising the affliction on her soul.

===Battlefield Threat: Tortured Souls===
* '''The Druj have unleashed their twisted creations into the area'''
* '''Priests can exorcise these corrupted souls'''

As the Empire has pressed deeper into the Sarangrave, they have begun to encounter more of the Druj's twisted and wracked creatures. Some postulate that the eastern barbarians have dank dungeons filled with these hideous monsters. Others argue that the increase in numbers is merely a response to the Empire's aggression, and the Druj have tasked their tepel with creating as many as they can to slow the advance of their foes.

Tortured Souls are created by the hideous poisons used by the Tepel when they break an individual's will and turn them into a monster full of wrath and malice towards any they face. They are fearsome foes, often still clad in the garb of their former Imperial lives; they are capable of inflicting a grievous curse with blows from their weapons. Whilst it is possible to put down and execute their physical forms, their spiritual presence can quickly return. The only way to defeat one permanently is for priests to ascertain the strength of the aura on it using Insight and then overcome it with a powerful enough exorcism to dismiss the soul once it has been dropped.

===Battlefield Environment: Miasma of despair===
* '''The entire battlefield is affected by an oppressive Druj miasma'''
* '''The miasma causes [[Calls#WEAKNESS|WEAKNESS]] to everyone exposed to it unless they have a way to [[Roleplaying_effects#Overcoming_Roleplaying_Effects|overcome]] it'''

The entire area at ''Uklead Groves'', is under the effect of the [[Druj miasma]], a pall of potent fear that blankets the lands the Druj claim dominion over. Any hero entering the area will need to protect themselves from the clawing dread or succumb to a weakening terror that creeps into their mind.

The primary effect of the miasma is that it [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakens]] anyone exposed to it who does not have the ability to [[Roleplaying_effects#Overcoming_Roleplaying_Effects|overcome]] it. The easiest method to overcome the miasma is to receive an [[anointing]], but particularly [[Heroic_skills#Hero|heroic]] individuals, or those in possession of certain [[enchantment|enchantments]] or [[magic items]] may also be able to counteract the effect. In particular, those of the [[changeling]] [[lineage]] are able to fight the effects of the miasma, by only by becoming ''extremely'' angry - which can cause problems all its own.

==Further Reading==
* [[Sarangrave]]
* [[Druj]]

* [[Make it happen]] - 384YE Summer Wind of Fortune about some of the septs of the Sarangrave
* [[Root and branch]] - 387YE Summer Wind of War about the continuing battle for Sarangrave
* [[Unlock thy hidden gate]] - 387YE Spring Wind of War about the start of the battle for Sarangrave

Songs like trees

2025-09-08T21:15:31Z

Vsabo: /* Conjunctions: Dangerous Locations */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Autumn]] [[Category:Military Council]]
We don't often put a "Content Warning" on a Wind, but this one merits it. Please bear in mind that the text includes depictions of body horror.
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Songs like trees.jpg|caption=Songs, like trees, grow and flourish. Trees, like songs, have an ending.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==We Come, We Come, With Roll of Drum==
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{{audio|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-HASsbLlBI}}
The [[Golden Sun]] returns to [[Therunin]]. It has been less than a year since they [[Blood_and_mire|escaped the strangling traps of the Druj]], their retreat purchased at great cost by the [[Iron Helms]] and [[Isaella's Dance]]. Since then, they have chafed at the bit in [[Astolat]], recovering from the terrible harm done them by the orcs of [[the Mallum]]. Now they are back, to fight again in Therunin, to take from the [[Druj]] the jewel they have claimed - and to stop the [[vallorn]] devouring what the [[Navarr]] fought for so long to cleanse.

With them come the [[Wolves of War]], out of [[Morrow]]. They, too, have been on furlough this past six months, recovering from campaigning in the west against the [[Jotun]]. They have seen the threat of the vallorn firsthand, helping the people of Urizen root out its harbingers as its wicked green tendrils probed the defences of [[Morrow#Peregro|Peregro]].

The two armies march to [[Reikos]], to [[Reikos#High Chalcis|High Chalcis]], to join their forces. Waiting for them are the heroes of the Empire, the captains who fight where their conscience dictates. Perhaps even the Wolves of War are a little taken aback by just how many are preparing to join them in their attack - and the Wolves are the Imperial army perhaps most experienced in dealing with warbands, mercenary companies, adventuring parties, and champion fellowships. Well over a hundred [[military unit|captains]] ready to march with the Wolves and the Sun, bringing their soldiers with them, swelling the size of the force crossing to nearly three times the size.

The overwhelming majority are, unsurprisingly, folk of Navarr. [[Thorn|Thorns]] and [[brand|brands]], sombre faced and ready to do what is needful to fight for Therunin. Yet they are not the only ones - [[Dawn]], [[the League]], [[Highguard]], and [[Wintermark]] are all well represented here, along with a single warband of the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. All prepared to risk their lives to fight the vallorn and the Druj at the same time.

To battle the Druj is bad enough, but the orcs of the Mallum have worked foul magic to rouse the vallorn of Therunin. It spills beyond [[Therunin#Sweetglades|Sweetglades]] and the [[Therunin#Greenheart|Greenheart]]. Scouts say it seems set on devouring the [[Therunin#Upper Tarn Valley|Upper Tarn Valley]]... but once the armies cross the border from Reikos the vallornspawn cannot help but be drawn towards them, towards the concentrated force of life, towards the metal and leather that makes up the accoutrements of war.
<div style="float:right; width: 500px; clear: left;"><quote by="Jean d’Apulian, General of the Wolves of War">Steel sings as discipline and loyalty endure. Watch now as the Wolves of War and Golden Sun lead this Empire into this war on the Vallorn. See how the cost is paid by knight and bravo. Burn the Thickets and that which can march no more. Drive steel through dead faces as we fall amongst them. One bloody yard at a time.</quote>

<quote by="Lord Daemon Mortére, General of the Golden Sun">The time has come. The golden sun will rise from Astolat. I said when we left Therunin the sun will always stand where the Empire needs us most. The Empire needs the Sun to fight once more in Therunin. This time we are called to fight the horrors of the vallorn. Let our march sound like a drumbeat of Loyalty throughout the territories of the Empire. We will meet the Wolves of War and make our Grinding advance into Peakedge Song. The Troubadours will tell the tale as knight and bravo pay the cost for this Empire. Where Glory and Death Entwine.</quote></div>
The night before the armies move, the priests of Reikos gather on [[Reikos#Chalcis_Mount|Chalcis Mount]], and move among the soldiers offering the blessings of the Way. [[Dedication]] and [[anointing]] to those who wish them, whether they fear their courage may falter in the face of the task ahead of them or they seek to strengthen their own convictions. The priests do not judge, offering support to any who need it, and when the dawn comes some of them find their calling urges them to walk with the armies. The vallorn, after all, is the single greatest spiritual threat to the Empire and the faithful of the Way.

Not long after sunrise, though, there is a sign from the east. A pillar of black smoke mounts up towards the clear midsummer sky. A column of ashes. Some of the Navarr in particular, those who know what it must presage, march with tears wet on their cheeks. But there is still a job to be done, and these armies, these champions who march with them, are the ones who must do it.

==In the Bitter Rain==
It is not far from High Chalcis to the border. Some of the Highborn, perhaps for the first time, cannot help but ruminate on just how short a distance lies between Therunin and the [[Gardens of High Chalcis|garden city on Chalcis Mount]]. In the past this has been a boon, easing trade between the two centres of healing. Now it can be seen as a foreboding of doom.

There are Druj watching the border, of course. Some of these shadowed eyes are rooted out, others manage to escape eastward to warn the rest of the orcs of the Empire’s coming. None attempt to fight, not voluntarily at least. Any who cannot escape, die fast and hard. The Druj will not be a challenge, here, will not be anything more than an afterthought in Peakedge Song it seems. The real threat here comes from the east, yes, but much closer to home.

A short journey, less than a day, to where [[Therunin#Peakedge_Stead|Peakedge Stead]] once stood. It is still burning. There are still Druj here, shepherding the flames, revelling in the destruction for its own sake. Beating drums. Some of them are drunk or drugged; others are more alert and give some small trouble to the first Imperial soldiers to arrive. Yet even they flee, denying anyone any feeling to just retribution for what has been done. There is open weeping.

For centuries Peakedge Stead has been synonymous with succour, with gentle healing, with sanctuary. It has tended the worst wounds the vallorn could inflict, offered safety and the promise of wholeness to those exposed to the malice of the Druj. When Reikos fell into the hands of the Stone Toad, it accepted all refugees and stood vigil against attack from the west. When the [[Great Forest Orcs]] were driven from their homes, it welcomed them beneath its hallowed roofs. A garden as much as a steading, a place where the battle for the future was envisioned not solely in terms of weapons and armour. And now it is gone. The palisades burn. The hospitals burn. The gardens, and the gentle tree-lined groves, and the memorials built to those who set down their lives to heal others, burn.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Ossegrahn001a.webp|align=right|width=300}}</div>
It is too late for Peakedge Stead. The moment the last rays of the setting sun faded after the Summer Solstice, the protection of [[Ossegrahn|Lord Rain]] was withdrawn. The unbreachable thorn walls withered and fell and as soon as they were gone the malice of the Druj washed over this place of healing, and the flames followed all too soon after. And then, the majority of the Druj camped here, their work done, seem to have simply left. There is a clear path north-east away from the bonfire that was once Peakedge Stead, toward the [[Therunin#Upper_Tarn_Valley|Upper Tarn Valley]].

Imperial forces secure the site, do their best to fight the fire. It rages until dawn the next day, when it begins to burn out. As the flames die down, it begins to rain. A focused cloudburst that brings with it the soothing scents of [[Spring]]. From out of the rain emerges a figure with pale blue skin and a sodden shift. A [[Inhabitants of the realms#Heralds|herald]] of ''Brother Harvest''. Flanking them are two massive quadrupedal creatures, [[Inhabitants of the realms#Guardians|guardians]] that until recently protected the steading with their green and growing songs.

The herald is quiet, and calm, and has a message. At great cost, at the request of the [[Archmage of Spring]], Lord Rain maintained the protection of Peakedge Song for another season. He was clear that he did so to allow the [[Imperial Conclave|Conclave]] and the [[Imperial Senate|Senate]] to complete their deliberations, before removing accursed magic from [[Imperial lore]]. He felt that assurances were given, and he made clear that if they could not be fulfilled he would be left with no choice. The Archmage entered into that bargain freely, with his eyes open, and ''Ossegrahn'' trusted that what was promised would be done. It was not done, and instead the Conclave [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Alignment:_Ossegrahn,_Neutrality|turned away from his friendship]]. As if blaming him for doing what they asked, and being clear about what it would cost.

So ''Coomarta of the Rains'' was left with no choice. In the absence of a sign that the Empire could move away from merciless slaughter, from magic that kills the weak indiscriminately, there is little point continuing. He withdrew his children to the [[Realms#Spring|Spring realm]] as he said he would do. Peakedge Song fell within the hour to the Druj. They looted the place, burned it, would have tortured any left behind… had there ''been'' any left behind for them to hurt.

For while ''Father Tarn'' is saddened that he was misled, and let down, he does not blame the healers and the sick for the actions of the few at [[Anvil]]. All those who wished to do so were offered sanctuary in the [[Realms#Spring|Primal Forest]], where they might grow and practice the healing arts for as long as they wished - on the understanding of course that they could never return. While he might have been able to grant them sanctuary in the chamber of a regio the Druj would be able to attack there as well.

Some took that choice, and if there is anything to be salvaged from all this it is the hope that whatever fate they found there brings them peace. Those who would not accept the hand of Lord Rain made a different choice and embraced the [[Kaela#The_Gift_of_Kaela|Gift of Kaela]]. A terrible choice, and one that the ''Cupbearer'' would have denied them if he could. But it was theirs to make.

And now, as he said he would, ''Elder Fossegrim'' will turn his face away from the Empire. There will be no more boons, and he will not agree to [[Archmage#Parley|parley]]. Those rituals he has shared with his friends will remain, until their assurances are broken. Any gifts he has given likewise will remain until time claims their power. No more of his heralds will visit the Empire, not to offer their aid to those in need, nor to the [[Greenwatcher]], nor to the fight against the vallorn.

Perhaps in another hundred years, if the Empire survives, they may speak again. But for now, it is farewell.

As the herald turns away, its sad message delivered, the rain breaks. As it walks, fresh green shoots burst from the footprints it leaves in the sodden ash. Within a few minutes these shoots have blossomed into bushes and vines, with more and more greenery rippling outwards from the path like raindrops on the surface of a mountain pool. Within half an hour the ruins of Peakedge Stead are gone and in their place, a garden of green leaves and pale white flowers. Where the palisade once stood, a ring of young saplings begin to grow, making the outskirts of the sanctuary.

“The vallorn cannot come here while the trees live,” says the herald in parting. “Let this be a memory and a promise. It can remain a place of sanctuary and hope to those who need it.”

And with that it is gone.

==Hew the Stone and Break the Door==
The Druj have fled east, no doubt seeking to outpace the vallorn which they at least believe will be seeking to overgrow the [[Therunin#Lower_Tarn_Valley|Tarn Valley]]. No doubt some of them are in for an unpleasant surprise. The day after the armies enter Therunin, they encounter what they take at first to be the vallorn, but is in fact something entirely different. The Druj have unleashed [[Spring magic]] in more ways than one it seems; this at least is something that the Empire and the Wolves of War in particular are familiar with. Something akin to [[Thunderous Tread of the Trees]] has settled over Therunin, calling and releasing countless numbers of spirits to inhabit the plant life of the territory.

No doubt the intention is to help the spread of the vallorn - the magic seems not to differentiate between an oak and a willow and whatever aberrant plants grow in [[Therunin#Sweetglades|Sweetglades]] and [[Therunin#Greenheart|Greenheart]]. Unlike the more familiar magic, which sends trees rampaging against settlements and fortifications, the spirits called by the Druj prefer to ambush those that come within reach. Often they pretend to be normal trees and bushes before striking suddenly when their victims least suspect it. The smaller plants like to entwine and entomb their prey, strangling, smothering, or starving them.

It all adds yet another obstacle to the attempt to protect Therunin, beyond the Druj and the vallorn itself. Even apparently wholesome plants may hide something malignant and cruel within, and it is very hard indeed to predict where the animated vegetation will strike. As the only significant force in the territory, though, the Golden Sun and the Wolves of War bear the brunt of the curse’s violence.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Yawnagrah002.png|align=right|width=300}}</div>
==That Hill and Wood Shall Slay==
The first true vallornspawn are sighted on the fourth day, while the Imperial forces are engaged with sweeping out left-behind guerrilla Druj. The enemy are clearly not expecting them - they are focused on hunting any remaining Navarr and coming up with abhorrently novel ways to kill them. Shortly after noon, a dozen misshapen flying things, each as large as a well-fed sheep, approach out of the east. Similar in part to wasps, and in other parts to vicious beetles the size of wolves, and yet still something entirely their own and entirely wrong, they pass low overhead. The high-pitched whine of their wings grates on the nerves of those below, setting teeth on edge and causing a few [[naga]] in particular to succumb to nausea and disorientation. Sometimes [[Naga#Luxuriant_Senses|keen senses]] can be a curse, rather than a blessing.

Several of these airborne horrors are shot from the sky with longbow and crossbow and hurled javelin. They don’t seem to be capable of gaining height, too poorly built for flying much above the treetops. Examined close up, they have far too many eyes at one end and barbed venom-dripping stingers at the other. One of the creatures is cut open, its bloated abdomen proving to be full of horrible wriggling maggot-like grubs that wail like cursed piccolos when exposed, curling in on themselves and dying in the steady rays of the early morning sunlight.

These warped insects are only the vanguard of the vallorn; by the next sunrise the sky to the east is noticeably different. A greenish tinge hangs in the air that sweeps forward as the day wears on. Scouts report terrible things; legions of [[ettercap]] and shambling [[vallornspawn husks]]. The unnameable abominations that the vallorn breeds, many mixing animal and vegetable characteristics together to create something different, something altogether more grotesque, than either alone could achieve. There are also great insects, the natural inhabitants of Therunin, that show the signs of having been corrupted en masse, driven mad, driven to swarm and slaughter where normally they would be placid and disinterested. The Druj have clearly not tired of driving the innocent beasts of the marshes into the vallorn, even after their [[Blood_and_mire#All_Along_the_Lakeside_(Battle_Opportunity)|failures at Feverwater]]. There is even a report of a [[Legendary_beasts#Hydra|hydra]], blooming red meat-flowers opening and closing like extra mouths along its body, howling and hissing a bowel-loosening combination of pain and fury as it comes.

At first the line is easily held. The vallorn is not a thing that uses tactics, or strategy. Some of its horrors are as keen to attack each other as they are the interlopers from the Empire. Some charge the nearest living thing that does not bear the mark of the vallorn, and try to kill it and devour it. Others are more stealthy, like hunting spiders or predatory wasps, sneaking up on their victims and using venom, razor-sharp barbs, or talons and fangs to kill. Still others move more slowly - great masses of twisted vegetation given awful momentum either by the Druj’s curse or by the vallorn - it matters little which is which in the end, the results are the same.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">[[File:GoldenSun_Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Golden Sun]]
[[File:WolvesofWar_Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Wolves of War]]</div>
Those who have fought the vallorn elsewhere are perhaps a little unprepared for the realities of facing it in a marsh. While the most obvious spawn are at least human- or orc-sized, in Therunin the waters and the mud and the silt provide many more avenues for awful horror. A common iteration of the vallorn here is an eyeless fist-sized mess of legs and mandibles and gripping pincers that moves through the marsh drawn by movement and when it encounters flesh it holds on tight and begins to eat. The worst part is that many of those who suddenly find their shins or knees or feet being literally eaten out from beneath them will fall backward, into the mud… and discover to their horror that these mawcrabs hunt in packs.

The Navarr are prepared, and spread a warning, but there is only so much they can do to mark the tell-tale disturbances in the thick mud or the murky water when these mawcrabs are on the move.

This is just one example of what the Empire faces in Peakedge Song. The vallorn is terrible for many reasons, one of which is that its creatures take so many utterly unpredictable forms and shapes. Skinless bears, two-headed lizard things with alligator maws and tree-climbing claws. As the miasma thickens across the region, much larger creatures come tumbling through the trees - roughly spherical balls of meat and muscle with razor-sharp lamprey mouths and staring all-too-human eyes and a dozen thick tentacles with which they swing and clamber and grab and crush. Snake-like worms large enough to swallow a full-grown soldier whole, with reaching multi-jointed legs around their mouths to scoop up and hold their prey while they suck it down. A terror that might once have been a [[Marshwalkers|marshwalker]] before the vallorn took it into itself and remade it in its image - a thing that is doubly dangerous because each part of it seems to spread corruption and when it joins together it does not take the form of a towering humanoid but a wave of mud and grasping arms and moaning tormented mouths.

