Below the red rock

The Skjalderborn have come to fight with theirLasambrian allies in the shadow of the red rocks.

Click for audio version

Of Crimson Stone

The Lasambrian Jotun have invaded Kahraman again. A season that saw the territory defenceless save for two magical fortresses raised in the northern peaks allowed the orcs to rampage across the lowlands as they saw fit, disrupting both work on the Red Depths and the fortified roads. Last season, though, there were no Imperial armies in Kahraman, and that is no longer the case.

Isaella's Dance and the Red Wind Corsairs have come to aid the defence of the western territory. They stand ready to protect Freeborn citizens and hard-working road-builders alike. The Jotun orcs, however, have received reinforcements of their own. The 'Corsairs are empowered with a potent enchantment that helps them reach Kahraman from Skallahn; the Skjalderborn have matched them march for march and now join the Escuta and the Hierro in their conquest of the crimson peaks. The Corazón are also here, but as usual they focus more on seizing the wealth more than on trying to take the Freeborn land.

While the orc forces are larger, the two sides remain roughly matched in strength thanks to the presence of a trio of magical fortifications raised in the northern mountains. The three enchanted castles look very similar - brooding pinnacles of white stone and black ice that loom over Briante, Damata, and the ruins of Fort Braydon. Each is garrisoned by eagle-eyed and fox-furred heralds of the Great Glacier, and each tower has a massive horn carved from the curling bones of some immense creature of the Summer realm that sound a warning if any orcs try to push into the foothills of the Kahraman mountains.

Navarr, we take pride in our nations, we affirm the route to salvation of all peoples under the banner of this, our shared Empire! We return to Kahraman to make a Cautious Advance against the lasambrians. Let us show our enemies we have skill and training in all forms of warfare and not just the use of spring magic and poisons. Navarr have honour, it may just have a different view point to our enemies. We have virtue and will demonstrate it.

Ioan Longshadow, General of Isella's Dance

Freeborn! I have a tale to tell - a tale of sighs, sorrows, and darkness. A tale of wistfulness, of disconnection, and missed opportunities. A tale of a people embracing their tragedies. Three sisters, lost in time and space, reunited by freeborn hand, freeborn song and freeborn courage. The message is clear; Cry! Scream! Make clear your Glass. Show the world the full strength of the Freeborn soul. We are not made lesser by mourning what is lost - we are made stronger by sharing our deepest heart. Hold each other! March hand in hand! Deepen that which connects and binds us. The Freeborn bend and sway but will never break. Our friends in the marches come in united front to answer the Grendel atrocities, and we treasure their loyalties; let us make haste now to Kahraman, a most disconnected part of our lands. Protect our people! Protect the Builders! Join hands with our Navarri Cousins and take the fight to the tribes of Reinos.

Delora i Sol-Devorador i Erigo, General of the Red Wind Corsairs

Of Whispering Wind

The Imperial armies mostly rely on their own soldiery - with the exception of a handful of free warriors from the Brass Coast and the League who fight with the Red Wind Corsairs - but the Hierro are bolstered by the warbands of Jotun champions. The yeggara of Mournwold, those human folk who bear the rank of Jotun and battle beneath the banners of the traitorous children of the Mourn, have had their numbers bolstered by several units of Fishers, still fighting under the blue-and-gold eel banner of the dead would-be queen. Stephen of Sarcombe offers them vengeance, and the chance to quench their fury over their shattered dreams in the blood of Imperial soldiers.

New banners are spied among the Hierro ranks; the standards themselves depict a miscellany of weapons and tools but jammed atop each is a a mighty horned skull, large enough to have come from an ox but with the curling horns of a ram. This is the newly-minted warband of Yantan Tethrasson, a thousand young Jotun eager to prove themselves in battle against the Empire. A new generation of would-be heroes, gathered from among the orcs of the south, from Lasambria and Narkyst, called to war. Many are the children of thralls, answering the call to fight that rings in their hearts. Their leader, a lanky orc no more than twenty, in a sheepskin jacket, a former Lasambrian shepherd now raised to the rank of Jotun by the call of his ancestors. According to those who face them, several bear gifts granted by the Summer eternals - weapons from Barien, blessings from Cathan Canae and Eleonaris.

For the second season in a row there is no sign of the mountain-banners of Geht Aran, the self-styled warlord of Kahraman. Since they jointed the Jotun, the orcs that once lived in the highlands above Serra Briante and Serra Damata have rarely missed a chance to raid the Freeborn here. Perhaps there is truth to the rumour that the warlord has been slain. But there are also unreliable whispers that their successor, the cunning orc warrior-magician Chana Aran, has been recognised as the Jarl of Briante and now leads an army, their warband swollen by bandits and brigands ruthless enough to make the Corazón blush. If there is truth to this latter tale, it bodes ill for the future.

Conquest for its own sake is Ambitious, but every wall is built one brick at a time. Virtue guides the hand of the builder, and so with Jotun allies we must ensure our grasp on the lowlands is steady, before we begin the ascent of Serra Damata.

Eahgoh Blackhammer, General of the Hierro

Of Tumultuous Fire

Whatever has happened with the orcs who once claimed the northern peaks as their home, right now though, there are four orc armies in Kahraman. The magical fortresses bar the mountains from anything save the most cursory of raids. So, just as they did following the Autumn Equinox, the Jotun forces focus their attention on the arid plains of Gambit and Jade Range. The Corazón raid, the Escuta and the Skjalderborn probe Imperial defences, and the Hierro consolidate the gains in the west, slowly grinding out resistance in Gambit. They have their sights set on Rojota - the town on the eastern borders of Gambit that has seen so much bloodshed over the last decade.

