Wayfaring strangers
Overview
It is not just the great and the good of the Empire who come to Anvil each equinox and solstice. The tent-city that springs up around the the Forge attracts visitors from all over the known world, and beyond. Some are drawn by the promise of wealth, some by the need to find the wisest and the bravest to help them resolve their dilemmas, some seek to influence those who wield true power in the Empire, and others come to celebrate and forge new relationships with those drawn to the heart of Imperial power.
Some who plan to visit Anvil are at pains to conceal their arrival, or their intentions. Others, though, make no secret of their intentions - indeed, they often choose to send word ahead to ensure that those they hope to make contact with are prepared for them. Here, we talk about some of those who have been most public in their desire to meet those who throng to Anvil.
In Progress - This Wind of Fortune will be updated in the run up to the event with additional content; we'll remove this marker when the last information goes on it.
Friday
Saturday
Forge and Furnace Fellowship
The League National Assembly recognises that negotiations between the Forge and Furnace Fellowship and the Senators of the League have begun in good faith over the Tassatan Hills ilium mine. We recognise that the Senators have immediately acted to protect the prosperity of the Tassatan workers through an initial recompense. We urge all parties to be patient, allow negotiations to conclude, and avoid taking any precipitous actions
Fabio Costas d'Apulian, League Assembly, Summer 388YE, Vote: Upheld with a Greater Majority 334-0- Representatives of the Forge and Furnace Fellowship visited Anvil last season but were unable to agree on a deal with the Senators for Holberg and Tassato
- Robert Stewart will be visiting Anvil at 10:30 on Saturday to discuss the matter with the incumbent senators and a representative of the League Assembly
Four years ago, the Great Storm of '84YE raged, bringing widespread flooding across the Empire. The good news was that it revealed a previously unknown ilium deposit in the hills of Tassato Mestra, which was established as a Bourse seat the following summit.
Gemma Stewart, representative of the Forge and Furnace Fellowship, put forward the aid of the mining guild to provide most of the labour and expertise for the project on the proviso that it be made a League position appointed by Tally of the Votes. The Senate agreed, and the Tassatan Hills was established, with the ilium being delivered a year after the storm, at the Autumn Equinox 385YE.
Eleven seasons after it was first elected, during the Winter Solstice 387YE, the seat was relinquished as a national seat, and then allocated as an Imperial seat, with Damiàn i Martàn i Erigo winning the seat for 85 thrones.
Last season, representatives met with Kaspar Yakovich von Holberg, Senator for Holberg, and Cesare Sanguineo Rezia Di Tassato, Senator for Holberg, to discuss the situation in an attempt to come to an agreement. Talks stalled during the summit, though the Forge and Furnace Fellowship have received 175 thrones in recompense from the Senator for Holberg. During the summit, a judgement, raised by Fabio Costas d'Apulian, which called on all parties to be patient, was upheld with a greater majority by the League Assembly. People have heeded the words of their Assembly, but their patience won't last forever...
Gemma has dispatched her cousin, Robert Stewart, to Anvil to speak with the incumbent senators and a representative of the League Assembly on "making things right". Their starting positions remain the same as last season, where they suggested the Tassatan Hills be returned to the League and elected by Tally of the Votes of League business owners - and the 85 thrones from the auction disbursed to them; or the Arratan Gamble being made a League seat, appointed by Tally of the Votes; or a total of 300 thrones - minus the 175 already paid - in lost earnings over the past eleven seasons (averaging slightly over a five percent interest rate). Robert is keen to negotiate, however and try to find a solution that leaves nobody happy. But if he is unconvinced that there is a plan to settle the matter, then he will return to Tassato and, over the next season, encourage labourers to strike. By the start of the Winter Solstice 388YE, any new commissions in the territory will see their labour cost increased by three crowns per wain until the matter is resolved.
If the matter is not resolved by the end of the Spring Equinox 389YE, then the movement will spread to the other territories of the League, increasing labour costs for new commissions by two crowns per wain.