It may not be only the vallorn that they face, either. There are sightings of smaller, more subtle creatures among the vallornspawn. The enchanters of Dawn are certain that these creatures are [[inhabitants of the realms#heralds|heralds]] of ''[[Yaw'nagrah|Woodwyf]]''. They do not, for the most part, engage the Imperial forces directly but their presence has an undeniable effect of the vallornspawn around them. They bear the ruinous [[Spring magic|blessings]] of their mistress and they do not attract the ire of the vallorn beasts around them. A cadre of Dawnish and League monster hunters is quickly convened, and charged with specifically hunting the children of the ''Green Mother'' wherever they appear.

Over all this the miasma flows like water, pooling and spreading. It brings with it its own flavour of death - everyone knows that mortals who breathe the miasma begin to sicken. Everyone knows that those who fall while its fetid corruption fills their lungs and nostrils will rise again as a servant of the vallorn, a husk driven only to kill and spread the taint, spirit trapped forever unless its friends are able to free it with a second death.

==Broken is the Barren Bough==
Yet here at least the Empire has the upper hand. [[Winter magic]] has been bound around the armies, around the soldiers, and settles like a barbed shawl over the captains and warbands who march with them. Many do not realise that the magic is woven with the resonance of [[Realms#Winter|the Wasteland]]; it leaves them feeling hale and hearty, full of the power that [[Winter magic#Preservation|preserves]]. Their instinct for [[Winter magic#Survival|survival]] has been subtly enhanced as well; again few realise what is happening.

But this is Winter magic and it would be odd if there were not some lingering unnaturalness to it. The soldiers and champions fighting in Therunin find their appetites shifting slightly; wholesome food and drink becomes just a little less appealing. Without really thinking about it, many of them adopt a new diet. Drinking brackish water straight from the slow-moving rivulets; devouring bugs, termites, weevils teased from the bark of the marsh trees; favouring bread and biscuits and tack that is marbled with mould. Yet they show no ill-effects. The only folk that seem broadly unaffected by this unnatural urge are the [[draughir]], some of whom seem to relish the fact that the best food, the freshest food, is passed over by their companions in favour of midden-fare.

All of this is a result of a ritual that has never been tested before, encumbered with the lugubrious name ''[[Why Sulemaine Walked Away From The Baker]]'', it protects soldiers from poison, and from venom, and from the miasma of the vallorn… or at least it protects them from the miasma ''in theory''. Before now, its effectiveness has never been tested…

It is tested now. The miasma is thick as fog around the vallornspawn, spreading like fingers of corruption spread by the winds. Those who fight within it find their wounds fester, their injuries drag them down into death or awful half life. It breeds sickness in those exposed to it, filling lungs with spores and fluid, causing skin to corrupt and break apart with vines and flowers. Yet not a single soldier of the Golden Sun, of the Wolves of War, nor of the warbands that fight with them, succumbs to the sickness of Green Lung. Wounds may fester, death may come, but the worst effects of the miasma are mitigated by the Winter magic. While some of those who die within the miasma rise as husks, it seems to be no more than a third of those slain - and the Navarr agree that the transformation is taking much longer than usual in those who do succumb allowing for their bodies to be burned or [[Turn the Circle|turned away from corruption]].

The wards surrounding the Imperial forces do not match the power of the [[Vitality of Rushing Water]] - the magic is too widespread, too focused on preservation and survival compared to that particular [[enchantment]] of [[Spring magic]] but it provides vital protection, and frees the [[Surgical skills#Physick|physicks]] who march with the armies free to treat wounds and save lives without worrying about that hollowing-out sickness.

==Darkness Falls At Last==
Almost from the moment the vallornspawn begin to spill into Peakedge Stead, the armies of the Empire must fight. It is relentless - day and night the attacks come. Battalions of ettercaps and husks; small packs of horrible vallorn warped beasts; great corrupted insects. Again and again they come and the Imperial armies must stand against them.

As the season draws on, the armies begin to flag - but again the power of the Winter enchantment helps stave off exhaustion. This is a double-edged blade of course - it does not actually [[Winter magic#heal|heal]] those warriors tired to the point of collapse. It simply provides them with the will and the strength to push themselves beyond their natural limits… and when they snap the results are grim indeed. Just as well the magic protects the warriors from the miasma - the physicks have their work cut out saving those who have battled on to the point their bodies have begun to shut down.

Painful, cruel, but it works. As Autumn deepens, it works and the vallornspawn are contained. They do not spill out across Peakedge Song, they don’t taint the marshlands with the touch of the vallorn. They are contained, and thrown back. Yet they still come. There is no sign that their strength is weakening, or their drive faltering. Inasmuch as the vallorn ''want'' anything it is clear that the roused force will continue to seek to reclaim this land that was once Terunael, that was wrested free from their corrupting touch over the course of a thousand years.

And if the defenders falter, even for an instant, the green tide will wash over all and condemn Therunin once more to its verdant hell.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Regionsoftherunin.png|align=right|width=500}}

==Game Information==
*'''Therunin remains nominally under the control of the Druj'''
*'''The vallorn has been stopped in Peakedge Song'''
*'''Imperial forces are about a fifth of the way toward reclaiming the region of Peakedge Song'''
*'''An effect similar to Thunderous Tread of the Trees is making the situation in Therunin even worse for Imperial armies'''
Imperial forces have prevented the vallorn of Therunin claiming any land in Therunin. Where it would have spilled into the Upper Tarn Valley - perhaps at the direction of the Druj magicians - it has instead moved to try and destroy the largest concentration of uncorrupted life in the territory. To wit it is focused on the two armies and hundreds of warbands accompanying them, and on claiming Peakedge Song. The Wolves of War and the Golden Sun have borne the brunt of the assault and saved the region - at least for now.

The Empire is around a fifth of the way to reclaiming Peakedge Song, but it is an uphill struggle thanks to the vallorn force that is also trying to claim the region.

There has been little sign of the Druj - a few encounters with ambushes and guerrilla fighters in Peakedge Song, and a number of traps left behind. Whatever Mallum forces are still in Therunin seem concentrated in the east.

===Against the Vallorn===
*'''The vallorn continues to try and expand into Peakedge Song
*'''It will attack wherever there are enemy armies or fortifications
*'''Winter magic has significantly reduced the damage taken by the armies fighting here
Fighting the vallorn while it is expanding in this way has proved to be very dangerous. The vallornspawn spreading into Peakedge Song have brought the [[Vallorn#Vallorn_Miasma|vallorn miasma]] with them in some fashion, endangering everyone who tries to face them. It appears that while an expanding vallorn does not take an order in the way an Imperial general would do, it is effectively always taking a special order that potentially poisoning anyone who fights - an ''order'' that ''doubles'' all casualties it causes.

Fortunately, [[Why Sulemaine Walked Away From The Baker]] has provided significant protection. It has both reduced the extra casualties caused by three-quarters, and on top of that reduced all casualties taken by a tenth. Without the enchantment, the losses to the armies here would have been ''significantly'' higher.

===Peakedge Stead and Lord Rain===
*'''Peakedge Stead has been burned by the Druj'''
*'''The Houses of Healing and Stones from Blood have been destroyed'''
*'''Thornsong College is still protected - for now - by Night magic'''
*'''Ossegrahn has turned away from the Empire'''
*'''An enchanted grove remains where the steading once stood'''
One of the oldest settlements of the Navarr, Peakedge Stead, has been destroyed by the Druj. The people who had taken sanctuary there have either taken the [[Kaela#The_Gift_of_Kaela|Gift of Kaela]] and died painlessly, or taken the boon of Ossegrahn and departed the mortal world for the [[Realms#Spring|Primal Forest]]. They will not return.

The [[Hand_of_the_Healers#Houses_of_Healing|Houses of Healing]] have been destroyed along with Peakedge Stead, and the [[Hand of the Healers]] has lost the ability to receive [[Hand_of_the_Healers#Offerings_of_Lord_Rain|gifts]] from Lord Rain. Likewise, there will be no replacement for the [[Hand_of_the_Healers#Gift_of_Rainfather|gift of the Rainfather]]. The [[Factor of Stones from Blood#Stones from Blood|Stones from Blood]] has also been destroyed - the incumbent, '''Dewi Flies Free''', will be the last [[Factor of Stones from Blood]].

For the moment, [[Thornsinger#Thornsong House|Thornsong House]] remains hidden within a ward of [[Night magic]] meaning nothing and nobody can locate it. This magic will end at the start of the Winter Solstice. There is no easy way to restore this protection, and it is ''very'' likely that some of those Druj waiting in Peakedge Song are there intentionally to destroy the House. Once the ward falls the house will also be at risk from the vallorn.

Ossegrahn has turned away from the Empire. He has withdrawn his support from Greenwatch, meaning that the [[Greenwatcher]] has likewise lost access to the [[Greenwatcher#Implements of Willowbraid|Implements of Willowbraid]] and the [[Greenwatcher#Gift of Father Tarn|Gift of Father Tarn]] will not be replaced. The eternal has said that he will continue to provide power to any ritual or [[arcane projection]] that bears his [[Eternals_and_rituals#Assurance_and_Stipulation|assurance]], but no further boons will be forthcoming. He will not attend any [[Archmage#Parley|parley]] with the Empire for the foreseeable future.

Where Peakedge Stead once stood, however, a magical ring of trees and enchanted glade now stands. This appears to be a final boon from Lord Rain. His herald claims that it will remain untouched by the [[vallorn]], and preliminary investigation shows that it bears an effect similar to (but distinct from) the [[Ward of the Black Waste]] (but obviously woven with Spring magic rather than Winter magic). A thorough investigation of this site would require an [[appraisal]] and likely need to wait until the chaos in Therunin comes to an end.

==Battle Opportunity : With Doom We Come==
The valiant efforts of the independent captains, who lead their military units in support of the Golden Sun and the Wolves of War, have held the vallorn at bay in Peakedge Song. Drawn away from the Upper Tarn Valley, the spring-infused monsters sought to overwhelm the defenders of the great steading and the treetop sanctuaries, but ultimately they were kept in check. Through dedicated effort, and no small loss of life, the unrelenting force of nature was prevented from spreading into the region. While stopped, it has not withdrawn and the miasma continues to roil and writhe beneath the tree tops. Whatever happens, the vallorn will push forth again in the coming season.

Fortunately, this location offers a chance to erect powerful wards that could significantly reduce the strength of any assault by the vallorn, assuming that the Imperial heroes are able to put them in place before the location is overrun. There are strange standing stones here, that scouts have nicknamed the ''Thorn Guardians''. These warding stones could be used as anchors for warding rituals if the Empire has the magicians to perform them.

There is also a new and growing threat that has been discovered in Peakedge Stead this season. The awakening of the vallorn has seen a migration of ettercaps bursting out from hives in the heart of Sweetglades. Twisted by the fecund vitality of spring, these insectoid horrors have established another nest at the edges of the miasma close to the fallen steading. From inside the strange natural construction all manner of swiftly gestating new creatures are emerging to join the chittering hordes that scrabble alongside the shambling spawn of the deceased and overgrown husks. If this nest can be engaged and dealt with it will inflict a serious blow against the vallorn in Therunin this season.

A conjunction of the Sentinel Gate has been identified by the prognosticators and will allow travel to ''Thorngroves'' on the Sunday of the equinox.

===Objective: Hold Back the Vallorn===
* '''The vallorn advance can be slowed by creating wards via the ''Wardens of the Black Waste'' ritual'''
* '''Each of the five warding stones can be enchanted only once'''
* '''Each ward raised will reduce the strength of the vallorn in Therunin by 1000 for the next season'''
The settlements at Peakedge Stead are old, very old in fact; certainly established before the founding of the Empire, and said by some to date back to the fall of Terunael. Whilst Thornsong House has been shrouded by the Navarr, the Druj have burned most of the steading and pulled down vital parts of [[Factor_of_Stones_from_Blood|Stones from Blood]]. Even so, the barbarians have not destroyed the place utterly. Many structures have either escaped their attention or not drawn their ire enough to warrant the effort of level.

The ''Thorn Guardians'' are one such set of edifices that remain, hidden in plain sight among the forest. These five white granite pillars are warding stones, believed to date back to the time when the Navarr people first began to gather and strengthen themselves, preparing for the long war against the vallorn. It has been theorised that the stones were once part of the original defences that protected the first steading in the area. It seems in the past they were used to anchor wards in place, granting the early Navarr a period of respite from the attack of the Vallorn. Nowadays, the Empire has access to much more powerful wards than the Terunael ever created, but there is no reason why the powerful winter ritual [[Wardens of the Black Waste]] couldn't be employed here.

The construction of the ''Thorn Guardians'' allows them to be used to bear ritual wardings - either [[Ward of the Black Waste]] or [[Wardens of the Black Waste]] - to hold back the vallorn. When a ward is cast on a warding stone it anchors the magic, removing the normal requirement for a physical building or posts to hold the magic in place. When cast in this way, the wards won't have an immediate dramatic impact on the area, but the magic will grow over time, steadily weakening any vallorn spawn that come in the area.

Each successful casting of Wardens of the Black Wastes on a single warding stone will reduce the strength of the vallorn in Therunin by 1000 over the coming season, to a maximum of 5000 strength if all five stones were enchanted. Unlike the destruction of the ettercap hives, this offers only a temporary reduction; it will only last as long as the magic of the wards remain. With the arrival of the Winter Solstice, the wards will fade and the vallorn will be able to move freely once more. If the Empire can create the rituals on the warding stones, then a similar approach may be possible in the future, creating new strategic options to help in countering the vallorn if it works. As this is part of an opportunity, it is not possible to use [[ilium]] to make the effect on the stones permanent.

===Objective: Poison the Ettercap Hive===
* '''There is a large ettercap nest in Thorngroves that could be poisoned to weaken the enemy'''
* '''The Apothecaries Guild have a chance to discover what poison is needed to destroy the nest on Friday evening'''
* '''If they cannot identify the right poison, the only alternative would be to pour every possible poison into the nest to see what works'''
* '''Successfully poisoning the hive will permanently reduce the strength of the current vallornspawn host by two thousand'''

An ettercap hive has been located at ''Thorngroves'' close to the ruins of Peakedge Stead. The large number of mature ettercap that have been witnessed crawling free of the brood hole suggests this nest is particularly large. Entering the nest is out of the question - the miasma is so thick inside it would kill any human or orc who tried to enter. However, the nests can be destroyed by pouring poison into the feeding hole that the ettercaps use to feed the nest. If the defenders can be driven off and the location of the feeding hole discovered then poison could be poured in to wreak havoc on the larvae within.

The Empire don't yet know what poison is needed, but there is an opportunity for the [[Apothecaries Guild]] to uncover that information on the first evening of the summit. If they can identify what poison is needed, that will make this objective much easier to achieve. If they fail, then the only resort would be trial and error, mixing as many poisons as possible and pouring everything down the hole.

This nest is twice the size of the ones located in Sweetglades, and will need twice as much poison as either of those. However, destroying it will be even more effective, permanently removing two thousand force from the effective strength of the current vallornspawn host that is trying to expand in Therunin.

===Battlefield environment: Vallorn miasma===
* '''A vallorn miasma reaches out through the woodlands at Peakedge Stead'''
* '''Any creatures - human or orc - that enters the woodland will be affected by the miasma'''
* '''No player characters will raise as a vallornspawn husk within the timeframe of the battle'''
As the vallorn has advanced out from Sweetglades to meet the arrival of the Imperial armies, it has been preceded by a roiling haze of miasma. The spore-filled air will make anyone who encounters it feel feverish or sick, suffering in short time from an envenomed blood. A venture of this scale into the vallorn miasma comes with many risks, especially for those who die of their wounds in its cloying depths. Citizens are reminded that The Gift of Kaela and the winter ritual [[Surcease of Sorrow]] can be used ensure that if the worst happens, one's corpse will not be able to rise as a vallornspawn. Likewise, the spring ritual [[Turns the Circle]] can be cast upon a fallen citizen to prevent their inevitable reanimation in the hours and days after their death.

<box><big>'''[[Vallorn#Vallorn_Miasma|Vallorn miasma]]'''</big><br>
* '''The woodland at Peakedge Stead is under the effect of a vallorn miasma'''
* '''Anyone in the miasma is affected by [[Calls#VENOM|VENOM]] unless they are bonded to an [[Abraxus Stone]] or are under the effect of [[Vitality of Rushing Water]]'''
* '''Anyone affected by the VENOM from the vallorn miasma will eventually begin to suffer from symptoms of nausea or mild feverishness'''
The limited exposure time during this battle means that there is no chance of anyone developing [[Vallornspawn_husk#Green_Lung|green lung]]</box>

==Conjunctions: Dangerous Locations==
* '''Two ettercap nests have been uncovered in the Sweetglades'''
* '''They could be poisoned to reduce the strength of the vallorn'''
* '''There is an opportunity for the Apothecaries Guild to discover how best to poison them'''
* '''If they fail, the only alternative would be for Imperial heroes to use trial and error to see what works'''
* '''Each poisoned nest will reduce the vallorn's strength by a thousand'''
* '''A Sarcophan trader has asked anyone who ventures into the Sweetglades to look out for a rare flower'''
There are rumblings deep in the woods of the Sweetglades; rumours and reports from thorns, questing knights, and other members of the Vallornguard that there are two ettercap nests in relatively undefended areas. Them being in the Sweetglades means there is still a vast array of creatures milling around the ettercap's nest, but the scouts believe that there is opportunity here.

Most of the nest is underground - the creatures emerge from the nest's exit once they are large enough to survive. Unfortunately, the nests are filled with thick miasma - far too poisonous for any human or orc to enter. However, all the nests that scouts have discovered so far have incorporated a feeding hole that the ettercaps use to feed the nest. If the monsters can be held off and the location of the feeding hole discovered then poison could be poured in to wreak havoc on the larvae within.

Exactly what kind of poison would be most effective is unknown, but that is a question that the [[Apothecaries Guild]] might be able to help with. There is a conjunction to investigate the corpse of a dead ettercap, which might give the Apothecaries a chance to uncover the ideal poison or poisons to use. If they fail, then Imperial heroes might have to resort to trial and error, mixing as many poisons as they can and pouring them down the hole.

''Catharina Gjullit'', member of the [[The_mathematics_of_tears#The_Gjullit_Opportunity|Gjullit family]], has asked that any members of the sodality who go through the Sentinel Gate look out for ''corpseblossom''; a rare herb that they have been told occasionally grows in the chests of long-lived ettercaps. The merchant will be visiting Anvil at the Winter Solstice on behalf of their family, and will be interested in purchasing any cuttings which Imperials can acquire.