In the past the goals of the Lasambrian Jotun have been quite straightforward; march east conquering as much territory as they can before they are inevitably driven back by a superior Imperial force. This season, thought, there seems to be a grim purpose underlying the strategies employed by the orcs of the Lasambrian Hills and their allies. Though the northern mountains are heavily defended by the servants of Cathan Canae, that doesn't stop the Escuta and the Hierro from sending scouting parties into the foothills of Serra Damata. They are repulsed before reaching the town itself, but it is clear that the orcs have a particular interest in the Damatian Cliffs that goes beyond their usual lust for plunder and conquest.

Likewise, while the "random raids" of the Corazón brigands persist, there are several attacks that are clearly aimed at some grander scheme. The orcs target the labourers trying to secure the territory with roads and kamkrag in particular, as well as the caravans that carry precious stone from Serra Damata down into Tassato. They clearly seek to repeat their successes last season, harvesting the bounty of materials brought to the territory - ironically to defend the people against their raiding ways.

There are numerous clashes all across the territory, but only one major engagement on the grasslands to the west of Rojota. The Escuta and the Skjladerborn face off against Isaella's Dance and the Red Wind Corsairs in a vicious battle to try and claim the town itself. The courage of the Empire, though, wins the day, with the Lasambrians forced to cede the field and retreat from Rojota. Celebrations are muted. In the course of a single days fighting nearly a thousand Imperial soldiers are slain, bringing the estimated death-toll for the two armies to nearly fifteen-hundred lost over the course of the season. There's no indication that the orcs have suffered much more than half that many losses. The magical fortifications are useful, but they can't directly prevent the loss of Imperial lives.

Under the gentle touch of unfamiliar Spring rains, scarlet flowers blossom amid the arid hills.

Of Gentle Rain

Even in Winter, it is rare for the grasslands of Kahraman to see rain. This season past, however, proves to be an exception. Even as Isaella's Dance and the Red Wind Corsairs have their first clash with the invading armies, a gentle drizzle begins that barely lets up through the following three months. The rain is infused with subtle Spring magic - not the powerful healing of the Rivers of Life but the soft touch of water indended to Regrow the Land's Heart. It does little to quench the fierce fighting across Kahraman, but it soothes some souls tattered by the recent losses incurred by the people of the Brass Coast. The assumption among Imperial citizens is that it is an attempt to contain the Blightheart of Madruga and the terrors that threaten to spill over into Jade Range.

One place where the touch of the rains is particularly potent, however, is in Serra Damata. Thanks to the determination of the northern Dhomiro, work on the Red Depths has been completed despite the presence of the Lasambrians. The ruin of the Red Pinnacle, torn down during the Summer Solstice to block the Redgate Pass with the aid of the House of Fire and Flame left terrible scars on the western mountains. The rain has kindled new life; as the Spring Equinox approaches, as the work on the Red Depths is completed, throngs of beautiful red and gold flowers erupt across the hills and mountainsides in Serra Damata. Sturdy, scrubby bushes flourish, finding anchorage and sustenance in the cracked stone and earth, and around the new pools formed by the fresh mountain rain. The new foliage is visible to anyone in western Kahraman. To the Freeborn it is a symbol of renewal; but to the Lasambrians it is a sign that this time - this time - their conquest of the cinnabar hills will be successful.

Game Information: Kahraman

Despite their reinforcements, the presence of two Imperial armies and three magical citadels has slowed the Lasambrian Jotun advance. They have made gains in Gambit, and are now four-fifths of the way towards conquering the region. The town of Rojota remains firmly in Imperial hands. Without the armies and the fortifications both, there is no doubt the orc forces would have captured Gambit, and made significant headway into capturing Jade Range.

Also, without the armies and the fortifications it is likely the Corazón would have seized more materials from the building projects here. As it is, there have been raids across the territory, but between them the Red Wind Corsairs and Isaella's Dance have kept the Jotun from repeating their successes of last season. No materials have been stolen from the building projects, no labourers captured. On the other hand, for the second season in a row, no progress has been made toward completing the project either. While the Lasambrians continue to fight, it's extremely difficult for road-builders to do their work.

As part of their raiding, the Corazón have managed to steal some white granite and mithril from the hills, which has directly impacted the production of the Great Mines of Briante and the Damatian Cliffs. The Great Mine has lost 6 wains of mithril, and the Cliffs have lost 7 wains of white granite, to the Corazón raiders.

Playing With Fire (Conjunction)

• A Jotun warband accompanied by heralds of Cathan Canae has been raiding the hills of Kahraman
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• The Dhomiro of the Cinnabar Hills is responsible for stopping the Jotun from returning to the Escuta

A warband of Jotun - former soldiers in the Deep Bloods before the army was reborn as the Escuta - ventured north into the cinnabar hills of Kahraman rather than support the Lasambrian Jotun in Gambit. They have sped across the northern regions over the past season; raiding as they go and taking only the choicest treasures to return with. The warband is now bedecked in the wares of artisans; every orc equipped with at least one item crafted by an apprentice, and they are accompanied by several heralds of the Mistress of Blizzards.

Now, as the equinox draws near, the warband has turned back towards Gambit and to the Escuta who remain there. If they are allowed to return to the Lasambrian Jotun then they will pass on part of the wealth they have taken from the scattered Freeborn families of the hills, allowing the Escuta to regain strength equivalent to 8 wains of emergency resupply before the next season of campaign. Given that this involves dealing with those who have threatened the prosperity of the people who make the cinnabar hills their home it is the responsibility of the Dhomiro of the Cinnabar Hills, Iñez i Azul-Mar i Erigo, to stop the Jotun from reaching the Escuta.