The final countdown

"When Isaella slew the Mad Emperor, do you imagine she had no doubts? To take up arms against her friend? The man she had sworn a sacred oath to protect against all threats. Do you imagine that killing him was easy?"

"We don't praise Isaella for her skill with arms. We praise her because in the face of all her doubts she had the Courage to act! That is what it means to be a hero! Isaella understood what her actions would mean. She knew that slaying the Emperor would unleash chaos. She knew that it would mean her death. And still, she did not hesitate. Faced with a thousand reasons to hesitate, to wait, to delay... she chose to ignore them all. She knew that inaction brings only shame and never victory."

"It is easy for us. Here. Now. After the fact. Now when the Mad Emperor is gone and long buried. When his legacy is dust, his supporters vanquished. Now it seems like there was never any other choice. We understand now - as only Isaella understood then - that all those doubts, those fears, they were just spectres sent to harry her soul. They were never real!"

"And so it will seem to our children. To our descendents. We, who will surely die if we take this path, will seem to them as if we made the only possible choice. They will not know our doubts. They will not understand our fears. History will see right through them. All that will remain after we are gone are the legends we leave."

"This is what it means to be a hero. To see not with the eyes of now - but to see as Isaella saw - to see with the eyes of history. Only then can you see what needs to be done."

"You! You at the back. Will you be Isaella?"

The Navarr face a decision that will shape the future of their nation.

Overview

At the Winter Solstice, Aniera of Exiles End used the Navarr Assembly to ask the Navarr people for their opinion following the work published on the vallorn and how to destroy it. Further statements followed next season from both the Navarr and Highguard with an eloquent call to action. "The grey pilgrims of Highguard and questing Knights of Dawn did not join our cause simply to walk the trods for another thousand years." said Sîan Eternal, "It is time to act with wisdom and forethought but act nonetheless." The Highborn Doctor Lysimachus appeared to concur with that view and reminded Highguard that the vallorn was the greatest spiritual threat to the Empire, a pointed call back to the decision by the Empire to found the Grey Pilgrims for the express purpose of combating the vallorn.

There is widespread support for these views across the people of Navarr and Highguard, but the matter is not yet settled. There is a growing hope that after centuries, this could be the hour. Yet, there are voices in both lands that urge caution - it is very clear that the Empire can do this - that is not the same as saying they should do this.

There is always a choice.

Now Highguard and most especially the Navarr must make that choice. It is not an exaggeration to say that everything hinges on this. If the Empire chooses to begin the final war with the vallorn then nothing will ever be the same again. There can be no ducking this decision, it is too important, too momentous, too pressing. One way or another the Navarr and the Empire must decide.

After 1000 years of work we have the answer to destroying the vallorn. The Navarr assembly now seeks the opinion of the Navarr people. Speak to your guides. We are listening. We shall publish our response next season.

Aniera Exiles End, Navarr Assembly, 385YE Winter Solstice, Upheld (Greater Majority (404-18))

It is time to stop seeing the Vallorn as a dormant threat to be dealt with later. It is a danger that lies within our Empire's borders that holds countless bodies and souls. Most notably it keeps two exemplars, the founders of our nation, in torturous stasis. The grey pilgrims of Highguard and questing Knights of Dawn did not join our cause simply to walk the trods for another thousand years. They join us in the war to eradicate the ancient abomination and fulfill our Nations ambition to see the end of the vallorn for good. It is time to act with wisdom and forethought but act nonetheless.

Sîan Eternal, Navarr Assembly, 385YE Spring Equinox, Upheld (214-0)

While we Highborn are righteously committed to ensuring the Cold Sun is extinguished, we must not forget the other threats we still face and fight. While we focus on the Cold Sun on our doors and must prepare for Grendel on our shores, the Vallorn remains the greatest spiritual threat to the Empire and is no dormant threat. We formed the Grey Pilgrims to aid Navarr to end this threat, not just keep it at bay for another 1,000 years for others to deal with. In accordance with Sian Eternals statement to Navarr, once the Cold Sun have been snuffed out, even as we keep an eye upon the Grendel, we return to ensuring the Vallorn are eventually given a right permanent kicking in! When the time comes for just to act, whether sooner or later, we will Act with certainty.

Doctor Lysimachus, Highborn Assembly, 385YE Spring Equinox, Upheld (332-0)

To walk, or to cease walking and begin to fight?