===Surprises===
* '''A dead ettercap nest presents an opportunity to investigate what poisons are effective'''
* '''This skirmish is a [[Accessibility#Combat_Unlikely|combat unlikely]] encounter'''
* '''The ''Guild Leader of the Imperial Apothecaries'' is [[Sentinel_Gate#Prognostication|responsible]] for investigating'''
Even as the soldiers of the Golden Sun and the Wolves of War fought to hold off the horde, scouts were able to venture into the Sweetglades. There, they found the remnants of an ettercap nest; just a few of the insectuous creatures shuffling around. The scouts were able to defeat the remnant monsters and have asked the [[Imperial Apothecaries Guild]] to investigate as they believe the right investigation could reveal how best to poison a nest. It is the responsibility of the [[Imperial_Apothecaries_Guild#Guild_Leader|Guild Leader of the Imperial Apothecaries]], '''Esmé i Estrico i Erigo''', to investigate the dead nest and experiment with the different [[Potion#Poisons|poisons]] known to the Empire to discover which is best used on the two uncovered in Sweetglades, as well as the one in Peakedge Song.

===Cluster of Rosebuds===
* '''A collective of vallornspawn are protecting a nest in the Squamous Woods'''
* '''This skirmish is a [[Accessibility#Combat_Highly_Likely|combat highly likely]] encounter'''
* '''The ''Speaker of the Vallornguard'' is [[Sentinel_Gate#Prognostication|responsible]] for disrupting the nest'''
{{AgainstBarbarians}}
The nest in the Squamous Woods represents a chance for the Vallornguard to help in the long-term effort to "''rid the Empire of the vallorn''". It is the responsibility of the [[Vallornguard#Speaker_of_the_Vallornguard|Speaker of the Vallornguard]], '''Percival Summerstrong''', to drive off the vallornspawn protecting the nest long enough to allow them to poison the nest. If the sodality is able to successfully poison the nest, then the current horde threatening to overrun Therunin will be permanently reduced by one thousand.

===In the Night===
* '''A collective of vallornspawn are protecting a nest in the Twitching Grove'''
* '''This skirmish is a [[Accessibility#Combat_Highly_Likely|combat highly likely]] encounter'''
* '''The ''Keeper of the Last Battle'' is [[Sentinel_Gate#Prognostication|responsible]] for disrupting the nest'''
{{AgainstBarbarians}}
The nest in the Twitching Grove represents a chance to destroy a clear threat to the Empire's ability to expand its borders to trigger the last battle against the vallorn. If it can be destroyed, then the Imperial armies in Therunin will face fewer monstrosities over the coming season making it easier to claim Peakedge Song or at the very least hold the vallorn back. It is the responsibility of the [[Keeper of the Last Battle]], '''Dax''', to drive off the vallornspawn protecting the nest long enough to allow them to poison the nest. If the group is able to successfully poison the nest, then the current horde threatening to overrun Therunin will be permanently reduced by one thousand.

<box><big>'''[[Vallorn#Vallorn_Miasma|Vallorn miasma]]'''</big><br>
* '''''Surprises'', ''Cluster of Rosebuds'', and ''In the Night'' all take place within vallorn miasma'''
* '''Anyone in vallorn miasma is affected by [[Calls#VENOM|VENOM]] unless they are bonded to an [[Abraxus Stone]] or are under the effect of [[Vitality of Rushing Water]]
* '''Anyone affected by the VENOM from the vallorn miasma will eventually begin to suffer from symptoms of nausea or mild feverishness
The short length of these conjunctions means that in this instance, there is no chance of anyone developing [[Vallornspawn_husk#Green_Lung|green lung]]</box>

==Further Reading==
* [[Therunin]]
* [[Ossegrahn]]
* [[Vallorn]]

* [[Willow and rain]] - Summer 387YE Wind of War
* [[To hold death's hand in mine]] - Spring 387YE Wind of War
* [[Under eastern skies]] - Winter 386YE Wind of War
* [[Blood and mire]] - Autumn 386YE Wind of War
* [[Ashes]] - Summer 386YE Wind of War

Even darkness must pass

2025-09-08T21:10:54Z

Vsabo: /* Battlefield Opportunity: Eliminate the Fireblood Skinks */

[[Category:Recent History]] [[Category:387YE Autumn]] [[Category:Military Council]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Even Darkness Must Pass.jpg|caption=In the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow.|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==To See Such Times==
In the [[Sarangrave]], chaos reigns. It is a season of ruin, of madness, bloodshed and terror, fury and despair, magic and steel and water and twisted bough, poison and hope, light and darkness, endings and beginnings. You can feel it in the air. The red dice are rolling, the world is in free-fall and nobody has the slightest idea of what will be showing when they finally come to rest.

The blight of [[Rivers Run Red|ruinous Spring magic]] begins to settle over the waters here, but at the last moment it frays and falls to pieces. Instead, a different power of magic spreads out, filling the waters with [[Rivers of Life|wholesome healing power]]. Imperial magicians have undone the scheme of the Druj, replacing their malign curse of death with a benign curse of life for everyone fighting here.

There is plenty of other magic at work here. The behemoth god-beast Kroll has risen from the nameless lake to loom over the [[Sarangrave#Palace of the Sleepers|Palace of the Sleepers]], and yet the Palace itself [[Root_and_branch#Shine_a_Light_(Battle_Opportunity)|has vanished]]. Wards and traps unfold across the marshes and the forests laid down by fleeing magicians and desperate covens. The [[Druj miasma]] clings to everything here, heightening feelings of fear and despair, but the Imperial armies are accompanied by thousands of golden knights drawn from the court of [[Eleonaris|Queen Eleonaris]]. Part of Zenith has fallen under Druj control, trapping Imperial armies in [[Sarangrave#Bloodwater Marsh|Bloodwater Marsh]], but the Empire moves its own soldiers to try and reclaim it. The power of the [[Irra Harah|Shackle Smasher]] has been unleashed in the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak Forest|Nesustak Forest]], while wicked wards of [[Spring magic|Spring]] and [[Night magic|Night]] run riot across the marshlands. Alliances shift, and nobody can be entirely sure who is a potential friend and who is secret foe.
==All Seem Accursed==
{{audio|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDv8UaWeWJg}}
The chaos spills south into [[Zenith]]. The [[Towerjacks]] have come to the forest of [[Zenith#Lustri|Lustri]]. There they meet the [[Argent Sword]]; the army of [[Inhabitants of the realms#heralds|heralds]], [[Inhabitants of the realms#Guardians|guardians]], and [[Inhabitants of the realms#Soldiers|soldiers]] from the [[Realms#Autumn|Iron Labyrinth]] who march as part of a costly bargain wrought with the Sovereign Lords of the Cities of Autumn.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:ArgentSword_Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Argent Sword]]
[[File:TowerJacks Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Towerjacks]]</div>
The second army of [[Urizen]] is a thing of wonder. An army of minotaurs, their horns adorned with gold and steel, who march in the shadow of three dozen many-armed bronze colossi each a head taller than any mortal being. An army of hammer-wielding smiths, as broad as they are tall, warriors of the [[Estavus|City of Fire and Stone]] under contract to [[Callidus|Callidus of the Coins]]. An army of both swift-moving almost fox-like scouts with a supernatural sense for the presence of wealth, and of ox-sized silver spiders recruited from the [[Prospero|City of Bridges]] to provide expert support on matters of logistics. They march under orders from a human general, and they are unlike anything that has been seen in the Empire in living memory.

During the Summer Solstice, the [[Druj]] attempted to [[Root_and_branch#A_Sackful_Of_Poison_(Battle_Opportunity)|assail]] the marshes of [[Zenith#Proceris|Proceris]]. With the aid of the [[Yaw'nagrah|Green Mother]] they sought to [[Root_and_branch#Objective:_Stop_the_Verdant_Tenders|transform the bog octopuses]] of the waterlogged region into ravenous monsters; if not for Imperial heroes the many-legged tasty cephalopods would have undergone an unnatural growth spurt. Their scheme was stopped, those responsible scattered.

Now a [[Dripping Echoes of the Fen|ward of Night magic]] hangs over Proceris protecting it from further trouble - there are [[sentinel|sentinels]] already at work seeking out any remaining Druj and giving them swift justice. Even with the power of the ritual reduced to protect only the region where it is cast, there is nowhere for these guerrillas and ambushers to hide - the empowered magic of Night sees to that. Ironic, given that empowerment was worked by the Druj in the first place…

Two armies then march to the woodlands of Lustri. The Urizen of Zenith are first to warn of the Druj trap. The [[Druj armies#Tainted Basilisk|Tainted Basilisk]] have worked their own enchantment on the forest, weaving an entangling net of Spring magic between the trees. The effect is horribly familiar - a ward that is all too easy to pass into but almost impossible to escape. Druj warriors and awful venomous abominations alike sneak and skitter between the trunks of the dark woodlands waiting for the armies to put a foot wrong.

They have reckoned, however, without the ingenuity of the Towerjacks. This trap may be magical in nature but ultimately it is just another kind of fortification. There are safe paths here, as well as deadly ones. There are choke-points and dead-ends, killing grounds and barriers, but the Holberg engineers are no stranger to such concepts. It takes a little less than a week to reconfigure the Imperial strategy, and then with the Towerjacks in the vanguard the armies [[Army_qualities#Engineer|storm the walls]] the Druj have raised.

The fighting is bloody and terrible. The Argent Sword are disciplined but fundamentally unfamiliar with woodland fighting. The Towerjacks are adept at predicting and defusing the traps of the Druj wards, but they must still deal with the warriors and beasts protected by that magic. Blood spills and pools beneath the trees as the season rolls on. It is slow going, every step risks setting off a trap or an ambush. Yet the armies do make progress, do take those steps.

Almost immediately it is clear that the armies of the Druj are not ''in'' Lustri. It is clear they are relying on their ward to hold back any Imperial counterattack while the six armies that [[Root_and_branch#Dark_Beneath_the_Boughs|came down from Therunin]] have pressed into the Sarangrave in hope of slaughtering the Empire’s soldiers in the southern Sarangrave.

It might have worked. The ward is powerful, but the Towerjacks make all the difference. They unravel the puzzle, match cunning for cunning, disable the traps, and break through the dead-ends and barricades of writhing thorns. Ten days before the Autumn Equinox news comes from the front; the armies of Urizen and the League have been victorious. Lustri is now in Imperial hands once more.
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:WinterSun Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Winter Sun]]</div>
==So Our Path Is Laid==
Six armies of Druj, out of Therunin, fresh from the [[Zenith#The_Stork's_Gaze_(Ruined)|ruination of the Stork’s Gaze]]. Without exception they hurl themselves into the fray, an [[Army orders#Overwhelming Assault|overwhelming assault]] against the Bloodwater Marsh and the Imperial army caught between their hammer and the twin anvils of the [[vallorn]] of [[Sarangrave#Béantal_Dol|Béantal Dol]] and the colossal [[fortification]] of the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]].

There is a desperation to their strategy; it seems that several of these [[Druj armies|armies]] are drawn from the septs of the marshlands. Six armies. The [[Druj armies#Arrow Viper|Arrow Viper]] and the [[Druj armies#Thorn Born|Thorn Born]], the [[Druj armies#Jagged Claws|Jagged Claws]] and the [[Druj armies#Hunting Scorpion|Hunting Scorpion]]; the [[Druj armies#Flame Beetle|Flame Beetle]] and of course the Tainted Basilisk. They have pulled out all the stops; almost all of them bear an [[enchantment]] of [[Spring magic]] that grants them the cunning of the predators coupled with a thirst for blood and mayhem found nowhere in the animal kingdom. The blessings of the Tainted Basilisk.

They face just a single Imperial army - the [[Winter Sun]] - the rest having used rituals and other methods to join the armies in the north. The Winter Sun bear a strange enchantment of Night magic whose effects are at first not entirely clear. The Winter Sun focus on [[Army_qualities#Freedom_Fighters|seeking out native forces]] that might aid the Empire’s plans.

Battle erupts across the Bloodwater Marshes again - the Empire fights against the desperate, furious Druj and their vicious enchantments. Like the orcs, they are also caught between hammers and Anvils. From the south-west, six armies. From the east, the Tower of the Skink. To the north of them, the vallorn and the feverwater. A war in microcosm, as the orcs of the Winter Sun must split their attention between pushing into Whisperwood and fighting off nearly thirty thousand powerfully enchanted Druj warriors.

==Watcher in the Water==
<div style="float:right; width: 250px; clear: left;">[[File:CitadelGuard Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Citadel Guard]]
[[File:EasternSky Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Eastern Sky]]
[[File:TheFireoftheSouth Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Fire of the South]]
[[File:GoldenAxe Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Golden Axe]]
[[File:GranitePillar Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Granite Pillar]]
[[File:GryphonPride Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Gryphon's Pride]]
[[File:LionsAdelmar Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Lions of Adelmar]]
[[File:NorthernEagle Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Northern Eagle]]
[[File:QuietStep Colour.png|link=387YE_Summer_Solstice_Military_Council_orders#Quiet Step]]</div>
In the north, the [[Druj lore#Ghulai|ghulai]] of the Palace of the Sleepers, along with their college of magic, have disappeared. They have left behind a terrible beast; the catastrophically large single-eyed octopoid horror that they called from the lake below their conical hill. As large as a castle, the supernatural terror sweeps aside the soldiers arrayed against it with its immense muscular tentacles.

As it fights, it lets loose terrible booming cries that cause the lake around it to surge and explode upwards. The ground itself runs like water, miring those trying to fight their way clear of the area. It soon becomes clear that the god-beast Kroll does not intend to fight alone. In answer to its thunderous call come hundreds upon hundreds of bog octopuses. Not the tiny cephalopods that throng in the marshes of Proceris to the south, but full-grown beasts that sometimes rival an ox-wagon in size. They erupt from the marshes, falling on the Imperial armies.

While they fight, the Druj forces battling to keep Sarangrave fall back. They seek to take advantage of the confusion to flank the northern force - the [[Eastern Sky]], the [[Fire of the South]], the [[Gryphon's Pride]], the [[Lions of Adelmar]], the [[Granite Pillar]], the [[Northern Eagle]] and the [[Boyar's Hasta]], and the [[Summer Storm]], joined by the [[Quiet Step]] from the Barrens, and the [[Citadel Guard]] and [[Golden Axe]] driving north with some preternatural force.

Arrayed against them are the [[Druj armies#Deadly Blade|Deadly Blade]] and the [[Druj armies#Hidden Snake|Hidden Snake]], the [[Druj armies#Hidden Widow|Hidden Widow]] and the [[Druj armies#Poison Crane|Poison Crane]], the [[Druj armies#White Lion|White Lion]] and the [[Druj armies#Red Lizard|Red Lizard]]. They are no less desperate than those attacking in the south, and many of them bear the same enchantment - a parting gift from the ghulai of the Palace of the Sleepers, no doubt. The Deadly Blade and the Hidden Widow supplement their vicious attacks with terrible venoms, which they distribute among the other armies freely. Their aim is clearly to kill as many Imperial soldiers as possible; an aim that is proudly supported by the cruelty and merciless tactics of the [[Druj armies#Black Wind|Black Wind]]. They wield the power of fear and despair as a weapon that is well-suited to their hands.

It is just as well that the water here runs with life, or their murderous plan would have taken an unspeakable toll against the Empire.

Completing the conquest of Kroll requires a confrontation with the god-beast of the lake and its multitude of progeny. The Eastern Sky and the Gryphon’s Pride hurl themselves against the immense octopus with resolute fury, revelling in the chance to accrue unlooked for [[glory]] by facing this monstrous beast. The [[Lions of Adelmar]] need all their defensive mastery to ensure the other Dawnish armies are not torn to pieces by their courageous assault. In the end, they cannot defeat the beast alone; it takes the arrows of the [[Golden Axe]] to finally inflict enough damage on the beast that it is forced to retreat. Not slain - but driven off. It dives deep into the depths of the lake, leaving behind a lake stained black with ichor. Presumably, it has returned whence it came - back to the Spring realm to recover from its wounds. Hopefully this will take a long time indeed.

The beast inflicts serious casualties on the armies arrayed against it, and even after it is driven off, its progeny continue to harass the Imperial forces and the Druj armies with equal indiscrimination.

==Where You Might Be Swept Off To==
In the end, the Empire is victorious. Their magical mastery, their zeal, and sheer force of numbers win the day. It is a close-run thing; when the water begins to clear the Imperial forces have claimed Kroll in the east and are four-tenths of the way toward taking the Nesustak Forest in the west. In the south, the three armies have not only held off the six Druj armies, but they have pressed forward into the Whisperwood and are three-fifths of the way towards capturing it entirely.

Yet the chaos shows no sign of ending. When it is clear that the Empire has the upper hand, when Kroll disappears beneath the surface of the lake, most of the Druj armies abandon Sarangrave. Harried by Imperial raiders, they pull back into the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]]. That is not to say that the territory has been abandoned however; the Tower of the Skink still dominates the [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]] and represents a major obstacle to Imperial control of the territory.

Not all the armies have retreated however; the Hidden Snake and the Poison Crane have pulled back to Thornfen to bolster the garrison of the fortification. In a way, they have no choice; the septs that support them are Sarangrave septs and if they abandon the territory they will suffer increasing losses. It is not a matter of courage or loyalty, but of fear - the fear that if they leave their territory they will be seen as weak and expendable by the other Druj of the Mallum.

In the south, the six armies that attacked out of Zenith are in an even worse state - they have been forced out of the Bloodwater Marshes but they cannot retreat into Lustri without facing catastrophic losses at the hands of the two armies there - and risking being trapped in their own web of traps. Their situation is a mirror of that which faced the Druj in Zenith several years ago when the Empire trapped them in the south. It is fortunate for the orcs - and unfortunate for the Empire - that the Tainted Basilisk are with the southern force. They have already demonstrated their ability to weave Night magic, to create a shroud of power that allows armies to move through dangerous territories. Yet where will they go? Will they risk slipping through the Imperial lines to the Salt Flats? Try to make a stand at the Tower of the Skink? Or perhaps find a way to escape into Therunin - and the uncertainty of the vallorn?

==Do Not Be Too Eager==
There is one other matter that demands Imperial attention. An unexpected development. As the Imperial armies in the north press into the Nesustak forest, they find the Druj defenders and the sept of the Banded Snake in disarray. Their defence seems uncoordinated, confused, and sporadic. The further the armies push west, the clearer it becomes that something is afoot.

The Druj magicians have raised a ward of Night magic here, and it serves to aid the defenders, but there is something else afoot. The Banded Snake seem to be fighting on two fronts. As the Autumn Equinox draws near, the truth of what is unfolding becomes clear. A force of former Druj slaves, subject septs, and children of the [[Irra Harah|Prince with a Thousand Foes]] have been quietly gathering in the depths of the forest, and now they have struck against the Druj. Taking their former overlords by surprise, exploiting the fact that the focus of the masters of the Mallum was on the Empire, they attacked without warning. The Druj panicked - unprepared to fight those they had considered broken. Their former masters were overwhelmed quickly thanks in large part to the support of the ''Thorn of the Ancestors''. Those who were not slaughtered by the Empire have fallen under the knives, spears, and clubs of the risen slaves. A week before the Autumn Equinox, it becomes clear that these free slaves have claimed the rest of the Nesustak Forest - that the Druj who remain are hunted fugitives.

