The wild wind rises

The Marchers pride themselves on preparing a warm welcome for their friends, but also for their foes.

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Loyalty to Great Things

The Tusks march north through Braydon's Jasse into the Greensward. They are fresh from the fight with the orcs of the Lasambrian hills, having had little time to rest, no time to waste. The Jotun are in Mournwold, and the Tusks are marching home to face them.

They won't face them alone – Wintermark fights with them. The Bloodcloaks and the Green Shield, fresh from their furlough in Mitwold and Upwold, come south through Chalkdowns and Freemoor, eager for the fray. The Quiet Step are with them; Cold Sun has been destroyed, Miaren is safe for the moment, and the Navarr are eager to drive the invaders back into Liathaven. A prelude, perhaps, to the liberation of that wooded territory – hopefully while there are still some trees remaining.

Jacks of the Tusks! There is trouble at the Old Oak Inn, unwelcome visitors of the worst sort. I say we march forwards! Forwards with the thorns of Navarr. Forwards with the rising citizens of the Mourn. Forwards with heroes headed by the Emperor. Forwards! Until the banners of sparrow and Tusks fly over Sarcombe, the Old Oak Inn and the Mourn!

Stanley Of Chalkdown, General of the Tusks

From fine Upwold feasting, the Green Shield goes to fight. The war blast calls them all, ready to do right. Walk these ragged roads, with resolute intent, to rout Queen Yrsa's rule, bring down ruin rent. Besides them Mournwold's Tusks, Stanley's comrades come with might. We stand beside our friends day of battle, bloody night. Oathsworn Black Scar Forenthar, bring with us swift spears, and Tager Defender of the Fallen, who fought with me all these years. To the Old Oak Inn we journey, joined as blood-marshal one. To sup and sing of victory, 'neath the setting sun. Witness our wards of war-play, pledges proudly placed. Join us heralds of Janon, there's a mighty queen to face.

Iron Osric, General of the Green Shield

My Cloaks, My Pride, Now is the season to prove our quality to show your peerless dedication to our Imperial kin. Long have you been the healing spring that feeds our defences, now turn that spring into a flood. Raise up Shield and healing hands alike. We march to Mournwold to recover the lost. There will be no death that is not a Good Death. No End but a Heroes End. Yrsa should have been warned. Mournwold brooks no Queen.

Lofyn Blood-cloak, General of the Bloodcloaks

As we leave Miaren, Navarr return home to prepare for our final battle. We march west to the Mourne, Iron Osric with the Mark to the left of us, Stanley of Chalkdown with the Marches to the right, we engage the Jotun Invaders. While the Jotun spared Liaven's Glen, they still hold our Land around a heart we must defeat. We continue to fight in Virtue and Kinship so we may bring this dance to its end. Victory in our Lifetime!

Farenthar Shattersong, General of the Quiet Step

The lands that were our ancestors' will be ours again. Side by side with the septs of the north we fight, to bring the Mourn to Narkyst once more. None will dare stand between us and our prize, save that they face the Choice. Our honour demands nothing less.

King Gudmunder Arasonn, General of the Fist of Ulven

Ulfur's horn sounds, calling us to war! Side by side we march with the King of the South, to repay our debts. As the folk of the Marches came to the north, so we come to the south. For our honour! For our ancestors! For our triumph!

Queen Yrsa Jansdottir, Jarl of Jarls, Monarch of Kalsea, General of the Lion of the North

They are bolstered by the garrisons of Farstrider's Watch and Landskeeper's Bulwark, and by some two thousand soldiers bound to the warbands of the Empire's heroes. Most of these captains fight with the Tusks, but there are a few with Wintermark. All three armies are also joined by battalions of faerie knights, drawn from the Summer Realm, from the Fields of Glory. With the Bloodcloaks and the Green Shield, twin warlords in resplendent gold and crimson chain; Ser Grumbar and Ser Helvennan, the Hound-knight and the Stag-knight, eternal rivals fighting on the same side in the battle of the Mourwold. Their two-thousand strong households glower and glare but are bound by their oaths to aid their Winterfolk cousins. With the Tusks marches sharp-eared Ollavan the Reeve, bowmaster unparalleled, and his cohort of archers, proud and glorious, eager to prove themselves against the orcs – and to test their skill against that of the beaters they fight beside.

The Knights of Glory are not the only supernatural allies the Empire has found. One Alder of the Mourn has traded their mine to Adamant; in return they lead a cohort of koboldi warriors to help defend Farstrider's Watch. At the invitation of the General, the passionate warriors of the Shadowed Flame continue to fight with the Green Shield. Crimson and cobalt, whirling, blazing bright, they burn like torches inciting the Winterfolk that fight with them to greater and greater displays of bravery and heroism. They are indiscriminate in their enthusiasm and seek to set a fine example, and rather than avoid the elfin soldiers of the boar, the stag, and the reeve, they urge them to give their all in the battle against the Jotun.

Finally, there are the people of the Mournwold themselves. They accept the presence of the Tusks with dour, deprecating comments. The General had sworn an oath to protect the Mourn – what else would they do but bring the Tusks to fight the Jotun? It's just common sense! But there is no doubt that there is a frisson of relief, of quiet, grim celebration. The Tusks have come, and they will fight until the Mournwold is free. Yeomen and beaters come from across the territory, putting aside their rivalry to bolster the Tusks, to fight with them, to ensure they can say that they were there when the army of the Mourn marched to face the Jotun, to drive Jarl Haakon from the wolds once more. There are also plenty of Marcher orcs among them. Only a few have chosen to take up weapons, mostly young hotheads who have heard the call of their ancestors and seek to cross the Abyss in battle with their former masters. Most throw themselves into more supportive roles – healers and quartermasters – but they are not less eager to stand alongside their human neighbours and show the Jotun that they will never own the Mournwold again.