A Time To Shine

• The Navarr Assembly could use a mandate to commit the entire nation to the war against the vallorn
• This mandate could be enacted at the Summer Solstice or the Autumn Equinox

There is predictable cynicism from some quarters that the politics of Anvil will not favour the Navarr. When the Jotun threatened the Navarr holdings in Liathaven, it was not the time. The territory fell to the barbarians, the steadings destroyed, the people slaughtered. When the vallorn in Brocéliande was vulnerable for the first time in a generation, it was not the time and a vital chance to weaken the vallorn was lost. The situation at the moment is difficult, nobody denies it - the Jotun are attacking in the West, the Druj have just invaded Therunin and the Grendel are not yet defeated in the South. There is a widespread belief that the powers that be will look to the Imperial Military Council and they will say... it is not the time. The Navarr will be told that it must make this sacrifice for the good of the Empire, as if they have not been sacrificing everything for the good of the Empire for the best part of four centuries.

It is not enough to give in to cynicism says Maddoc of the Fleeting Star Striding, who claims that the Military Council could be persuaded to support attempts to join the hearts. If the vallorn in Liathaven exploded forth from its dark heart, it would pose an enormous problem for the Jotun who would be forced to divert armies to try and oppose any Westward expansion. Likewise, if the heart in the Sarangrave were triggered, it would spell disaster for the Druj - they would have to pull back some or all of their armies to contain it. Triggering the vallorn is guaranteed to radically alter the Empire's military position - but it's not guaranteed to make it worse.

Unable to settle these arguments, people look with optimism to their leaders at Anvil to settle this matter once and for all. Can it be done? The will among the Navarr is there - people are ready to sacrifice everything for this. To give up everything, to commit everything. But is now the right time? The people trust their leaders to make that decision.

Once made that decision will be difficult to turn back. Beginning the final war against the vallorn would be transformative for the Navarr. Their stridings would no longer need to walk the trods... There would be no more need to weaken the vallorn one step at a time when anymore. That would mean all those Navarr warriors would become available to take up the fight. It's impossible to predict the changes that will follow such a decision but nothing will be the same.

The people of Navarr are looking to their leaders at Anvil for an answer; the priests of Navarr could use a mandate in the Assembly to seize this moment:

We march to war! We send {named priest} with 200 liao to urge every Navarr to remember the oaths they swore. Let us eradicate the ancient abomination and fulfil our nation's ambition to see the end of the vallorn for good.

Synod Mandate, Navarr Assembly

If this mandate is enacted, then most of the steadings will stop walking the trods and return home in preparation for the final battle to begin. There will be a huge swell of enthusiasm as people from across the nation embrace the coming fight. As a result, the number of armies that the Navarr can maintain will increase from three to six.

Almost every Navarr will commit themselves fully to the coming war. The Navarr have always had a somewhat singular focus; this mandate will strengthen that resolve. In the seasons that follow, there will be far fewer opportunities like the recent proposal to build new wayhouses; instead every effort will be made to find new opportunities to gain the upper hand in the struggle against the vallorn.

At the first stage, the Navarr scouts will seek to identify opportunities to place the trods in Béantal Dol in Sarangrave, and in Kabanja and Visokuma in Axos. Once The Dance of Navarr and Thorn is cast in these three territories, then the final war against the vallorn will begin. When that happens, there will be no going back. The castings will need to be timed right - to ensure the Druj and Axou can't simply take them down before the network of trods is complete - but nobody said this would be easy.

By enacting this mandate, the Assembly is confirming that it is the settled will of the leaders of the Navarr that the nation begin the war against the vallorn at the soonest available opportunity. It may not happen immediately, but the final countdown will have begun. Once that decision is made, the Navarr will expect their leaders to see it through, to be entirely committed to the imminent war against the vallorn. In return they will offer their own absolute commitment, seeking out ways to help the long dream of the Navarr to become a reality.

A Time To Stay

• The Navarr Assembly could use a mandate to tell the nation to stay their hand
• This mandate could be enacted at the Summer Solstice or the Autumn Equinox

Not every Navarr is persuaded that now is the time to act. It is easy to urge people to have the Courage of their convictions, easy to be swept up by the siren call of history, easy to decry those who urge caution. "I always pause for thought before I act," says Dai Summers rhetorically, "what do you do?".