At the same time, in the south, the power of Night magic enshrouds the Winter Sun. It hones the intuition of the soldiers, and urges them to find those who will make common cause with them, focusing their efforts to [[Army_qualities#Freedom_Fighters|break the chains]] of the Druj slaves. Those who fight to free the slaves and the conquered septs, rather than focusing on taking land or slaying the Druj, find that the voices of their ancestors become clearer and clearer - and that some of those ancestor voices are very old indeed. Ancient orcs of the Mallum, pressed into slavery by the old Imperials, drawn not from the Druj but from those who were their slaves. Terrible tales of those who fled tyranny to find death and enslavement waiting for them when they left the Mallum at the hands of humans who saw them as little better than beasts.

Normally, these voices are loud, angry, full of fear and hate. Under the influence of Night magic, those sincerely fighting to liberate the septs find these voices quiet, become clearer, become more lucid. Distant memories of ancient pacts and traditions empower the Winter Sun to reassure those who have spent too long under the thumb of the Druj that they are not the enemy. They can do little to moderate the fear that these orcs feel for the other Imperial armies… but it is a start. A unique chance to treat with the survivors of centuries of oppression.

It is while they fight in the Bloodwater Marsh and the Whisperwood that this approach bears dividends. The [[Make_it_happen#The_Bloodwater_Spears|Bloodwater Spears]] have been missing from the Sarangrave since the Imperial forces first crossed the border from Lustri. It now becomes clear that they had simply been waiting for an opportunity. Some are in Nesustak Forest working with the rebels there; others have been in the Whisperwood quietly recruiting the elders of the [[Make_it_happen#The_Water_Walkers|Water Walkers]] sept to their cause. An alliance between the two groups has been forged, and now they reach out to the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]]. They make common cause - but they also know how to exploit the situation.

As the Winter Sun press forward, the Spears and the Walkers launch their own forays into the Whisperwood. The mighty Fortress of the Skink still provides a measure of support for the beleaguered Druj forces here, as they fall back. As the Empire advances, the rebel orcs give their own signal and bands of them attack where they can, picking off lone Druj warriors and exacting a bloody revenge. Druj scouts are discovered hanging from trees, their bodies held aloft by grim nooses formed from their own entrails. Druj supply wagons burned, the bodies of the paymasters chained to the charred remains. Corpses of Pakkad and Chikad warriors with their eyes and tongues torn out.

Beneath the dark boughs of the Whisperwood, the waters of the Sarangrave seethe with boiling fury, a thirst for vengeance that no amount of murder can slake. The Spears and the Walkers clearly have designs of their own on the Whisperwood and they are far from friends of the Empire. But for the Druj there is only the most pure and undiluted hatred.

==Even The Very Wise Cannot See All Ends==
As the Autumn Equinox draws close, the leaders of the ramshackle rebellion have a message for the Empire. Their message, relayed by those Winter Sun orcs who have fought most closely with them, is that they will not harass the Empire’s troops as long as they focus their attention on the Druj. If they seek to attack the rebels in Nesustak Forest or Whisperwood, they will protect themselves.

When the Druj are finally driven from the Sarangrave, there will be a chance to talk about what happens next. Then hopefully the Empire will know whether they have come to the Mallum as liberators or conquerors? They cannot be both, after all.

==Game Information==
<div style="float:right; width: 600px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Regions of Sarangrave.png|align=right|width=500}}</div>
===Sarangrave===
* '''Nobody has dominion of Sarangrave
* '''The Empire controls three regions'''
* '''The Druj control two regions'''
* '''The vallorn controls one region'''
* '''The rebels control one region'''
The Empire has claimed Kroll and now controls that region along with Turan Flats and Bloodwater Marsh. The Druj still hold the Tower of the Skink and the surrounding region of Thornfen, and for now they cling on in Whisperwood. Two armies - the Poison Crane and the Hidden Snake - are still in Thornfen, bolstering the fortification there. The other Druj armies in the north have abandoned the territory and withdrawn into the [[Salt Flats of Sanath]].

The Palace of the Sleepers appears to have disappeared. It is not clear if this is a permanent disappearance, a transportation of some kind similar to that used to try and protect the Halls of Knowledge, or simply a shroud of some kind. It’s also not clear what this will mean for the Tainted Basilisk, who rely on the Palace and the associated ghulai and septs to support their army.
===Rebel Orcs===
* '''Rebellious former slaves of the Druj claim the Nesustak Forest'''
* '''Some of the rebellious orc faction are Water Walkers who have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate'''
Last season’s enchantment on the Nesustak Forest, placed by Imperial magicians, seems to have empowered [[Irra Harah]] to throw his entire weight behind these rebels, and that region is now in the control of the rebellious Sarangrave septs. Supported by Irra Harah, they have launched a surprise attack. With the Druj armies cut off from the region by the Imperial invasion, the Bloodwater Spears, the Water Walkers, and an unknown sept have taken the opportunity to overthrow the Druj, butchering the handful of remaining tepel and their guards to seize control.

It seems the rebels would like to have pulled off the same in the Whisperwood, but here the going is much harder, with the Druj armies based in Thornfen defending fiercely. If the Druj abandon the territory completely, or are forced out of Thornfen, then it's possible the rebels could claim more of the territory.

The Empire has made serious inroads into Nesustak (two-fifths towards claiming it) and Whisperwood (three-fifths towards claiming it). With Nesustak falling into the control of the rebels, it is impossible to take any more of the region without fighting and killing the rebel orcs that have risen up and displaced the Druj there - and the Senate recently recognised the Water Walkers as foreigners. The Whisperwood is a simpler prospect - the Empire could seize control of it by driving the Druj out, if they continue as they are.

The rebels show no signs of trusting or liking the Empire. There has been contact with the Winter Sun, but the most it has achieved so far is an agreement not to attack each other. The rebels won’t share what knowledge they have, and they don't have the force of arms to attack the Tower of the Skink. It is not clear if there is a basis to negotiate - they appear to want the Sarangrave for themselves, and for their fellows, rather than see it conquered by the Empire. At the moment their ability to do so is limited due to their lack of anything approaching an [[Imperial army]] in strength… but if they got control of the [[Sarangrave#Fingers of the Devourer|Fingers of the Devourer]] in the Whisperwood it would be dangerous to assume they cannot find a way to ''make'' an army.
===Disaster in the South===
* '''Six Druj armies are fighting on the border between Zenith and Sarangrave'''
* '''Their disposition depends on what happens during the Autumn Equinox'''
The six armies in the south of the Sarangrave have nowhere to go - they have been driven out of Sarangrave but cannot withdraw into a safe region. For the moment they are fighting on the border, but it is clear that they have plans to escape. They will likely intend to take advantage of Night magic to do so, as they did when they escaped Zenith after they were trapped by the Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=EleonarisArt.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
===The Weight of Glory===
* '''Soldiers in armies enchanted with Knights of Glory this season are becoming more attuned to the Summer Realm
* '''The Sarangrave armies under this enchantment this season can no longer use the ''Give Ground'' or ''Cautious Advance'' orders
In the reign of [[Empress Brannan]] there was a growing problem that armies were becoming reliant on Knights of Glory, but more importantly that exposure to the glorious knights of the Summer Realm was having an unlooked for effect on Imperial soldiers. It seems that the excitement of fighting in the Mallum is, indeed, starting to affect the Empire’s loyal warriors - possibly because of the oppressive aura of fear coupled with the feeling of pride and strength exposure to the heralds of the Fields of Glory brings.

During the next season, any Imperial army in Sarangrave that was supported by Knights of Glory this season cannot take the [[Army orders#Cautious Advance|Cautious Advance]] or [[Army orders#Give Ground|Give Ground]] orders. If the [[general]] issues such an order it will default to [[Army orders#Balanced Attack|Balanced Attack]] or [[Army orders#Solid Defence|Solid Defence]] instead. This effect persists until the army in question has spent an entire year without experiencing the Knights of Glory enchantment.

It may be possible to ameliorate this effect by other means but it is not clear quite how this might be done. The national or virtue assemblies of the Imperial Synod may be able to assist in this matter, perhaps with a suitably worded statement of principle.

Magicians working with the armies point out that this is not something the heralds, or their eternal mistress, are actively ''doing''. It is rather a side effect of extended exposure to the enchantment, and to the magical warriors it summons, possibly compounded by the terrible aura of fear that hangs over the Mallum. Eleonaris is not able to "stop doing this" because she and her soldiers are not actually ''doing'' anything to make this happen.

==Participation==
===Citadel and Sky ===
* '''Characters whose military unit supported the Citadel Guard or the Eastern Sky receive a potent boon
The Knights of Glory are powerful soldiers summoned from the Summer Realm and often influence the mortal soldiers they fight alongside - especially when the army and its [[Army orders|orders]] are in synch with their mistress [[Eleonaris]]. The Eastern Sky engaged in a triumphant charge against the Druj this season, and the Citadel Guard drew on unique Summer magic to empower their own strategy. In both cases, the summoned Knights enthusiastically and vocally supported their actions, and threw themselves joyously into battle against the Druj.

The captain of any military unit that fought alongside either the Eastern Sky or the Citadel Guard begins the Autumn Equinox with an [[enchantment]] - [[Glory to the Sovereign]]. This gives them two ranks of [[Combat skills#Endurance|endurance]] and the ability to call [[Calls#CLEAVE|cleave]] twice each day when wielding a [[Weapons & armour#One-handed Weapons|one-handed weapon]], [[Weapons & armour#One-handed Spears|one-handed spear]], [[Weapons & armour#Great weapons|great weapon]] or [[Weapons & armour#Pole-arms|polearm]] with which they are proficient.

As well as the game benefits, the aura creates a [[roleplaying effects|roleplaying effect]]: ''You feel a strong urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and you take particular pleasure in approval and adulation. You particularly want to do things that will make you be seen as worthy, strong and powerful warriors; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

The boon can be removed [[Enchantment#Removing_Enchantments|as normal]] - “overwritten” with a new enchantment - and will have faded by the start of the Winter Solstice.
===Other Knights===
* '''Characters whose military unit fought alongside any other army enchanted with Knights of Glory in Sarangrave receive a different benefit'''
Knights of Glory also fought alongside the Fire of the South, the Golden Axe, Gryphon's Pride, Lions of Adelmar, Northern Eagle, and the Granite Pillar. A character whose military unit supported one of these armies may choose to have been impacted by the experience of battling in close proximity to heralds of [[Eleonaris]].
* If you possess the [[heroic skills#hero|hero]] skill, you may choose to increase your number of hero points by one until the end of the Autumn Equinox.
* If you do not have the hero skill, you gain an additional temporary hero point which, once spent, is permanently gone. It will have faded entirely by the end of the Autumn Equinox regardless.
Anyone who chooses to gain this benefit also experiences a roleplaying effect that lasts until the end of the Autumn Equinox: ''You feel a strong urge to do great deeds that will make you the centre of attention, and you take particular pleasure in approval and adulation. You particularly want to do things that will make you be seen as worthy, strong and powerful warriors; being overlooked or dismissed may cause you to lose your temper.''

==Battle Opportunity : To Deal Out Death in Judgement==
The situation in the south of [[Sarangrave]] has seen [[Druj]] leaders attempting to bring up reinforcements; perhaps in an effort to hunt down the rebels in [[Sarangrave#Whisperwood|Whisperwood]], or to prepare to assail the [[Winter Sun]] with as large a force as possible. It is a desperate gambit that requires the drawing of elite [[arkad]] troops from [[Sarangrave#Thornfen|Thornfen]], where they currently aid the defence of the [[Sarangrave#Tower_of_the_Skink|Tower of the Skink]].

The Druj are on the back foot, their supply lines are stretched to breaking point and cut into pieces by [[Even_darkness_must_pass|the Imperial advance]]. The hammer blow dealt by the Empire has clearly rattled the barbarians - forcing them onto the back foot. There is a brief opportunity to strike against them before they can regroup to take advantage of their disarray. It would be wise to be [[Vigilance|Vigilant]] however, the Druj are at their most deadly and determined when cornered.

On the Saturday of the equinox, the Sentinel Gate can be used to access the ''Uklead Groves'' in the central Whisperwood.

===Objective: Seize the Whisperwood===
* '''The Empire has a chance to capture the region of Whisperwood'''
* '''There are two approaches that can be taken to secure victory'''
* '''Success with either approach will give the Empire control of the Whisperwood and dominion over the Sarangrave'''

The two approaches offer a choice for the [[Field Marshal]] on how to approach the engagement. That will force the Druj to adapt their own strategies in response. The battlefield presents a difficult environment in which to operate, and threats will most certainly change how they fight to deny the Empire's strengths and expose their vulnerabilities.

Success with either approach will see the Druj forces lose cohesion and force them to withdraw from the region. The arkad forces will fall back to Thornfen, the last bastion of Druj power in the Sarangrave. The Winter Sun, and independent military units operating in the area will be able to quickly wrest control of the area, securing the Whisperwood for the Empire. That will tip control of the entire Sarangrave to the Empire, granting [[Laws_of_magic#The_Law_of_Dominion|dominion]] over the [[territory]] and enabling it to be [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Assignment|assigned to an Imperial nation]].

If the [[Imperial Military Council|Military Council]] can arrange the capture of the Whisperwood, then a Senator could raise a motion to assign the territory to an Imperial nation. Otherwise, the [[Civil Service]] will raise an administrative motion at the following summit, once they have had time to prepare a [[opportunity|briefing]] on the new territory with an assessment of how each nation might benefit from it.

====Tactical Option: Dismiss the Miasma====
* '''There are three pillars in the area that anchor the miasma across the region'''
* '''If they are destroyed with Chimes of Annulment or Consecration they must all be done within ten minutes of each other'''
* '''If they are destroyed with Dreadful Ending, they can be done sequentially'''
* '''If all three are destroyed, the Druj will fall back and the Empire will capture the Whisperwood'''

The [[Druj miasma]] is a boon to the enemy who are used to fighting under its effects but it requires a network of pillars to maintain it. The pillars here in the ''Uklead Groves'' anchor the miasma in place across the Whisperwood - if they can be destroyed, then the miasma in this region will fade. This would enable the Empire to swiftly advance as the Druj fall back, giving them control of the region. It would also and make it easier for Imperial forces to operate in the Whisperwood in future, either during seasonal campaigns or when accessed through conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate.

The Empire has destroyed miasma pillars using the Day ritual, [[Chimes of Annulment]] and with powerful consecrations in the past. These pillars appear more powerful than those the Empire encountered in Zenith and may require more than fifteen doses of liao to overcome their auras. The weakness of this approach is that all three pillars have to be destroyed within ten minutes of each other which requires very careful strategic planning given the distances involved. The untested alternative is to use the Winter ritual, [[Dreadful Ending]], which is much harder to cast but would allow the Empire to destroy the pillars one by one.

If all three pillars are destroyed, then the Druj will fall back, allowing the Empire to seize control of the Whisperwood and with it the territory of Sarangrave.

====Tactical Option: Hold the Ground====
* '''Hold the ground between the pillars to tie up the Druj's forces for an hour'''
* '''The Druj will give up after an hour and retreat if they cannot force the Empire to retreat'''

Instead of striking out to destroy the miasma pillars, the Field Marshal could elect to hold the ground between them against the advancing Druj. This would require Imperial forces to secure the area, and capture at least one or more of the pillars to force the Druj to engage them. Once they control one or more of the pillars, that will draw Druj to their position like wasps to honey as they seek to engage the Empire and protect the pillars.

With the Druj on the back foot and their forces outmanoeuvred, they don't have the numbers to press the attack indefinitely. If the Empire can hold the field for an hour, the Druj morale will break and they will give up the attack. At that point, the battlefield would be theirs, the Druj forces would fall back, and the Imperial forces could return to Anvil in good order.

If the Empire hold the ground between the pillars for an hour and weather the Druj counter-attack, then the Druj will fall back, allowing the Empire to seize control of the Whisperwood and with it the territory of Sarangrave.

===Battlefield Opportunity: Eliminate the ''Fireblood Skinks''===
* '''Bassk Bloodburner has brought their arkad fighters to ''Uklead Groves'''''
* '''Slay the het and his Chikad force on the field of battle'''
* '''Killing Bassk and the arkad fighters will prevent the Druj from using poison or venom in the Sarangrave next season'''

The Druj are infamous across the continent for their use of poison and venom. The local expert in this area is Het Bassk, the ''Bloodburner'', and his Chikad. Adept at brewing their own concoctions and applying them in combat, the ''Fireblood Skinks'' have already reaped a painful toll on Imperial soldiers this season, killing those that could not get to the apothecaries in time.

Eliminating Bassk and the unit will deny the Druj crucial skills, making it impossible for them to employ any poisons or venoms in the Sarangrave next season. Their [[Army_qualities#Venomous|venomous]] armies won't be able to employ Fire in the Blood and they won't have poisons or venoms to deploy on battlefields and skirmishes. The Buruk Tepel will soon replace Het Bassk, but it will give the Empire a season's grace from the Druj murderous ways.

===Battlefield Opportunity: Save the Fallen Sentinel===
* '''Rescue ''Corisande of Vertigon Spire'' and save their soul'''
* '''The Druj have begun to transform the sentinel into a tortured soul'''
* '''Priests and apothecaries will need to work together to bring the sentinel back from the brink of death'''

A captured Urizen sentinel, Corisande, is being broken and tortured close to the ''Uklead Groves''. She is physically wounded, and has been forced to imbibe dire concoctions by the tepel who are holding her. Her will is broken, and she is close to death - it is clear that the Druj are trying to use her to create one of their tortured souls. There is every chance that the lost sentinel can be rescued and saved, which could save their soul and provide valuable intelligence on how the corrupted Druj alchemy is employed. Priests and apothecaries might both be needed to alleviate Corisande's suffering; healing her physical wounds, purifying the toxins from her body and exorcising the affliction on her soul.

===Battlefield Threat: Tortured Souls===
* '''The Druj have unleashed their twisted creations into the area'''
* '''Priests can exorcise these corrupted souls'''

As the Empire has pressed deeper into the Sarangrave, they have begun to encounter more of the Druj's twisted and wracked creatures. Some postulate that the eastern barbarians have dank dungeons filled with these hideous monsters. Others argue that the increase in numbers is merely a response to the Empire's aggression, and the Druj have tasked their tepel with creating as many as they can to slow the advance of their foes.

Tortured Souls are created by the hideous poisons used by the Tepel when they break an individual's will and turn them into a monster full of wrath and malice towards any they face. They are fearsome foes, often still clad in the garb of their former Imperial lives; they are capable of inflicting a grievous curse with blows from their weapons. Whilst it is possible to put down and execute their physical forms, their spiritual presence can quickly return. The only way to defeat one permanently is for priests to ascertain the strength of the aura on it using Insight and then overcome it with a powerful enough exorcism to dismiss the soul once it has been dropped.

