386YE Spring Equinox winds of fortune

Anvil, a sea of tent, sprawls across the fields around the Forge and the Senate building.

Overview

Over the past three months, events have taken place which are of significance to the Empire and may require a response from her champions. These are the winds of fortune, counterparts to the Winds of War which detail the Empire's military campaigns. They lay out situations, and usually include things that characters can do to take advantage of opportunities or to resolve problems. In almost every case, they start with a piece of flavour text. This fiction helps introduce the wind of fortune, or draws out a particular theme or element. Often, it represents a viewpoint that one or more NPCs might have in-character. In all cases, these pieces are intended to help create an atmosphere and provide a little entertainment. Where they contain opinions, those are the opinions of the fictional people depicted - and where they contain information or rumours the assumption is that the reader will create their own context for that information or gossip if they want to use it in character.

The body of the wind of fortune describes situations and lays out ways players can engage with them. Except where we explicitly talk about something being "rumoured" or use a phrase like "some might say..." the details of a wind of fortune are factual. They represent briefing material presented by the civil service or similar authoritative sources and represents something the average educated citizen would acknowledge as a reliable truth. Unless we specify otherwise, we're also being as thorough as possible. This information doesn't need further checking in-character. It's not opinion, and we're not trying to trick you.

As always, how much or how little of this information you choose to know in character is up to you. Part of the purpose of Winds of Fortune is to maintain the illusion of the Empire as a living, breathing place where things happen - and to make players aware of things their characters could know based on what their roleplaying says they have been doing for the past three months. It's perfectly acceptable to turn up to Empire having read only a few Winds of Fortune that directly interest your character; part of the fun on the field can come from learning about situations and opportunities in other parts of the game.

In each case, we've tried to tag the Winds of Fortune entry with the nations, or political bodies, to which it is most relevant. We've done this to help people who are interested only in events that are especially relevant to them. In no way are these tags intended to be exhaustive; the Empire is a complex place and very little happens in isolation.

Winds of Fortune

Promising Light

• Imperial citizens, National Assemblies

The Throne has the unique power to address the Empire, to communicate with every Imperial citizen. The first such address, the inaugural address traditionally made immediately after their coronation, is seen as setting the tenor for their reign and has a particular impact on the people of the Empire. Especially as it is usually accompanied by the festivities that surround the ascension of a new Throne. In this case, the Empress has sent out a powerful call for unity, but also laid out a vision of Imperial destiny that many find particularly appealing - especially given it coincides with an Empire-wide party.

You can learn about the address, and the festivities that accompany it, in the Promising light wind of fortune.

New Port, Old Wine

• The Marches, especially Bregas, Imperial Senate, the Throne

The overwhelming majority of Bregas are delighted that the Jotun have been banished from the territory - although you'd probably not know it just by looking at them. The pretender Mathilda Fisher is no more, and her body has been sent away to rest with whatever honour the orcs are prepared to offer. Yet there's still people in the western fenland with a grudge against the Empire... butEmpress Vesna's inaugural address reaches out to them just as much as it does to any other Imperial citizens.

You can learn about the situation in Bregasland, and the impact both of the address and other recent actions, in the New port, old wine wind of fortune.

The Three Pillars

• Urizen and the League, especially those from Spiral, Imperial Senate

There is open rebellion in Spiral among those Urizen who struggle with the decision to allocate the territory to the League. Keen to avoid the rebellion spreading, the Empire has made concerted efforts to meet the rebels demands where possible. The words of the Empress have come at an opportune moment, just as the Imperial Senate were wrestling with a way to satisfy the demands of one of the Urizeni factions.

You can learn about the situation with the Urizeni rebels, and the opportunity to reach an understanding with at least one of them, in the The three pillars wind of fortune.

Other Events

There are a number of other events and situations which are noteworthy, but which for whatever reason have not led to a full Wind of Fortune in their own right.

Trade Summary

TBC

Mandates

• You can find details of the mandates, along with the rest of the Synod judgements, here.

A number of mandates were successfully upheld in the Imperial Synod last season. As long as the named priest provided sufficient liao, those mandates have been automatically enacted.

Winter Conjunctions

• Last event there were a number of conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate; their known outcomes are listed here

During the Winter Solstice, there were a number of conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate identified by the Imperial prognosticators. In each case a band of Imperial heroes used that conjunction to travel to a location far from Anvil and intervene in an ongoing situation. These are the known outcomes of those conjunctions. In the case of battles, it is important to remember that the Military Council can only make use of two of the major conjunctions each summit, choosing which to take advantage of during the Muster.

Major Conjunctions

TBC

Normal Conjunctions

TBC