What if now is not the right time? What if starting the final war with the vallorn now results in the destruction of the Empire? What if everyone dies and the Navarr have to begin the whole thing all over again. It has taken centuries to get to this point - why not wait a few more decades? Right now it seems like everything would hang in the balance - why not wait until things are in the Navarr's favour.

It will be hard for people to accept that now is not the time, but they trust the Wisdom of the Navarr at Anvil. Everyone thorn wants to be Isaella - everyone wants to be a hero. But sensible people must know that the most important thing is to win. The people of Navarr are looking to their leaders at Anvil for an answer. The priests of Navarr could use a mandate in the Assembly to seize this moment:

Actions have consequences. We send {named priest} with 100 doses of liao to remind Navarr that first we must prepare for malice. We will not start this war until the outcome is certain.

Synod Mandate, Navarr Assembly

If this mandate is enacted, then people will be disappointed but they will accept it. The knowledge of how to defeat the vallorn is not going away. The final battle might not happen for a generation - but people can use that time to prepare, to make ready, to ensure that when the moment comes their descendants can strike with the certainty that the path to victory has been prepared.

The vallorn has lasted a thousand years; there is no sign that it cannot endure for another thousand.

The mandate will still produce significant changes. Stridings my continue to walk the trods as they have done since the Navarr began, but where before the Navarr would risk much to seize any chance for an advantage over the vallorn, now they will go out of their way to avoid it. There is no point in risking lives on foolish ventures when it is settled that now is not the time. Better to husband their strength and prepare.

In the seasons that follow, there will be far more opportunities like the recent proposal to build new wayhouses but at the cost of new opportunities to deal with the vallorn. The ancient enemy will be left to slumber in its dark hearts - the Navarr will turn their focus to strengthening their nation and the Empire. In many ways it will be like a dry run the future - a decade without ever having to worry about the vallorn will be a kind of preparation for when the day dawns that there is no vallorn.

Your Darkened Land

• There will be a catastrophic loss of confidence in the leadership of the Navarr if neither mandate is passed before the end of the Autumn Equinox

The people of the Navarr are looking to their leaders to make the most momentous decision any Navarr has made since the fall of Terunael, since Navarr and Thorn swore the first oaths. They understand how difficult it will be to make this decision. None-the-less there is no-one else who can make this judgement. Only the leaders at Anvil know what the Senate could be persuaded of. Only they know what the Military Council can be persuaded of. Only they can know what the Throne really thinks. People are relying on their leaders to step up at this moment and make the decision one way or the other.

The Navarr people will give their leaders time, but only a little. If the Navarr cannot make the decision in the next two seasons, if the National Assembly does not enact either mandate before the end of the Autumn Equinox. If they can't make up their mind whether to fight the vallorn or to wait a generation and use that time to prepare before winter comes, then there will be a catastrophic loss of confidence in the Navarr leadership. Every personal resource in the nation will suffer a two rank penalty to their production for the next year as a result.

What does it mean that the vallorn is the greatest spiritual threat to the Empire?

A Time To Sing

• The Highborn Assembly could use a mandate to commit those dedicated to destroying the vallorn to the fight
• This mandate could be enacted at the Summer Solstice or the Autumn Equinox

The Highborn have been unequivocal on the matter of the Vallorn - their assembly has repeatedly called it the greatest spiritual threat the Empire has ever faced. The Grey Pilgrims were founded to support the Navarr by taking up the burden of walking the trods. They gave up their comfortable lives in Highguard to commit themselves to a task that at the time seemed interminable. Now it seems that the timing was simply apposite - fated even.

Like the Navarr, the Highborn Assembly could embrace the chance to begin the war against the vallorn. Like the Navarr this choice will have a profound impact on the nation. It is not just that there will be no more need to walk the trods; the start of the war with the vallorn will invite the Highborn to consider other changes too. Is now the time to be building the grand inspiration of the Way in Bastion when the survival of the very Empire may be at stake? It's difficult to predict what quandries such a decision will raise, if the Highborn pass this mandate.

There is no sacrifice so great that we cannot meet it to defeat this terror. We send {named priest} with 200 liao to urge every Highborn to prepare for the coming battle. No price is too high to realise our dreams.