===Battlefield Environment: Miasma of despair===
* '''The entire battlefield is affected by an oppressive Druj miasma'''
* '''The miasma causes [[Calls#WEAKNESS|WEAKNESS]] to everyone exposed to it unless they have a way to [[Roleplaying_effects#Overcoming_Roleplaying_Effects|overcome]] it'''

The entire area at ''Uklead Groves'', is under the effect of the [[Druj miasma]], a pall of potent fear that blankets the lands the Druj claim dominion over. Any hero entering the area will need to protect themselves from the clawing dread or succumb to a weakening terror that creeps into their mind.

The primary effect of the miasma is that it [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakens]] anyone exposed to it who does not have the ability to [[Roleplaying_effects#Overcoming_Roleplaying_Effects|overcome]] it. The easiest method to overcome the miasma is to receive an [[anointing]], but particularly [[Heroic_skills#Hero|heroic]] individuals, or those in possession of certain [[enchantment|enchantments]] or [[magic items]] may also be able to counteract the effect. In particular, those of the [[changeling]] [[lineage]] are able to fight the effects of the miasma, by only by becoming ''extremely'' angry - which can cause problems all its own.

==Further Reading==
* [[Sarangrave]]
* [[Druj]]

* [[Make it happen]] - 384YE Summer Wind of Fortune about some of the septs of the Sarangrave
* [[Root and branch]] - 387YE Summer Wind of War about the continuing battle for Sarangrave
* [[Unlock thy hidden gate]] - 387YE Spring Wind of War about the start of the battle for Sarangrave

Born with insight

2025-09-08T20:46:57Z

Vsabo: /* Overview */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]]
<ic>
Emma jerked her hand back as if scalded. The short dagger was not hot, but as soon as she'd touched it, she'd felt the powerful aura surrounding it. Thoughts of everyone who had ever wronged her had flashed through her mind like lightning, filling her with the desire to see them get their just deserts for the things they'd done.

It was an innocuous thing, for all that it was a weapon of war. The shopkeeper had seemed to know its worth, when she'd told him she was looking for something special for the earl of her house, he'd led her straight to this. She hadn't understand what could possibly justify the price until, encouraged by her host, she'd put her hand on the hilt. That's when the power of the hallowed aura had flowed over her.

She'd promised her earl, she would find some rare item in Caitun, but she'd never imagined something like this. She pondered the matter for a moment, trying to consider all the logistics. It's not like she could leave the thing lying around... that would be... ill-advised. She had nowhere to stow it - so the only practical choice would be to keep it on her person. She could thread the scabbard loop through her belt easily enough and nobody would think twice.

The thought of bearing that aura all the way back to Laroc made her nervous. What would that do to her? Was it safe? But then the Cardinals of the Assembly of Nine had managed it... it couldn't be ''that'' dangerous... whatever they now said. Her feelings warred with each other as she wrestled with her desire to know more about the dagger and its strange aura and the nagging voice that reminded her that the Synod had urged everyone to turn their back on such items. Was the possibility to learn more really worth the risk?

"How much did you say it was again?" she asked her host.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=CardWisdom.jpg|caption=Silas of the Cenotaph has been a central figure in the discussion of false virtue in the Empire.|align=left|width=300}}</div>
==Overview==
Rather than encourage the faithful to engage with false virtues to try to learn more about them, the General Assembly has moved decisively to counter the threat they pose, enacting a clear mandate that warns people of the dangers of false virtues and encouraging everyone to be Vigilant against them. The decision was far from unanimous however, with nearly five hundred votes lodged against. Many of these votes may have been from the Assembly of Wisdom which has consistently supported their Cardinal, '''Silas of the Cenotaph''' throughout, arguing that his approach was grounded in Virtue and has delivered valuable insight into the nature of the false Virtue of Peace.

The effects of that opposition are important however - failing to get a greater majority in support of their mandate undermines the authority of the Synod, so their words have less effect in those nations that are most prone to question the leadership of the Synod, [[Urizen]], [[Varushka]], and most recently [[Wintermark]].

Wintermark had already taken steps to try to counter the influence of false Virtues, indeed their rejection of the moral leadership of the Synod was in part ''based'' on the way it was openly experimenting with malign spiritual auras. Now an important statement has been passed in the Varushkan Assembly, one that goes much further than other assemblies and reminds Varushkans of their history fighting the perfidious influence of the false Virtues.

Both have options to follow up their position, and the Vigilance Assembly could try to encourage them to cooperate. Working together would likely be more effective than working apart.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Varushkan.png|width=150|align=left}}

==With a Furious Mind==
* '''The Varushkan Assembly could use a mandate to encourage the nation to confront those who meddle with false virtues'''
* '''The mandate will give Varushkans opportunities to confront the spread of false virtues head on before it can take root'''
* '''If they enact the mandate, Varushkan people will expect their leaders to show no tolerance either'''
{{SOP|statement=We Varushkans know well the value of the wisdom of those who walked our roads before us. Those forebears knew the peril of welcoming false virtue into their homes and hearts, and Vigilance they showed then should be an example to us now. As the Heirs of Vardas strove tirelessly to crush the anarchist Firestarters wherever they arose, so too must we move against those who would bring blasphemy and heresy to our motherland. Tolerate no folly nor malice, and guide the law’s hand to inflict the punishment that has been earned upon those who would risk the spirits of our people.|by=Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka, Varushkan Assembly|vote={{GM}} 276-10|when=Summer Solstice 378YE}}
The statement by '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' does not pull any punches. It reminds everyone of the efforts of the so-called [[Volkhov and Bran|Heirs of Vardas]] (who probably need a better name) to defeat the wicked Firestarters and urges people to ''move against'' those who would bring blasphemy and heresy to Varushka. These are fighting words, and coming from a renowned [[warden]], someone sworn to hunt down those who break the law and to battle supernatural threats. This is not a simple call to eschew the dangers of false virtues, rather it is a rallying cry to take up arms and actively oppose them.

The call resonates strongly with fundamental Varushkan beliefs. Varushkans know that danger is always present and they have little time for fools who meddle with powers that invariably bring ruin down on everyone. Every Varushkan child is taught to ''keep to the road'' - you don't just wander off in the woods to see where it takes you. That way lies terrible danger for you and potentially for your whole family. Critics of Varushka often accuse them of bargaining with the dark powers, but what outsiders often fail to appreciate is that such deals are a last resort - something to fall back on, only when the steel axes of the schlacta have failed to split the danger in two. Iron is the thing most Varushkans use to defeat the fell creatures of the night.

With the greater majority of the Assembly backing the Wise warden's words, they could enact a mandate to spread this fighting talk across Varushka.

{{Mandate|mandate=Seek out the poison! We send {named priest} with 75 doses of liao to urge Varushkans to move against those who would spread blasphemy and heresy. Tolerate no folly and guide the law’s hand to inflict the punishment that has been earned.|assembly=Varushkan National Assembly}}

This mandate won't stop Varushkans experimenting with false Virtues - that ship has sailed. There will always be those who are intrigued by such things and those individuals will look to the example set by the Assembly of Nine and be inspired to emulate them. However if this mandate is passed with a greater majority then most Varushkans will be alerted to the danger and they will be eager to take up their axes and fight. They won't break the law, Varushkans are notoriously law-abiding people, but they won't shirk from danger as they guide the law to bring the uncompromising hand of justice down on those who would meddle with false Virtues. Schlacta will keep an eye out for the danger and will be ready to answer the call when the horn blows for battle. Warden fellowships will actively confront the threat, seeking to directly oppose those who meddle with malign spiritual auras.

The result will be that any time there are significant problems arising in Varushka caused by the malign influence of the false Virtues, the Varushkan nation will be much more likely to have opportunities to confront the problem head-on. It will be much harder for these malign threats to take root, as the Varushkans will seek every chance to confront the menace at an early stage. The mandate won't keep false Virtues out of Varushka, but it will put everyone on the alert ready to fight them wherever they appear.

Of course, the mandate will need to be passed with a greater majority to have an effect, otherwise people will question it's legitimacy and it will fail.

The mandate will also create an expectation that Varushkans at Anvil will be equally alert to the dangers posed by false Virtue and just as ready to fight them when they appear. So far, no Varushkans have been corrupted by false Virtues, that anyone is aware of - those who embraced the false auras were Highborn, Navarr and Dawnish (though one later moved to the League). If any prominent Varushkan were to openly dabble with false Virtues, people would expect swift action to deal with it. After-all why should they be ready to take up the axe and risk their own lives fighting false Virtues if their leaders aren't willing to do the same. They will expect their Assembly and their leaders at Anvil to show no tolerance for the presence of false Virtues in Varushka or the Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=left}}

==Action Must Be Taken==
* '''There are rumours of false Virtues on a farmstead in Hahnmark'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could directly confront those involved and arrest anyone who is breaking the law'''
* '''The Assembly could try and talk to those involved, but they will flee if those talks go badly'''
{{SOP|statement=Cold cannot compromise. We send Rafe with 75 doses of liao to urge anyone who encounters an aura of malign or unknown providence to speak with the Crows. They will help you mend your skein.|vote={{GM}} 330-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|by=Rafe, Wintermark Assembly}}
The Varushkans are not the only ones to question the authority of the Synod. Mindful that their people will not accept the leadership of the Synod except where it is backed by a greater majority, the Wintermark Assembly took it upon themselves to urge those who discover a malign spiritual aura to warn the stormcrows of what they have found. The mandate they have enacted ensures that people will let the stormcrows know if there is any sign of false virtues.

And sure enough, it seems there just might be. To be fair, it could be something and nothing, but Reet Thaneson happens to mention to a passing stormcrow that one of the farmsteads near his fathers hall might be up to no good. The Grieversonns always seem pleasant enough, but they keep strange company and all of it from outside the Mark. Valdr Grieversonn, the head of the family, used to attend Anvil with his wife decades ago, but the old man came home alone one year and he never returned. The rumour at the time was that his wife had been executed for some terrible crime, but that was years ago.

Reet says he went out to the Grieverson farm a decade ago, to take the news of Britta's death and while he was there he noticed there was a strange aura on the house. He didn't go in, but even standing on the threshold he could feel the power of it and it wasn't like any other aura he'd ever experienced. As best he can remember it, it made him think how important it was that the three people of the Mark all respected each other. It seemed pretty innocuous ''at the time''.

By itself, none of that would amount to much. A man is entitled to some peace after his wife dies, and being private and having odd friends isn't exactly a crime. But what just might be, is that recently Valdr Grieverson has taken more than a passing interest in the Sungate - the terrible legacy of the invasion of Cold Sun, two pillars that burn with the light of the sun any who come to close. The Sungate is the best part of ten miles from Valdr Grieversonn's farmstead, and yet he's been seen poking his nose round it half a dozen times in the last six months.

It could all be something and nothing. Doubtless there will be more like this in the coming seasons, someone will overhear another Wintermarker cursing after hitting their thumb with a hammer and go running to the Crows, telling tales of how their neighbour is about to unleash pure hatred on their hall. Still it bears looking into, it's just a question of how:

{{Mandate|mandate=We send {named priest} with 5 doses of liao to urge local magistrates to confront Valdr Grieversonn.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}

The Wintermark Assembly could use a simple mandate to authorise a Stormcrow to go down there and work with local magistrates to confront Valdr Grieversonn. If he's not going anything to hide, then there won't be a problem, but if he is up to no good that will likely turn into a confrontation. If it does turn violent, and Grieversonn puts up any kind of resistance, then the local militia will try to contain it until the reinforcements from Anvil can arrive to defeat him and his kin in battle. If he is involved with false virtues, this option will put an end to it, but the Assembly would lose the chance to find out what it was.

{{Mandate|mandate=We send {named priest} with 5 doses of liao to urge those who know Valdr Grieversonn well to encourage him to talk to the Assembly.|assembly=Wintermark Assembly}}

The alternative would be to try and approach him to talk to him about what he's up to. There might be an innocent explanation for it all, he might feel what he is doing is justified. If the Assembly choose this mandate then it will set up an opportunity to talk to Valdr at the next summit. There would be a chance to find out if the Grieversonns are involved with false virtues and try to help Valdr mend his skein.

The problem with this approach is that if those discussions go badly, then Valdr and his family are likely to flee, making it much harder to stop them carrying out whatever plan they have. Given it ''may'' involve the incredibly dangerous Sungate, that could be too big a risk to take. If that is the case, it might be better to get the [[Unfettered Mind]] to use a [[Declaration]] of [[Concord]] to ask members to investigate what is going on at the Sungate.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=left}}
==Sick of Complacence==
* '''The Vigilance Assembly could use a mandate to encourage Wintermark and Varushka to combine efforts to fight the influence of false Virtues'''
* '''The Vigilance Assembly could declare the fight against false Virtues to be their highest calling'''
The Wintermark Assembly and the Varushkan Assembly have both rejected the leadership of the Synod at different times. Both have adopted a hard line on orthodoxy insisting that there can be no truck with false Virtues. The Wisdom Assembly appears to believe it is Virtuous for important priests to embrace malign auras to learn more about them, but there seems to be precious little support for that view in the North of the Empire. Varushka has long been an orthodox nation, insisting on strict adherence to the rules, but that has not always been mirrored by the people of the Mark. Could that now be changing?

Working together, the two nations might be better placed to form a bulwark against the malign influence of false Virtues. They don't share a common border, not anymore, but they could still cooperate to push for a hard line stance in the Imperial Synod. That would allow members of both nations to work together. The Firestarters were most active in Varushka, but they didn't confine their attacks to Karov and the other territories. If people do dabble with false virtues, then the problems are unlikely to stop at any one nation's borders. Varushka and Wintermark could try to pool their efforts to fight the influence of false Virtues in the Empire, but it is hard for any one national assembly to encourage that kind of cooperation.

The solution could be for the Vigilance Assembly to try to get both nations to work together. There are likely to be members of the Vigilance Assembly in both nations, they would be best placed to talk to their colleagues in their national assembly. Any cooperation is unlikely to be successful without the support of the nations in question - but if they are amenable to the effort the Vigilance Assembly could use a single mandate to encourage wider collaboration.

{{Mandate|mandate=Seek out falsehood and expose the truth. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to urge Wintermarkers and Varushkans to work together to seek out and oppose the false Virtues at every turn. Let us seek out the poison in our neighbours fields.|assembly=Vigilance Assembly}}

If this mandate were enacted with a greater majority, then there would be [[opportunity|opportunities]] for Wintermark and Varushka to cooperate to oppose the influence of false Virtues when they arise. Of course, the two nations might discover that trying to work together causes more problems than it solves. Doubtless there would need to be much discussion between the various assemblies before making a final decision whether to proceed.

The Vigilance Assembly has been tireless in defence of the Empire against the effects of malign spiritual auras, so they may well believe that this approach does not go far enough. It's one thing to try and get Wintermark and Varushka to join forces against the influence of false Virtues but the Assembly could go much further. To do so effectively, they would need to focus on the issue, and declare the problem to be [[the highest calling]] of the assembly.

{{Mandate|mandate=Be alert to all dangers; within and without. We send {named priest} with 50 doses of liao to urge followers of Vigilance to be alert for any sign of false Virtues. To thwart this malice before it strikes is the highest calling of our Assembly.|assembly=Vigilance Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted with a greater majority then followers of Vigilance all over the Empire will prioritise the fight against false Virtues above all other threats. They will be alert to the dangers and report any sign of it they find, and they will be ready to take action, legal or not, to thwart this malice before it can act.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wisdom.png|width=150|align=left}}
==Rip the System==
* '''The Wisdom Assembly could defy the General Assembly and reiterate their position'''
* '''That would allow the Assembly to continue investigating false auras'''
* '''Doing so would help spread malign auras in the Empire and could spark a crisis of faith'''

The Assembly of Wisdom has stood solidly behind their cardinal throughout, issuing repeated statements demonstrating their support and explicitly vindicating his actions as Wise. The General Assembly may believe it is too dangerous to meddle with false Virtues, but the Wisdom Assembly appears to think otherwise.

It's clear that the Cardinal was able to learn a lot from the study he made of the hallowed item. The tenets teach that Wisdom knows all knowledge is incomplete - if false Virtues are as dangerous as the General Assembly claims, doesn't that make it more important to find out about them, not less? Can ''anyone'' imagine the Military Council meekly accepting orders from the Senate not to use scouts to find out what was on the battlefield because it was too dangerous for the scouts?

The Wisdom Assembly could refuse to accept the judgement of the General Assembly to turn aside from the investigation of false Virtues. Openly opposing the General Assembly would inevitably lead to a huge confrontation - it could risk turning into a full-blown crisis of faith in the Empire. Given how high the stakes are, devotees of Wisdom would only contemplate it if the Assembly are prepared to stake everything on it's importance by clearly identifying it as their highest calling.

{{Mandate|mandate=Wisdom is finding the right question. We send {named priest} with 50 doses of liao to encourage devotees of Wisdom to carefully investigate false virtues. Test what we learn about malign spiritual auras is the highest calling of this assembly|assembly=Wisdom Assembly}}

If this mandate is enacted with a greater majority then followers of Wisdom all over the Empire will be inspired by the actions of their Cardinal. They will embrace false Virtues in an effort to learn more about them and share what they learn with the Empire. This will lead to more opportunities for the Wisdom Assembly to experience and explore false virtues and to increase their understanding by personally engaging with them in the coming year.

However it will fan the flames of false virtue in the Empire, making it easier for advocates of malign spiritual auras to convert others to their beliefs. That could bring the Assembly into direct conflict with the Vigilance Assembly and indeed the General Assembly - at worst it would be a crisis of faith.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Nine.png|width=150|align=left}}
==Something Must be Done==
* '''Judgements by the Assembly of the Nine have gained little traction outside Anvil
{{SOP|statement=It is the considered view of the Assembly of Nine that engaging with False Virtue is a religious crime if it does not meet all the requirements of Judgement 42, Winter 386YE. Allowing yourself to fall under the influence of a False Virtue, without the listed mitigation, should result in a trial for the crimes of Blasphemy and/or Heresy as appropriate. In this we reaffirm the judgement made by the general assembly.|by=Yosephus Morningson, Assembly of Nine|vote=Greater Majority 7-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size = small}}
{{SOP|statement=We in the Assembly of Nine move that the general standard we expect from synod priests is that an inquisition must be conducted before a condemnation is raised. It is an abuse of priestly powers to do otherwise; if you feel you must do so and there is a good reason for it, do so in the full knowledge of the above and prepare your virtue defence.|by=Nekoda, Assembly of Nine|vote=Greater Majority 7-1|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size = small}}
The Assembly of Nine has also weighted in on the matter of false virtues. '''Yosephus Morningson''' reiterated support for [[386YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_42|Judgement 42 in the General Assembly at the Winter Solstice 386YE]] on behalf of the [[Cardinal of the Way]], while '''Nekoda''' expressed the opinion that [[Sanction#Condemnation|condemnation]] should only follow on from [[inquisition]] on behalf of the [[Cardinal of Courage]]. Current events, the embrace of false Virtues by the cardinals, has tarnished the reputation of the Assembly of Nine, however, and so for the most part these statements gain limited traction beyond Anvil at this time.