Bittersweet me
- Anka Karass and two other Karass are making their way to Anvil
- She is hoping for a private meeting with Reynard of De Gauvain, the Envoy to the Karass, at noon on Saturday in a room near Anvil
With little fanfare, Anka Karass and two of her inner circle have slipped across the Barrens and headed for Anvil shortly before the summit begins. The sept are loathed by their peers in the Barrens, and they're not much more popular with the Dawnish, so most people give them a wide berth. Still, news of their involvement in the raid on the Forest of Ulnak and the Salt Flats of Sanath has spread far. The Rahvin repeatedly warned the Empire that the Karass were treacherous and not to be trusted. But when the long-anticipated betrayal was finally revealed... it appears to have been directed at the Druj. Their assistance was pivotal on the raid - without their aid the Navarr and the Imperial Orcs simply could not have achieved what they did.
Despite that, the situation remains murky - somewhere along the line, the Karass split from the main body of the rescue party and somehow they have made their own way back to the Barrens. Now it seems that Anka Karass wants to come to Anvil, for the first time ever. Her usual shadow, the herbalist Tannuk is not with her, but she is bringing Lenna, the sept's shaman and Peyo, the leader of their scouts.
She has made arrangements for a private meeting-room to be prepared at noon on the Saturday of the summit in Outer Anvil, a short distance beyond the Urizeni camp. She's asked Reynard of De Gauvain, the Envoy to the Karass, to meet Lenna at midday at the entrance to the Hall of Worlds - it being as good a landmark as any - and retire with her for a meeting, to discuss the future of the relationship between the Karass and the Empire.
It's all somewhat secretive - which is about what anyone expects from the Karass. She has written to Reynard in advance of the meeting - if Reynard intends to take the meeting, it will be up to the Envoy to decide who he takes with him.
Fear and Looting in the Sarangrave
- An Urizeni spire from Sarangrave has discovered a terrible Druj artefact
- It bears a curse which will be unleashed if it is destroyed without due care
- They have asked the Magpies to examine it, and will be near the sodality tent from 13:30 on Saturday
Members of the Marsh Lantern Spire, a newly established Urizeni settlement in Sarangrave, have been working to understand the areas surrounding their new home. One of the number, a seer by the name of Joanides, uncovered the ruins of an old structure, presumably originally built by the Druj. Within it, the magician found a strange object which exuded a powerful aura of fear.
Together with other members of the spire, they sought to destroy the object with a casting of Words of Ending, however they performed some basic divinations first and discovered that it also bears some additional effects. If destroyed without being properly treated first, it will unleash a powerful curse on the surrounding area, affecting everyone nearby. This, in and of itself, might be manageable. The larger problem is that there is a shroud upon the object, concealing it's history. If it were destroyed without removing the shroud then nothing could be learned from it.
The shroud is too powerful for the spire to remove on their own, and the effects of it too unpleasant for them to leave it in place and await aid, so they have brought the item to Anvil. They would like the Magpies, as the Imperial body with relevant expertise and jurisdiction, to examine it. As such they will be in Anvil Centre around half-past three on Saturday afternoon, where they hope that the Speaker of the Magpies, Morgan Drifting Bough, will be able to take them somewhere safe to untangle the web of effects on the item and learn its secrets. They warn that the item may need an assortment of magical and spiritual effects removed. The magpies may wish to ensure they know where to find powerful sects and covens at short notice.
Last season the General Assembly agreed not to investigate the skills, the techniques, and the actual potion recipes that the Druj use to create fear auras. They judged it wise to let the art of creating fear die with them and encouraged people to destroy whatever items or learning existed. It's a sensible enough precaution, but it's not needed for people with the poise and the arete of the Urizeni.
Joanides will bring the cursed item to the sodality tent for 13:30 on Saturday and look for the Speaker or members of his sodality there.