Synod Mandate, Highborn Assembly

If this mandate is enacted, then the grey pilgrims will stop walking the trods and return home in preparation for the final battle to begin. As a result, the number of armies that the Highborn can support will increase from three to four.

The Highborn nation are committed to defeating the vallorn but they don't have the singular focus of the Navarr. Their nation was not literally founded to achieve this outcome. Even so, this mandate will strengthen the resolve that led to the creation of the Grey Pilgrims. In the seasons that follow, there will be fewer opportunities like the recent proposal to convert the Asaveans; instead every effort will be made to find new opportunities to gain the upper hand in the struggle against the vallorn.

By enacting this mandate, the Assembly is confirming that the virtuous thing to do is to be begin the war against the vallorn at the first opportunity to do so. Once that decision is made, it will be difficult to persuade Highguard to turn aside no matter what any other nation in the Empire says. The Way of Virtue makes few allowances for those who would cower from the path they have chosen when the storms blow. If the Highborn Assembly commits the nation to the war with the vallorn, if they declare that now is the moment to strike, then every Virtuous citizen in the nation will expect them to stick to the course. The decision will create many opportunities to bring the grand plan outlined in the vallorn research to fruition. Once that decision is made, the Highborn will expect their leaders to see it through, to be entirely committed to the imminent war against the vallorn. In return they will offer their own absolute commitment, seeking out ways to bring the greatest spiritual threat to the Empire to an end.

The will of the virtuous cannot be denied.

A Time To Live

• The assemblies of other nations could use a statement of principle to make their nation's position clear

Most Navarr agree that if this is to happen, it will not be done by the Navarr alone. Was it not for this reason that the Navarr gave their hearts and bodies and souls to the project of the Empire in the first place? Was it not for this that Myfanwy and those that followed her joined with the First Empress to spread the word of what would become the Imperial dream? The issue is pressing for the Highborn Assembly and demands an answer from the Navarr Assembly, but the other nations have yet to speak clearly. Perhaps there is time yet for Navarr guides and others to persuade their allies to rally to their cause.

There are no mandates for the other assemblies, but any of the nation assemblies could use a statement of principle to respond to this dramatic moment. Statements that get a greater majority that urge clear, concrete action on the vallorn - one way or the other - are more than likely to lead to a mandate to commit the nation to a course of action.

Timing

• The mandates detailed here can be raised at the Summer Solstice or the Autumn Equinox

Unlike traditional mandates, those available to the Navarr and Highborn Assemblies listed here can be enacted at either the Summer Solstice or the Autumn Equinox. After that, the opportunities will be lost.

Further Reading

Related Topics

• Advisor on the Vallorn
• Grey Pilgrim
• Vallornspawn husk and Ettercap - Discussions of common vallorn creatures
• Trods and Trods, Roads, and Ox-carts - regarding trods
• The Dance of Navarr and Thorn - the ritual that creates trods

History

• Origins of the Vallorn
• Terunael in Axos
• Heirs of Terunael
• Drustan of the Briar

Winds of War and Fortune

• The final countdown - 386YE Summer wind of fortune detailing the choice whether to begin the final war against the vallorn
• Into Béantal Dol - 386YE Spring report from an expedition to Bendol in Sarangrave
• A thousand years of longing - 385YE Winter wind of fortune about the findings of the Great Library of Hacynian
• Rain king - 385YE Spring Wind of Fortune detailing aid offered against the vallorn by the eternal Ossegrahn
• The bones of what you believe - 384YE Autumn Wind of Fortune detailing the opportunity to expand the Great Library at Hacynian
• One last song - 385YE Winter Wind of Fortune detailing the adventure into Brocéliande
• The city asleep - 384YE Autumn Wind of Fortune introducing the adventure into Brocélieande
• Whither the seed - 383YE Winter Wind of Fortune about the use of Wither the Seed on Brocéliande and Liathaven
• Rise of Terunael - 383YE Autumn Wind of Fortune regarding the plans of the Heirs of Terunael
• Comes a time - 383YE Summer Solstice wind of fortune relating to the future of Seren
• Blood for poppies - 382YE Summer Wind of War detailing the victory over the Liathaven vallorn
• Immolation - 382YE Spring Wind of War detailing the fight against the Liathaven vallorn

Click Expand to see a summary of the important pages related to the vallorn.