In either case, it may be difficult to convince a suspicious population that [[386YE_Winter_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_42|Judgement 42]] can form a sound basis for engagement with false Virtues, since it appears to restrict such activities to those who attend Anvil ("clause 2 - The action was taken in full view of the synod"). As has [[Know_your_enemy#Take_the_Power_Back|been previously identified]], the one position that nobody will accept is the idea that cardinals and the priests who attend Anvil should be free to investigate false Virtues while the common people of the Empire must not. The followers of the Way look to the cardinals for inspiration - they expect the leaders of the Synod to exemplify the true Virtues. If the Synod ultimately decides there is a basis for engaging with false Virtues, then people will follow that lead and ignore any element that tells that it is not safe to do so. They will do as the people at Anvil do, not as they say.

Chief Magistrate Karkovitch reiterates the request to the Imperial Senate; that they [[The_final_cut#Questions_for_the_Magistrates|not make any changes]] to [[Imperial law]] on the matter of [[religious crime|religious crimes]] until the review of religious law is complete. The guidance of the Assembly of Nine will be borne in mind, but the situation is not straightforward. For the moment the magistrates will still limit their role in cases of religious law to ensuring that no miscarriage of justice is being enacted. As long as a condemnation shows why the actions the suspects are accused of are broadly compatible with the legal definition of blasphemy or heresy, magistrates will not try to assess whether actions constitute a religious crime or not. That determination has already been made by the Synod and they will restrict their judgement to assessing whether or not the individual committed the actions they are accused of.

This means that the proposal by Nekoda that condemnation only follow an inquisition will ''not'' be taken into account by the magistrates, and neither will any of the guidelines put forward in Judgement 42. If an assembly condemns someone in accordance with current practices, the magistrates will treat the matter as a religious crime and prosecute accordingly regardless of how the condemnation is raised or whether it took place "in full view of the Synod."

==Further Reading==
* [[Malign spiritual presences]]
* [[Volkhov and Bran]] - Historical research regarding the so-called "Heirs of Vardas"

* [[Know your enemy]] - 387YE Summer wind of fortune about false virtue
* [[The final cut]] - 387YE Spring wind of fortune about the peaceful debate
* [[A little understanding]] - 386YE Winter wind of fortune about Cardinals and peace

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:44:43Z

Vsabo: /* Glowing Ramparts */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling alone, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh'', a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wind Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following the summit where it is provided.

==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:43:41Z

Vsabo: /* Glowing Ramparts */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling alone, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh'', a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wind Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following following the summit where it is provided.

==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:34:56Z

Vsabo: /* Bells and Pearls */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling alone, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh'', a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wild Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following following the summit where it is provided.
==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:34:44Z

Vsabo: /* Bells and Pearls */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling alone, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh',' a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wild Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following following the summit where it is provided.
==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:31:26Z

Vsabo: /* Smidr Clad In Scarlet */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling alone, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh'' a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wild Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following following the summit where it is provided.
==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]

Bedight in veils

2025-09-08T20:11:47Z

Vsabo: /* Forest of Ulnak */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:387YE Autumn]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category:Foreign Nations]][[Category:Thule]][[Category:Iron Confederacy]][[Category:Grendel]][[Category:Jotun]]
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Atte.png|caption=Atte Arrow-Tongue Metsastajason of the Sussivari Oathsworn Fyrd; elder statesman and [[Imperial Consul]].|align=left|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
There are six great powers in the known world, but also innumerable lesser powers. They do not have the power or influence to shake the world with a ''Pax Sarcophan'', nor send shockwaves through the world when they go to war. Yet they are no less important to those with whom they share a border, and for some at least, their ambitions are no less relevant to the Empire. Sometimes diplomatic relations require in-depth analysis; sometimes there is an opportunity to catch one's breath and let the drama move slowly towards the next crisis point.

There are [[ambassador|ambassadors]] to some of these nations - the Suranni, the Thule, and the Grendel in particular. Other nations are dealt with by the [[Imperial Consul]]. They handle diplomatic relations with any foreign and barbarian power with which the Senate has not created a separate ambassador. As well as those who have responded this season, this includes people as diverse as the [[Skoura|Skourans]], the [[Great Forest Orcs]], the [[Druj]] and the independent septs of the Mallum, technically the Sand Fishers, the exiles of [[Madruga#Trajadoz|Trajadoz]], and indeed any other distinct group of people that might make contact with the Empire, or be contracted by them. It can be...challenging... at the best of times.

Here we learn about relations with five foreign nations and two groups of orcs: the [[Iron Confederacy]], [[Otkodov]], the [[Jotun]], the [[Grendel]], the people of [[Tsark]], the Karass of [[the Barrens]], and the new ''Protectorate of Morajasse''.
==Otkodov==
{{Nation|nation=[[Thule]]|status=Foreigner|port=None|ambassador=Kindra Surefoot}}
===Shadow of Peace===
* '''The treaty with the Thule has been passed by the Imperial Senate
The [[387YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Ratify_Thule_Treaty|treaty with Otkodov]] that was presented and upheld by the Senate during the Spring Equinox has not been [[veto|vetoed]] and has become law.

While the plan was originally for Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided and a number of other Thule dignitaries to visit [[Anvil]] during the Autumn equinox to formally sign the treaty, their visit has been delayed until Winter. Rak is unwilling to give full details but is very clear that it is nothing the Empire has done or is doing - it is an internal matter. The treaty is legally in effect regardless; the formal signing is as he said previously mostly just "political theatre".

There are five [[fortification|Thule fortifications]] that defend their land in territories controlled by the Empire. Last season, work was completed to expand and improve several of those fortifications and powerful [[enchantment|enchantments]] were played on all of them. This season, only the [[Ossium#Bonewood|Bonewood]] castle of ''Fljajokep'' bears any noticeable enchantment - again bound with brass sigils that communicate to those who see them that they are marks of power, glowing with the heat of the forge. Likewise, magic seethes in the depths of the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]]. Another Thule enchantment - a ward of [[night magic]]. Do the Thule know something the Empire does not, or are they simply taking precautions against potential attacks from [[the Mallum]]?

If the Thule are slow to sign the treaty, they are not slow to take advantage of it. Thule merchants soon appear in markets in the Marches and Navarr to buy large amounts of food and supplies, which are slowly shipped north. Herds of cattle, pigs and sheep are escorted towards the border with Otkodov, along with ox-pulled wagons containing grain, dried and cured meat, salted fish, wheels of cheese and barrels of pickles. As a result of the huge purchases, the ability of the Marches and the Navarr to support armies has both decreased, presumably the ability of the Thule to support additional armies has increased proportionally.

A few people shake their heads and wander if the Empire isn't storing up trouble for the future, but in the meantime the benefits are being felt immediately. There is money to be made in [[Mitwold]] and [[Upwold]] and in [[Hercynia]] and [[Miaren]] as a result of the treaty, and the boom is helping to raise taxation from territories across the two nations. In addition there is there a bounty of twenty mana being provided to the font each season, along with ten mana for the [[Broker of Treji Wayhouse]] and the [[Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange]].
{{CaptionedImage|file=thulebanner1.jpeg|title=Thule banner iconography|align=right|width=250}}
===Laws and Levies===
* '''The Dragons are ''mostly'' amused by the Conclave's decision to outlaw hollows'''
* '''They will not tolerate any attempt to prohibit the presence of hollows in the Empire'''
* '''The Thule are prevaricating on the matter of Thule tariffs on Imperial goods'''

The Thule have been officially informed of Conclave's decision to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Conclave_sessions#Interdiction:_Hollowing|interdict the creation of hollows]]. For the most part they seem to be amused; the creation of hollows is a closely guarded secret, known only to the Dragons, just one of the unique magics they alone possess. The ability reflects their great age and supreme mastery of the arcane arts and they're ''very'' confident that nobody in the Empire has the slightest idea how to do it, given how many times the [[Volodny]] tried to acquire the arts from them. Every approach has always been rebuffed - dragons are adamant that they are never going to share the secret with the Empire - ever.

They are only ''mostly'' amused however, as there is a suspicion that this could lead to some kind of prohibition on hollows entering the Empire. The Dragons are very clear on this point, the ''body'' of a hollow is the property of the Dragon that created it. Hollows are a vital embodiment and reflection of a Dragon's power. They will not find any attempt to limit where their hollows may travel funny ''at all'' - rather it will be seen as a personal insult and one intended to try and curtail the powers of the Dragons. Rak compares it to an attempt by the Dragons to limit where the Empress might travel or who they might speak with.

Attempts to raise the issue of tariffs and levies with the Thule have not yet produced an official response. Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided demurs when asked about the matter, but when pushed suggests that such discussions would be complex and time-consuming and might need to wait until his replacement has been agreed and put in position by the Dragons.

The civil service suspect that the Thule are deliberately playing for time on this issue. They seem to be quite content with the current arrangements and happier ''not'' to discuss them. They suggest that the Empire might need to find a way to apply some leverage to this issue if they wish the Thule to prioritise it.

===Mieriada===
* '''The Thule had taken control of Mieriada in Miekarova'''
* '''They have claimed the Night Quarry and all other notable resources in the region'''
* '''The Empire retains access to the Maze of Zoria and half the stone produced by the Night Quarry'''
* '''The Thule are making arrangements for the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse'''

While magic is protecting Ossium, the orcs of Otkodov take ownership of [[Miekarova#Mieriada|Mieriada]] in [[Miekarova]]. An army comes down from the frozen heights above Wendell's Hope, and secures the borders of the formerly Varushkan region. This includes taking custody of the [[Night Quarry]], the old [[Miekarova#Heart_of_the_Tempest|Heart of the Tempest]], the [[Guardian_of_the_Maze_of_Zoria#The_Maze_of_Zoria|Maze of Zoria]], several of the more extensive of the [[Miekarova#The_Painted_Caves|Painted Caves]], and [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Tolvoli_Slaughterhouse_and_the_Heart_of_the_Tempest|the Tolvoli Slaughterhouse]]. Much more than simply land has been lost here. It is not so straightforward as simply losing these things, however.

First of all the Thule have agreed to allow half of the seasonal production of the Night Quarry to continue to be claimed by the Imperial Bourse. The seat will continue to be [[Auction of the Seats|auctioned]] - its [[Night Quarry#Bounty of white granite|production]] simply drops from 28 wains each season to 14 wains for the foreseeable future. Operational details are still being finalised but it appears the Imperial treasury will be required to pay half the upkeep of the Quarry for this.

Secondly they have agreed to preserve Imperial access to the Maze of Zoria - for as long as Thule warlocks are welcome at an Imperial [[college of magic]]. A number of warlocks have taken up residence at the [[Master_of_Ice_and_Darkness#The_Icy_Crag_of_the_Eternal_Sun|Icy crag of the Eternal Sun]], reducing the upkeep of the college by 5 thrones each season but allowing the Thule copies of any ritual text created at the college from the Summer Solstice onward. These first warlocks seem a little disappointed to discover [[Hayaak]] has become patron of the college, but so far there have been no unpleasant interests. One of the warlocks lets slip that they had hoped to have a chance to speak with some of the servants of [[Jaheris]] that used to operate out of the college about a [[curse]] called ''Terror of the Night Hags'' which has recently come into the possession of the Dragons - and whether the Empire has any experience of its effects. Shortly after this unfortunate breach of protocol, the warlock in question was suddenly recalled to Otkodov presumably to face a dressing down.

Tolvoli Slaughterhouse was not covered by the treaty, but Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided indicates that the warlocks dealing with the Heart of the Tempest are prepared to keep purchasing animals from their Varushkan neighbours in return for a portion of the magical substances harvested from the dhubik there. Practically this means that the Tolvoli Slaughterhuse continues to operate, and the Tolvoli Butcher remains able to acquire the [[Tolvoli Butcher#The Red Harvest|red harvest]] by providing the Thule with beasts. However, the amount available is reduced due to the warlocks claiming their own share of the preparations. This means that the Tolvoli Butcher loses the top rank from each of their ministries. It's possible that the Varushkans are not interested in continuing to trade with the Thule in this way. The Tolvoli Butcher is due to be [[Tolvoli_Butcher#Appointment|appointed]] this season - if no Varushkan takes the position the Dragons will take that as an indication they do not wish to participate in this arrangement and will take different steps to ensure the dhubik do not become a threat.
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Forest of Ulnak regions.png|caption=The Empire has mapped the Forest of Ulnak, but parts of the territory still remain unknown.|align=left|width=400}}</div>

===Forest of Ulnak===
* '''Hinodir of the Bright Orb has requested access to the spy network in the Forest of Ulnak
* '''The Thule are not prepared at this time to share what they know of the Vore
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided mentions that they received an interesting letter from '''Eli of the Cenotaph''' and '''Jaromir Ostrovyn Kostka''' concerning the [[Forest of Ulnak]] and especially what lies to the north through the mountains - what the Empire called "the Vore". After taking counsel from the Dragons, Rak regretfully says that at this time he cannot share anything about this matter with Imperial citizens, not even to confirm whether the Mines of Areshan are in the Vore or not. Otkodov does not have a navigable border with the Vore and is happy for it to remain so at this time. As such, Rak concurs that the Thule would rather not see the folk of the Vore - whoever they are - gain control of Ulnak should the Druj collapse.

However... ''Hinodir of the Bright Orb'' has indicated that there may be a path toward the Thule sharing a little of their own understanding of the situation in the north-east. The Dragon knows that the [[Imperial Spymaster]] '''Rahmah i Darwisj i Erigo''' operates a [[spy network]] in the Forest of Ulnak. The Thule would like to make use of that spy network to explore the territory in detail. As foreigners, all that is required for them to make use of the network is permission from someone empowered to do so. If that permission is forthcoming, the Thule would make use of the network following the Autumn Equinox to create a map of their own and investigate magical locations in the woodlands. There would be no requirement for other concessions - the [[Ossium#Webwood|Webwood]] borders Ulnak and as such their scouts can easily gain access to the Forest.

Should the Empire decide otherwise, the Thule will conduct an independent action in the Forest of Ulnak. It would be a costly affair, but the orcs of Otkodov are as capable of spying on their neighbours as the Empire is - although the Civil Service note that in the absence of the Civil Service, it is likely that a spy network costs the Thule significantly more to establish than it costs the Empire.

This concession would obviously represent a first step toward any alliance between Thule and Empire to invade the Forest of Ulnak. Rak is quick to point out that this does not mean the Dragons will definitely commit to such a course, only that if the Empire doesn't trust them to use the spy network it will make it ''less'' likely. Once the Dragons have a better understanding of exactly what is in Ulnak, they will determine if the risk of involvement there is worth the reward to Otkodov.

Rak was recently requested by one correspondent to put a price on such aid - there was an opening offer of 50 rings of ilium for four armies for a year. In response he points out that four armies would cost the Empire two hundred thrones a season - eight hundred thrones for a year - ''just for the running costs''. The Dragons will not even contemplate helping the Empire fight the Druj unless the rewards for the Thule are considerably better than that. Ilium is very valuable, but star metal falls from the sky... land does not.

One thing they are ''not'' asking for at this time is for the Empire to share their own maps or findings. They are welcome to do so if they want, but the Thule still want access to the spy network. The orcs of Otkodov are interested in different things to the Empire, for a start, and need to make their own observations rather than rely on potentially out of date reports from Imperial scouts.

The request is unusual to say the least and because of its unprecedented nature, there is no long-standing constitutional basis for how the decision might be taken. There are good arguments that could be made that control and use of such structures falls under either the remit of the [[Imperial Military Council]] or the [[Imperial Senate]], both of which have heavy demands on their time. The [[Imperial Spymaster]] has responsibility for coordinating the use of Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves - but they don't currently have the legal power to decide a response to this request.

To resolve the problem, the Civil Service will introduce two administrative motions on Friday night of the Senate. The first would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to grant access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves to foreign powers by announcement in the Military Council. The second would give the Imperial Spymaster the legal power to control all access to Imperial spy networks and smugglers coves by anyone. This power would be employed by announcement in the Military Council. If either motion is passed, the Spymaster will be able to deal with the issue, if neither motion is passed or they are vetoed, then the matter will need to be resolved by Senate motion.

===Legacies===
* '''Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided expresses some interest in the Legacy Accords
* '''He asks for his opposite number to provide their own assessment of the proposals
* '''A poem written by a Wintermark skop has been shared with Thule artists
* '''Rak thanks Asch Fortae Shalder for their sentiments and asks if they have any concrete proposals
Rak asks Kindra to offer their opinion on the "Legacy Accords" presented to him by a Navarr named '''Dylan Thornweaver'''. They appear to be the basis for a treaty to determine how any future war between the Empire and Otkodov would be undertaken with several limitations and restrictions of who can be killed and what can be destroyed. The Ambassador keeps their cards close to their chest as to their own opinion, yet its clear they are interested enough to ask their opposite number to look into the matter.

The Thule Ambassador thanks '''Ragnhild Honeytongue Thrice-Passed Skaersdottir''' for the poem they have created, and assures them that the skuld ''Eiríkur'' is indeed aware of it. He expresses his gratitude and appreciation, and wishes to inform Ragnhild that he indeed intends to return to Anvil at some point (if he is given leave to do so) having greatly appreciated the warm welcome the skuldyr received.

Then there is the matter of '''Asch Fortae Shalder''', called the Wise Reviver. The Suaq Winterfolk expressed concerns that the orcs of Otkodov are still suffering starvation, and Rak wishes to reassure them that the situation is well under control. Along with the meat and other produce purchased from Sermersuaq, and the herds of cows recently bought in the Marches, the tribute of food paid by the Marches and Navarr more than addresses any shortfall the northern nation might be experiencing. It is, however, satisfying to be reminded that while there are Imperial citizens who resent the Thule, there are also those who appreciate the aid they offered in recovering Sermersuaq from the Jotun. The sentiments Asch has expressed are welcome, but they would be much more likely to secure the interest of the Dragons if they had something concrete to propose. Perhaps in a future missive, or with the help of Ambassador Kindra? Or perhaps something from the Imperial Conclave?

Finally, as requested '''Slawomir Rabovich Bolotstrazh''' has sent a missive to the Thule Embassy providing more details about face-stealing creatures or folk that apparently operate in the woodlands of [[Ossium]]. Rak thanks the wise one for their work, and after consultation with some of the warlocks more familiar with the region than he is, confirms that they are known to the Thule. They were called ''face peelers'' by some of the human labourers who worked the forests of [[Otkodov#Sküld|Sküld]], and were also known to the slaves the Druj kept in Ossium. They prey only on humans - they will fight and kill orcs but are not drawn to them the way they are human folk. The Thule destroyed them wherever they encounter them for obvious reasons, but since they released all their slaves they have not troubled Otkodov at all. According to the folk tales the Thule learned from the humans they once kept, these creatures have a glamour that allows them to deceive others into treating their unnatural appearance as perfectly normal, and are able to breach protections and wards when the humans around them transgress even in jest in certain ways. The details are not entirely clear - with the best will in the world the Thule did not pay ''that'' much attention to their slaves. Perhaps there are still some in Ossium or Karsk who could answer questions on this matter?

==Iron Confederacy==
* '''The Iron Confederacy remains at peace with the Empire
{{Nation|nation=The [[Iron Confederacy]]|port=[[Foreign_ports#Robec|Robec]]|status=Foreigner|ambassador=Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo}}
The Suranni lie to the south of the Empire. They are a secretive nation, bound up in tradition and suspicion. While they are currently at peace with the Empire, even accepting merchants and traders into their lands, they are certainly not ''friends''. Recent events have seen them, like the [[Faraden]], caught between the [[Liberty Pact]] and the pro-slavery Freedom Accord. Yet where Faraden feels it must play a delicate balancing act, the Suranni Dukes are more confident in their power and prepared to play Imperial and Asavean interests off against each other.

The Suranni ambassador to the Empire is ''Baroness Katerine Lavasse of Meore'', who operates from the Tour Lavasse in Chaubrette, a territory unknown to Imperial citizens that apparently lies to the west of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Veroigne|Veroigne]]. A noble [[naga]], she replaced the significantly more dogmatic Jeanne de Hibernat, a High Priestess of the Suranni god [[Suranni_pantheon#Evra_the_Smith,_Maiden_of_the_Forge|Evra the Smith, Maiden of the Forge]]. She has already indicated that she is very much more pragmatic than her predecessor and more interested in compromise. She still reports to the Dukes of the Iron Confederacy, however, and so her apparent goodwill toward the Empire cannot be relied upon.
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===Regarding Serfs===
* '''The Imperial Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy has made further enquiries about the status of serfs'''
* '''Baroness Lavalle has reiterated what was said over a year ago about the difference between serfs and slaves'''
Ambassador Tethros also asked for some clarification on the status of serfs in the Suranni homelands. Baroness Katerine is clearly a little frustrated by the question, considering it to be returning to a matter that was already [[The_price_of_peace#Iron_Confederacy|settled more than a year ago]]. As was explained at the time, the former slaves of the Iron Confederacy became serfs, and the [[Imperial Senate]] consequently removed the unjust [[Tariffs#Sanctions|trade sanctions]] they had imposed.

In answer to the Ambassadors questions, the Baroness reiterated what she said previously. Unlike slaves, serfs enjoy some protections under the law. They cannot be subjected to direct violence, and cannot be bought and sold as chattel. They work the land they belong to, and whatever they produce belongs to the noble who owns that land. They cannot leave the land they are bound to, but the landowner does have some responsibility to ensure that they are not unnecessarily abused. It is possible for a serf or the child of serfs to improve their lot through selection for priesthood or exceptional military service.

Hopefully this will put the matter to rest once and for all. The Iron Confederacy has conceded to the Empire on the matter of slavery because it suited them to do so, but the Dukes see little profit in continuing to belabour the point.
===Grim Magics===
* '''The curse on the Suranni province of Arbonne appears to have abated
Last season the Suranni province of [[Arbonne]], which the Empire knows as Kalino, was struck by a terrible curse that blighted the fields at the height of harvest-time. Queries were directed to the Empire as to what, if anything, they might know about the situation. Ambassador Tethros i Zuhri i Erigo has apparently reiterated that although the effects of the curse were somewhat familiar - similar to [[Anathemic Call of Bug and Briar]] - there is no chance that Imperial magicians would have been involved in this calamitous magic. Rather, the Ambassador suggests that the [[Children of Wrecks]] - whose mistress is a powerful practitioner of [[Spring magic]], and who are known to include a number of former Hand of Dumon wizards among their number - may have had a hand in it.

Baroness Katerine accepts the Ambassador's reassurance, while remaining sceptical that the Children of Wrecks may have been involved. So far, their malign magic has broadly focused around the conjuration of violent storms and unseasonable deluges. Yet the involvement of the Hand of Dumon appears to be a given. Fortunately the priests of [[Suranni pantheon#Farod the Herald, Maiden of the Dawn|Farod the Maiden]], whose gentle hands bring Spring rains and still storms, have prevailed upon the goddess to intervene and it seems the power of Dumon has been broken.

Civil Servants suggest that this is likely an exaggeration - it's more likely that the curse has simply run its course than that the prayers of priests have brought the magic to a premature end.
===Days of Wine and Roses===
* '''A delegation of Suranni diplomats have accepted the Ambassador's invitation to attend the Marcher Wassail.'''
* '''They plan on attending Anvil at 11:00 on Saturday, and wish to be formally received in the Senate as befits their status.'''
The Iron Confederacy are quite well-disposed to the Empire at the moment. The Hand of Dumon is illegal, the sale of narcotics to the Iron Confederacy is illegal, the Empire remains at war with the Grendel and the Jotun, and Imperial trade flocks to Robec like starlings to scattered seeds. The Grand Dukes find their borders secure and their coin purses full, and this inclines them to a positive mood. As such, they have given permission for a small group of nobles to accept the Ambassador's kind invitation to attend the Marcher camp for Wassail. They intend to arrive at 11:00 on Saturday and see what merriment is afoot after their formal reception. Baroness Katerine Lavasse is sure that they will have a good time, and is also sure that the Empire, as good hosts, will ensure that the costs of any refreshments the party may require are covered. The Empire is so ''very'' proud of their prosperity, after all - the Suranni are happy to provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

The delegation will be led by the Baronet Ser Marquette Lavasse, Baroness Katerine's cousin who attended the coronation of Emperor Vesna. He will be accompanied by his bodyguard Seigneur Ser Guillaume, his cousin the Baronet Ser Vauquelin Lavasse who acts as the Suranni Ambassador to Faraden, and doubtless a few other minor functionaries who can introduce themselves if they wish. Baroness Katerine indicates that the party would be pleased to be received in the Senate by Ambassador Tethros, as well as either the Emperor herself or a member of their household. There is no need for a grand ceremony, simply a mutual acknowledgement of two great nations with equally great destinies in this world, after which the party can be escorted to see whatever quaint pastimes the yeofolk of the Marchers have laid on.

Of course, no business would be discussed on such a social occasion. None at all. But if there should happen to be citizens around who were interested in making polite conversation on the subject of international trade, well, Ser Marquette is known to have an interest in such matters. The Children of Wrecks, naturally a matter of great concern to any civilised society, are also of great concern to Ser Guillaume, who has been staying abreast of the possibility for action against these marauders. And surely the Ambassador to Faraden will find much in common with Ser Vauquelin. Nobody will be talking business, of course. Simply sharing a little gossip about matters of mutual interest.

There is one more matter - a request, in fact. Baroness Katerine desires that one Ghisli 'the Provider' Baerson, a wealthy citizen whose audacity would make a Grendel blush, attend upon the delegation so that a face may be put to the name that everybody has heard so much about. Surely there will be some ''fascinating'' discussions to be had.
===Letters to Robec===
* '''The Suranni are enjoying the amount of Imperial trade passing through their port of Robec
The steady stream of Imperial traders into the port of [[Foreign_ports#Iron_Confederacy|Robec]] continues, and the Suranni continue to take every advantage. The Winterfolk benefactor '''Ghisli''' and their collaborators are to be commended for their hard work. Regardless of how things end up with the [[Asavean Archipelago|Asaveans]] and their Freedom Accord, the Baroness is confident that the Dukes will approve plans underway to make more unique and valuable Suranni produce available to Imperial traders visiting the port.
===An Imperial Historian in the Baronial Court===
* '''Marko Siwarsbairn is visiting the Iron Confederacy to complete a report on Suranni military victories
* '''They are a guest of Baroness Katerine herself
* '''The work is expected to take at least six months, available at the Autumn Equinox
It is possible that one reason the Ambassador might be expressing concern about the precise status of serfs is the [[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Soldiers_of_Suran#Into_the_Iron_Confederacy|publication]] by the [[Historical research#Department of Historical Research|Department of Historical Research]] of the first part of [[Historical_research#Marko_Siwarsbairn|Marko Siwarsbairn's]] research into Suranni military history. The historian is a guest of Baroness Lavalle, staying at her estates in Chaubrette, working closely with ''Josse Argent'' and several other scholar-priests. According to the Baroness, the work is going well, but as she [[I_wish_you_would#The_Historians|mentioned last season]] it looks as if Marko will be unable to return to the Empire before the Winter Solstice. She reassures the Ambassador that she is more than happy to continue hosting the Wintermark scholar who she describes as "delightfully droll."

There is however one matter that needs to be resolved; as the Ambassador is aware there were concerns when Siwarsbairn first came to the Iron Confederacy that their intention might be to engage in espionage. There is obviously no sign of that - Marko has been the soul of discretion and civility - but they are refusing to allow the Baroness or Josse Argent to read their report before it is delivered to the Empire. Katerine is concerned that the reason for this must be that it contains sensitive information. Marko claims it is because legally the report belongs to the Minister of Historical Research. As such, they are at an impasse. Can Ambassador Tethros intercede with the Imperial [[Minister of Historical Research|Minister]] to reassure Marko that it is acceptable to share their final report with their host. The scholar has already indicated they will trust the word of the Ambassador, should they pass along the Minister's instructions.

The Baroness is at pains to dispel any potential misunderstanding; if Marko continues to refuse to share their findings they won't be prevented from leaving or anything extreme like that. But they might find the willingness of Josse and the other scholars to cooperate suffers as a consequence.
{{CaptionedImage|file=JotunPose.jpg|align=right|width=450}}

==Jotun Diplomacy==
* '''The Jotun orcs of the west remain at war with the Empire'''
The Imperial Consul is responsible for diplomacy with the Jotun, although they seem to prefer dealing with the folk of Wintermark and occasionally the Brass Coast than any Senate-appointed diplomat.
===The Jarl's Death===
* '''The Jotun are pleased by the honour shown to Jarl Ustigar of Kierheim who died fighting General Osric at Anvil'''
* '''It is not yet clear who will replace Ustigar as the Jarl of Kierheim'''
* '''Igya Olgafsdottir has been recognised as the new representative to the Empire'''
During the Summer Solstice, ''Jarl Ustigar of Keirheim'' died in a duel of champions facing General Iron Osric. His body was carried from Anvil with all due respect, and transported back to his beloved Skallahn for the hero's burial he has earned over the decades of loyal support for the Jotun. It is not clear who his successor as Jarl of Kierheim will be, but there is rumour that both the King of the South and the Queen of the North have made pilgrimage to Kierheim to attend his funeral and to speak with those who might claim his mantle. It is likely this event that has drawn the two of them away from battle in the Marches this season, and it appears that a number of champions and heroes have likewise attended the burial. ''Igya Olgafsdottir'', Jarl of [[Tromsa]], has been acclaimed as the representative from the Jotun to the Empire.
{{SOP|statement= A meeting place is being built and with it new opportunities with the Jotun. In honour of the legends, we invite the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in the mystics. Let them share ideas and find ways to bridge the gaps between our nations.|by=Hayrin, Wintermark Assembly|vote=Greater Majority 284-0|when=Summer Solstice 387YE|size=small}}

===Meeting Hall===
* '''A new meeting hall is being constructed on a tidal isle, Gull Island in the Gullet'''
* '''The Wintermark Assembly could enact a mandate to soothe fears over the new meeting hall and invite the Jotun to join them there'''
The [[Sermersuaq#The_Meeting_Place|Meeting Place]] was for centuries a place just beyond the borders of Sermersuaq where the Jotun and the folk of Wintermark could meet in peace. It was primarily used for diplomatic purposes, allowing the two nations to discuss treaties and ceasefires, exchange prisoners, and the like. It also served this purpose when Wintermark joined the Empire - until it was apparently shattered by a Varushkan calling themselves ''Alderei the Fair'' (not the recent general of the [[Iron Helms]] - a different Varushkan using the same name). Its destruction at the time was taken as more evidence of how dishonourable the Empire had become. Empire.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Wintermark.png|width=150|align=right}}
Over the last year or so work has been afoot to try and create a new locale that can serve the same purpose. At the Spring Equinox earlier in the year, the Imperial Senate commissioned the [[Construct Meeting Place|construction of a meeting hall]] on [[Keep_talking#A_Meeting_Place|Gull Island]], in the sea off [[Kallavesa]]. The site was apparently chosen with the aid of the [[mystic|mystics]] and has certain resonances that make it an ideal place for peaceful meetings between the Empire and the orcs of Narkyst and Kallsea. Work is proceeding apace; the white granite has been delivered and all that remains is to actually build the place.

The Jotun have a notorious fear of water and avoid sailing wherever possible. Some say they fear drowning more than anything - the one sure way to guarantee that your soul is lost to the Howling Abyss. Some Jotun even talk of the sea ''as'' the Howling Abyss. Others say it is the presence of the terrible monsters in the Sea of Snow that makes sea travel so difficult. Fortunately the island is ''tidal'', so it is possible to walk across to it at low tides. For some reason, the Jotun seem to appreciate this - the thought of being ''trapped'' on the isle and unable to leave until the tide goes down doesn't seem to bother them, if anything quite the contrary.

There have still been challenges to overcome of course - the peculiar coral husks that have been bedevilling the coast of the Marches and Wintermark have several times tried to attack the island. Fortunately the same Wintermark fleets that [[Voyage#Escort_the_Fisherfolk_of_Westerhal|guard the fishing fleet of Westerhal]] have been on hand to ensure the builders are not troubled. Work is expected to be completed in time for the Winter Solstice - unless something disastrous goes wrong of course.

In anticipation of this the Wintermark Assembly supported a [[statement of principle]] raised by '''Hayrin''', inviting the Ghodi to break bread with their counterparts in Wintermark and find a way to "bridge the gaps" between the two nations. One problem, of course, is that the Ghodi have no idea what the Imperial Synod is discussing; the other is that not all Winterfolk welcome the Jotun to their lands. The orcs conquered Sermersuaq and were only recently driven out. They have made several attempts to conquer Kallavesa. Some worry that they may try to use this new Meeting Place as springboard to renew their attacks. There are also serious questions about whether the mystics are the best people to meet with the Ghodi for the first, auspicious meeting in the first place. A formal gathering at the new meeting place cannot help but set the tenor for future meetings on the site. Should there not be [[scop|scops]] involved to tell the tales of Wintermark heroes? Are there enough mystics of Suaq and Steinr traditions to ensure that the meeting is with ''all'' the peoples of Wintermark?

{{Mandate|mandate=The meeting hall at Gull Island will be completed for the Winter Solstice. Yet until a meeting has taken place there it is just a hall. We send (named individual) with 25 doses of liao to spread word of the Hall both in Wintermark, and in the lands of the Jotun. Let the Ghodi bring their people to join with the folk of Wintermark to see what bridge may be built.|assembly=Wintermark National Assembly}}

If this [[mandate]] is enacted, the named individual will be responsible for encouraging messengers to travel into Jotun lands - a potentially risky move given the state of ongoing war - and priests to deploy suitable auras to support those messengers and reassure the folk of Kallavesa. It will not be enough to send them into Skallahn and Tromsa - they will need to travel in the south as well where the Jotun are involved in an ongoing battle with the Marchers. Assuming the Ghodi respond positively to the invitation - and it is likely they will given events to date - the named individual will be responsible for gathering a suitable contingent of folk to meet with the Jotun during the Winter Solstice. Such a momentous meeting is bound to attract the attention of the Sentinel Gate, after all.

===Smidr Clad In Scarlet===
* '''A smidr, a Jotun smith, has written to the Consul asking for help investigating the murder of two thralls'''
* '''He intends to come to Anvil under a flag of truce at 18:30 on Friday and hopes to speak with the Consul'''
The Jotun are skilled artisans - some claim that they taught Isenbrad the runes (though many Steinr claim the opposite). Their artisans are known as ''smidr'' or simply smiths: they are known to be highly respected and are thought to occupy a somewhat independent position in Jotun society, standing somewhat outside the hierarchy of clans and jarls. The smidr have their own ways: they have thralls sworn to them (who in practice will do most of the more mundane crafting, though a Jotun warrior will always describe their weapon as crafted by the smidr themselves and not by their thralls, who are considered simply an extension of the smidr's mastery.

In some stories, the smidr are described as belonging to fraternal organisations known as skrohn: a single skroh might contains a handful of actual smidr, many warriors who work under them and act to protect the smidr in return for being furnished with the finest weapons and armour, and many more thralls who work under the tutelage of the smidr and who, if they show skill and promise, may be invited to pick up a weapon and the smithing-hammer and begin the long journey to becoming a smidr themselves.

The smidr are also believed to have some role in the complex diplomacy the Jotun undertake with the Eternals of the Realms. While they certainly do take the battlefield, they are considered deserving of close protection by some of the most elite Jotun warriors: it has been some generations since the Empire has confirmed a smidr killed in battle (though presumably it does happen).

All of this would be a mere curiosity, just another part of Jotun culture that the Empire was not fully aware of, were it not for a letter to the office of the Consul some weeks before the Autumn Equinox. The letter is addressed from Harald Fourforge of the Skroh of the Locked Door of Skallahn: clearly a smidr. He explains that he is not writing on behalf of the Jarl of Jarls (to whom he scrupulously avoids assigning a gender as there are of course two claimants to that position). Rather, he is writing about a matter that he hopes will ''not'' rise to the level of official diplomatic incident. It seems that two thralls, Vigdis and Toki, were murdered in Fareskov last season: their Jarl, Jarl Alvilda Ottesen, has asked him to investigate, as it appears to be linked to some kind of eternal interest in the dark forest there.

As it is, Harald and his colleagues of the Locked Door, had their own interest in the events that transpired: he suspects that the murders that took place may well have been ordered by the Hungry Beast, as part of a plan to slip the fetters the smidr have placed on him in Skallahn. However, he wants to try to establish all the facts before he relays any information or conclusions to Jarl Ottesen. If she then believes that this was an Imperial attack on her thralls, she will doubtless take her complaints upwards, and out of the smidr's hands. If Harald is convinced that this was the act of malefactors working against both Jotun and Imperial interests (as allegedly happened with the meeting stone), and they can be brought to justice, then he will be only too happy to tell Jarl Ottesen this and then she is unlikely to consider the matter further.

As such, he is travelling to Anvil under a flag of peace (presumably he will not be travelling along, but he does not confirm this). He expects to arrive at 18:30 on Friday, nice and early before too much Imperial business gets underway, and he hopes to be met by the Imperial Consul. He would also like to speak to Vossk of Zenith Ascendant, Eerikki Korpi, and Aulus Warcaster, as he believes they may have some light to shed on the matter. He is sure the Consul will be able to arrange such meetings. If he cannot satisfy things to his satisfaction, with the Consul's permission he will probably return again at some point during the summit.

He ends his letter by stressing once again that he is not speaking on behalf of any official diplomatic channels, the business of the Meeting-Place and anything that might transpire there is very much ''not'' the business of a smidr. As such he trusts that the Imperials will do the honourable thing and not try to discuss such matters with him.
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==Grendel==
* '''The Grendel remain at war with the Empire
The orcs of the Broken Shore, the dominant power on Attar along the southern shores of the [[Bay of Catazar]], remain at war with the Empire. After several months of comparative silence, the Grendel navies and armies are on the move,. They have launched a land offensive against Mareave, where they have "liberated" the Brine Turtles and threatened the [[Mareave#Fundindelve|mithril mine]]. They have also initiated a naval attack against Redoubt, which has seen them seize the port of [[Redoubt#Elos|Elos]] and only the sacrifice of the [[Fist of the Mountains]] prevented them from destroying it and potentially reshaping that entire area of coast.

Speaker Morna is the primary diplomat who deals with the Empire, and reports to the Salt-Lords Council directly. They are known to be cynical, arrogant, and self-indulgent, and while they obviously participate in the ongoing-knife fight that is Grendel politics, they were chosen for their fidelity as much as their diplomatic acumen.

===Peace and Storms===
* '''Speaker Morna claims that the Grendel have dealt with the Children of Wrecks presence in their domain
* '''They request that further correspondence about diplomatic matters come from the Ambassador to the Grendel
Following the Summer solstice there has been a single missive from Speaker Morna. It is delivered among [[Call Winged Messenger|fluttering unseen wings]] to the office of the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]], '''Finna''' of [[Dawn]].

They begin by addressing '''Abel the Rounder''', who raised the matter of the [[Children of Wrecks]]. Last season Speaker Morna touched on the fact the Salt Lords had sent their soldiers to deal with the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]], the unholy fane dedicated to the ''[[Siakha|Maelstrom]]'' on the shores of [[Bay_of_Catazar#Raineach|Raineach]]. The Empire needn't worry about that enclave of the Children any more, although Morna mentions that it seems a significant portion of the fanatics who once worshipped there had already shifted their attention to the more amenable islands off the Brass Coast. At this time the Salt Lords are not concerned about the Children who seem hell-bent on looting Sarvos rather than risking their ramshackle "navy" against the might of the orcs of Attar. Likewise, they are broadly unconcerned about the ''Pax Sarcophan'' - for while it may impede any nation from assaulting merchant vessels of uninvolved nations it entirely recognises the right to attack the ships of anyone one is at war with. So while the ships of the Commonwealth, Sumaah, and even Axos might be protected from any piracy sponsored by the Salt Lords, the Empire's ships very much are not.

As to the matter of peace, Speaker Morna explains that any such discussion must take place between themselves and the Ambassador to the Grendel.
<div style="float:right; width: 300px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Black pearl and his shell.jpg|align=right|width=450}}</div>
===Bells and Pearls===
* '''The Grendel are mostly unconcerned about the recent portents in the Bay
* '''Saltbinder Grekodh offers a deal to acquire any black pearls remaining in the Empire
The speaker offers commiserations to '''Thane Umarth Winter's Flame Klannsk''', general of the Fist of the Mountains. They commend the [[Grendel_religion#Fidelity|Fidelity]], [[Grendel_religion#Audacity|Audacity]], and [[Grendel_religion#Vigilance|Vigilance]] of the warriors of Wintermark, and acknowledge that in the matter of the destruction of Elos, their actions seem to have carried the day in the Empire's favour. It is difficult to do otherwise when the price paid for victory proved to be so high.

On the matter of a "Drowned Emperor" or "Queen of the Abyss", the Council of Salt Lords has taken counsel with ''Saltbinder Grekodh'' a magician with intimate knowledge of the [[Winter magic|arts of Salt]]. On the strength of that counsel, the Salt Lords have made their own preparations to deal with any threat from the depths of the Bay, but are unconcerned at this time with "imminent doom".

The Saltbinder has, however, expressed an interest in certain "black pearls" that have appeared in the waters of the bay. Saltbinder Grekodh and their coven are prepared to offer a reward of one pawn of [[Vis#Hearts Blood|Hearts Blood]] for each pair of pearls delivered via the [[Ephisis' Scale|commerce with the City of Gold and Lead]] during the Autumn Equinox. Any magician interested in making such a trade should ensure there are no more than a dozen pearls in the box, and include a piece of parchment with the rune [[Lann]] drawn on it. Obviously such a trade would be illegal in the Empire, but neither Speaker Morna nor Saltbinder Grekodh seem in any way concerned about this.
{{CaptionedImage|file=RegionsofTheBarrens.png|align=right|width=500}}

==The Barrens==
* '''For the most part the septs of the Barrens are largely just getting on with things
The Imperial Consul deals with diplomacy with the Barrens septs, at least in theory. In practice the [[Not_to_conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]] are more likely to respond to approaches from the [[Imperial Orcs|Unshackled]], while the [[Great Forest Orcs]] have made it clear that their alliance with the [[Navarr]] takes precedence over any Imperial political concerns. The Rahvin are also considering what response, if any, they will have to the Senate's [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Empire's_Responsibility_in_the_Barrens|acknowledgement]] of the Empire's responsibility of what happened in the Barrens.

The Karass are more complicated - the Karass [[Little_mercy#Trading_at_Carmine_Field|requested the Empire build a trading post]] and that whoever run it have the responsibility to handle arrangements with the Karass. This new [[Envoy to the Karass]] is due to be appointed, but the position isn't legally recognised as an ambassador which means the title holder can't raise a treaty in the Senate. Presumably, they would have to defer to the Imperial Consul for any ''official'' diplomatic business.
===The Karass===
* '''The Karass remain singularly focussed on removing the Last Battle Wayhouse from "their" lands'''
* '''They would like the Empire to avoid building any commissions in "their" lands'''
* '''The Karass are further alarmed by demands for ''poetry'' that have been levelled by the Dawnish'''

The [[Not_to_conquer#Karass|Karass]] are now the most numerous of the surviving septs of [[the Barrens]], along with the [[Great Forest Orcs]] and what is left of the [[Not to conquer#Rahvin|Rahvin]]. They have a presence in the [[The_Barrens#The_Untrod_Groves|Untrod Groves]] and the [[The_Barrens#Bleaks|Bleaks]] - having largely abandoned the villages that used to dot the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plain of Teeth]]. They have a poor reputation with the other septs, perhaps tied to their role in the early days of Imperial domination in the destruction of the [[Not_to_conquer#Vendarri|Vendaari]].

In recent months there has been alarm among the Karass about the presence of the [[Keeper_of_the_Last_Battle#Last_Battle_Wayhouse|Last Battle Wayhouse]] in the Untrod Groves. One of the first of the new [[Navarr_wayhouse|great wayhouses]] built, it serves as a focus for the Last Battle striding of the Navarr, whose scouts are engaged in exploring the [[Sarangrave#Nesustak_Forest|Nesustak Forest]] across the border in [[Sarangrave]]. Unfortunately, the Karass are deeply concerned about [[Navarr]] "trespassers" in "their" woods. An emissary dispatched from the Untrod Groves makes their way to [[The_Barrens#Dawnguard|Dawnguard]] to deliver a missive intended for the [[Imperial Consul]], from the leader of the sept ''Anka Karass''.

The Karass do not contest that [[the Barrens]] is Dawnish now - it has been conquered and that is just the way things are. The Empire has replaced the Druj and the Karass accept that. They are content to live in the Untrod Groves and the Bleaks as foreigners; to trade with Dawnish settlers if they wish to deal with them. Perhaps in time civility will blossom into friendship and alliance. But the Druj would never have built such a threatening commission in Karass lands, unless the sept had offended them in some way.

The Karass claim to be alarmed that the wayhouse was built without any warning. The first they knew of it was that there were Navarr all over the place poking their noses into Karass business. They thought they were free to live their lives in peace and be left alone, just as they did with the Druj, and then this happens. They say they want to see the woods of the central Barrens remain wild and just dangerous enough to allow Dawnish knights to quest in them - and Karass hunters to stalk the game they favour.

However what Anka Karass really wants, more than anything else, is for the wayhouse to be removed - or at least moved to the [[The_Barrens#The_Plains_of_Teeth|Plains of Teeth]] or [[The_Barrens#Saltmarsh|Saltmarsh]] or... well anywhere other than the Bleaks or the Untrod Groves. They claim this is due to concern among the Karass that the presence of the wayhouse has helped to wake the Manticore Earl from its quiescence. The last time it was roused, some decades ago, Anka Karass herself personally led the attack to fend off its incursion, on the orders of the Druj. She was the only survivor of that incident and she is very wary that the Earl seeks revenge. And it is not just the Earl of the Groves: who knows what else the Navarri presence might awaken in the deep woods of the Barrens? What if they start take an interest in ''Peytaht''? It does not bear thinking about.

The Civil Service point out that obviously it is not possible to just "move" a wayhouse. In the event the Imperial Senate is prepared to honour the Karass request, they would need to abrogate the Last Stand Wayhouse, and commission a new wayhouse elsewhere in the Barrens. Such a [[wayhouse]] would be built using the standard rules, and provide the standard benefits. What it would ''not'' do is provide any of the special benefits currently provided by the Last Stand striding.

They also point out that at the moment the Karass are not actually ''offering'' anything to the Empire. They are requesting changes, some of them potentially expensive, and providing nothing in return. They are however, very clearly desperate, about this issue. The presence of the Last Battle Wayhouse appears to alarm them even more than the prospect of the Druj returning.

Finally the Karass have received a letter from a Dawnish noble demanding poetry - about love. The Karass do not know what to do with this. Demands from their rulers for things are perfectly understandable, but the Druj never required them to provide poetry. They swear they don't have any poems and they don't know how to make them. They have provided the noble with three doses of true vervain, in the hope that this tribute will suffice in place?
{{CaptionedImage|file=Tsark2.png|align=right|width=600}}

==The People of the Moon==
* '''Tsark have indicated that they would like to open low-key channels of communication with the Empire'''
* '''They do not want an embassy at this time and would like to deal with the Consul if needed'''
* '''Sage Kristoph is coming to Anvil at 20:15 on Friday and will head to the Zenith Ascendent camp'''

A month before the Autumn Equinox, a visitor appears in Zenith. An elderly orc in long flowing robes, [[Write_your_own_ending#A_Border_'tween_the_Mountains_and_the_Moon|Sage Apollion has visited the Empire before]]. Last time he came to discuss the construction of a new fortification in Zenith, this time he has bigger concerns and has come with an important announcement.

On behalf of the People of the Moon, the Council of Sages have elected to reconsider their previous policy of complete isolation from the People of the Horse. Safe Apollion claims the Council are pleased that the People of the Spires have respected their wishes and built their fortification far from the Mountains of the Moon so as not to pose a threat. As the People of the Horse have also respected the Council's requirements for privacy and solitude, the Council would like to ''test'' a period of restrained diplomacy to see if the two parties might thereby benefit.

The Sage is keen to emphasize that this new channel of communication should be moderate and sombre. They do not wish to have an embassy, which might easily be taken as a sign that this new approach was intended to be permanent. It is hardly appropriate anyway, since such arrangements are usually reciprocal, and there is no chance of any Imperial citizen being allowed to enter the Mountains of the Moon. Instead they would like permission for two sages and their staff to take up residence at the Spire of the Night Sun, a relatively small Urizen spire near the border of [[Zenith#Occursion|Occursion]] that was abandoned during the last Druj invasion and has never been reclaimed.

From here they will be able to handle any official correspondence, presumably from the Imperial Consul, that the People of the Horse have for them. They stress that this is very much a trial period - many members of the Council remain deeply concerned about the prospect of violence spreading from the People of the Horse into the Mountains like a plague. Virtue is contagious after all - but so is vice. If that happens, then they will have to sever all links for their own safety.

One of their number, Sage Kristoph, is planning to come to Anvil. Zenith Ascendant have agreed to host him in their tent, and he would be happy to discuss details of the Council's change of heart, which he has long argued for. In particular he would like to meet with:

* Abel of Zenith Ascendant to sketch out possible trade.
* Vetti Gatherer-Peregrine to discuss Zaboravi cultivation.
* Sofonisba Amilcara of the City Below to discuss poetry.
* "Whoever is in charge of Vallorn" to discuss that matter - this would presumably need to be the Speaker for the Vallornguard or the Advisor on the Vallorn.
Sage Kristoph is exected to arrive around quarter-past eight in the evening on Friday during the summit.
<div style="float:right; width: 350px; clear: right;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Crab-traced-2.png|align=right|caption=It seems that many of Gallum's troops are Stone Born, the most heavily armoured and arguably the most disciplined of the Grendel [[Elite_Grendel_troops#The_Moridun|Moridun]].|width=350}}</div>
==The Protectorate of Morajasse==
* '''A significant force of Grendel remains in Feroz with control of Mora's Rock and the region of Morajasse
While the majority of Feroz has been liberated, [[Feroz#Morajasse|Morajasse]] remains in the hands of the master-strategist ''[[Fake empire#Gallum Fiersach|Commander Gallum Fiersach]]''. Ably supported by his partner, ''Wind Lord Saoirse'' - a master of the [[Autumn magic|lore of Sand]] - they are based at the fortress of [[Feroz#Mora's Rock|Mora's Rock]] along with a significant number of veteran Grendel soldiers. They have significant stocks of supplies, and they are carefully protecting the borders of Morajasse. And not just their own borders - before the Spring Equinox, Gallum and Saoirse led their troops into [[Feroz#Oranseri|Oranseri]] to [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#The_Battle_of_Oran|fight the Children of Wrecks]]. After the fight, the Wind Lord delivered a message restating how the orcs of Mora's Rock despise the wreckers, and [[A_circle_sewn_with_fate#After_the_Rain|urging the Freeborn]] to make preparations for further attacks.
===Bulwark Against the Storms===
* '''The Grendel currently garrisoning Mora's Rock have been recognised as foreigners by the Senate
* '''It would be a crime for any Imperial general to issue orders to attack Morajasse
* '''Commander Gallum Fiersach and his soldiers now protect Feroz from the Children of Wrecks
At the Summer Solstice, the [[Imperial Senate]] chose to [[387YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Recognise_Protectorate_of_Gallum_Fiersach|recognise]] Morajasse as ''a protectorate under the command of Gallum Fiersach, who will be deemed a foreigner as long as they remain independent from the Grendel''. They have not [[Powers_of_the_Imperial_Senate#Concedence|conceded]] the region - because it was not theirs to concede already being in the hands of Commander Gallum. The Senate has simply recognised its borders, and by extension dubbed the commander and his followers to be foreigners. Reassurances have also been delivered that the wily Freeborn magician '''Bakar i Riqueza''' will no longer be [[curse|cursing]] the fortification or impeding the garrison there.

With these steps taken, as [[I_wish_you_would#At_Mora's_Rock|promised last season]], Commander Gallum commits to protect the coast of Feroz against the Children of Wrecks to the best of his ability - at least for the time being. A [[Call Winged Messenger|magical missive]] has been delivered to the [[Imperial_Consul#Imperial_Consulate|Imperial Consulate]] in [[Tassato]], sent by ''Wind Lord Saoirse'', indicating that the protectorate and its commander are open to further negotiations. Gallum has requested that such negotiations be handled by the [[Imperial Consul]] rather than the [[Ambassador to the Grendel]]. Although no particular reason is given, the civil service speculate that it is to ensure a clear division between the protectorate and the Salt Lords' council.
<div style="float:right; width: 150px; clear: left;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Freeborn.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Prosperity.png|width=150|align=right}}
{{CaptionedImage|file=Assembly Vigilance.png|width=150|align=right}}
</div>

===Supplies===
* '''The orc quartermasters at Mora's Rock are attempting to buy provisions and supplies from the Freeborn of Feroz and Segura
* '''They find the normally entrepreneurial Freeborn are suspicious and uncooperative
Mora's Rock has supplies laid in, thanks to the foresight of Commander Gallum and his quartermasters. There is sufficient preserved food and fresh water to last out a significant siege. However, Wind Lord Saorise mentions that it would be significantly better if the soldiers there were able to trade with their Freeborn neighbours.

Unfortunately, for the last several years the Grendel at Mora's Rock have been synonymous with the cruel tyranny of former Governor Rahab. They may have acted professionally and with discipline, but they were still part of the apparatus that enforced the authority of the despised ruler of the territory. The garrison is wealthy - but that wealth was mostly taken from the people of Feroz. Some was taken directly by conquest, the rest "earned" through payments made by former Governor Rahab. As such, unsurprisingly, the people of Feroz are not wild about trading their limited supplies - and neither for that matter are the folk of adjoining [[Segura#Lucksprings|Lucksprings]] or [[Segura#Anozeseri|Anozeseri]].

At the very least it would likely be possible for the Freeborn Assembly, or the Assembly of Prosperity, or even the Vigilance assembly perhaps, to get involved here. They might use a [[statement of principle]] to offer encouragement to the people of Feroz and/or Segura, urging them to deal with the orcs. They might alternatively discourage them from doing so, and ensure the local Freeborn keep the Protectorate of Morajasse at arms length. Any influence the assemblies might wield here would be reliant on the wording of their [[statement of principle]] and of course the achievement of a [[greater majority]].

===Glowing Ramparts===
* '''Wild Lord Saorise is prepared to enchant Mora's Rock if the Empire fears an attack from the Children of Wrecks
Wind Lord Saorise includes a note of potential interest to the [[Imperial Conclave]]. She and her coven are capable of performing an [[enchantment]] using the [[Autumn magic#Lore of Sand|Lore of Sand]] that will draw allied forces from the [[Realms#Autumn|Mercurial Archipelago]]. She has demonstrated this ability in the past - leading advisors to the Consul to conclude she is referring to the enchantment the Empire knows as [[Mystic_scrolls_of_Estavus#Ramparts_of_Ashlar|Ramparts of Ashlar]]. If the Imperial Conclave is prepared to [[Endowment|endow]] her with 75 crystals of mana she will ensure that enchantment is raised over Mora's Rock to significantly increase the ability of the garrison to resist the Children of Wrecks. Obviously the enchantment only lasts for a season, but Saorise says that the Protectorate will undertake the enchantment whenever the Conclave provides the mana.

Obviously, while she has proposed the Conclave deliver the mana, it is unlikely she will turn down a donation of mana from private citizens should they be able to use a ritual such as [[Ethereal Courier]] to deliver them. Unfortunately, that ritual is a little unreliable as to how ''soon'' it reaches the recipient. As such, using Ethereal Courier will result in an enchantment in the ''following'' season, whereas the endowment of the Conclave would elicit an enchantment following following the summit where it is provided.
==Further Reading==
* [[Ambassador]]
* [[Imperial Consul]]