Here then, the forces of the Empire. Perhaps twenty-two thousand fighters, and six thousand heralds, standing proudly against the Jotun.

Banners of Bear and Wolf

In the hills of north-eastern Southmoor, three towers of white stone and black ice rise. The Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, called from her frigid realm, garrisoned by icy warriors with strangely scaled armour and odd full-face helms and unfamiliar short-hafted spears. Summoned forth by Imperial magicians, they are the first to face the Jotun armies.

Last season two armies ventured into the Mournwold from Liathaven; the Lion of the North under the command of the Queen of Kallsea, Jarl of Jarls, Yrsa Jansdottir and the stoic Tower of the North, under the banners of the granite-faced Derun Stonetower. With them, the household and champions of Jarl Haakon, former ruler of the Mournwold, and the traitor yegarra who follow the lead of Stephen of Sarcombe. Perhaps fifteen thousand Jotun at most. Their cautious invasion took the market town of Sarcombe, but did not press far into the Mournwold proper. By themselves, they would be no match for the Imperial host...

When the Tusks and their allies arrive, however, they find not two armies camped around Sarcombe but six. The Southern Bear have left the Burhfæst in Bregasland to move swiftly back through Liathaen and out to Southmoor; The fist of Ulven, the army of the King of Narkyst, Jarl of Jarls Gudmunder Arasonn is with them, southern king and northern queen ready to fight together in the Mournwold. They leave the Ice Fishers of Ldansk behind, garrisoning the citadel raised at Graven Rock. At the same time the Bear who Swims and Roaring Thunder, fresh from their failed strike into northern Kahraman have moved straight through Liaven's Glan into the Mourn.

The western orcs are not waiting for the Empire, either. They are already on the move, consolidating their control of Southmoor. The Frozen Citadel delays their advance for a short time, giving the Empire's armies times to gather and prepare themselves in Greensward, but it cannot hold them alone. The siege engineers of the Tower of the North bring their might to bear against its walls and they are swiftly overwhelmed. Southmoor falls to the Jotun.

They immediately press east into the Greensward to face the Imperial armies. More than thirty thousand Jotun, striking with overwhelming force against the Empire. In the vanguard, the army of Queen Yrsa, further strengthened by fast-moving light infantry from Tromsa, adept skirmishers. Had the Empire been dug-in, defensive, they might quickly have overrrun the Imperial positions – as it is their presence is a complication but one easily matched by the equally swift-moving Marcher beaters, Navarr thorns, and Wintermark hunters.

The Green Shield are at the forefront of the fighting, glorious and terrible, clashing again and again with their Jotun rivals. The Blood Cloaks ensure that no warrior dies who might be saved, their expertise ensuring that the fallen are recovered and tended and either made fit to fight or sent north or east to recuperate. The Quiet Step and The Tusks are more measured, balancing the need to drive the Jotun back with a desire not to waste lives against the larger orc force.

It looks as if the Marchers will lose Southmoor, and parts of Greensward, but they will be able to hold the line.

Then, the rest of the Jotun arrive. After barely a week of fighting another five Jotun armies march out of Liathaven to join the six already engaged with the Empire. The Fell Hammers, the Howling Night, the Iron Host, the Shield of the Mountain, and the Mandowla's Roar. It seems that only the Lasmabrian Jotun are not here; presumably resting and recuperating from their recent defeat in the Cinnabar Hills. The banners of a half dozen Jotun champions flutter among those of the armies including both the Jarls of Alftanes and Keirheim, and those of Eisa Winterborn and Helma Skutasdottir.

Alongside this great mass of Jotun march ten thousand warriors of the Summer Realm, under their own banners of gold and crimson. The knights that fight with the Empire see no paradox here; the heralds of both sides are eager to test themselves against their cousins.

All told, more than sixty thousand warriors pour east into the Greensward. The Imperial forces are given no option but to retreat, to fall back to Farstrider's Watch with the Jotun close on their heels.

Battle of Farstriders Watch

Farstrider's Watch is named for the beloved Marcher general Alusair "Flowers" Farstrider of House Balston, who fell in battle against the western orcs alongside many of her household. It stands on the mournful grasslands of the Greensward. It was funded by Imperatrix Lisabetta, and was one of the first fortifications completed with the aid of the virtuous, in the wake of the consecration of the Silent Sentinel. It was partially built in answer to calls from the citizens of the Mournwold to ensure they were protected from Jotun retaliation. Its garrison has fought to protect the southern Mournwold from Jotun raids; now it offers sanctuary to the Imperial warriors facing what may be the single largest force of Jotun to ever come to the Marches. The Empire's champions are quick to regroup, to take advantage of the stout walls to gather their wits and revise their strategies.

They have less than a day before the Jotun are there, at the gates. Mandowla's Roar and the Roaring Thunder lead the way, having set a punishing pace across the Greensward in pursuit of glorious battle. The rest of the Jotun host is not far behind.

Some soldiers claim to have seen the spirit of General Farstrider. Some say they spoke with Bolstering Bill. Most likely it was just a dream. And yet...

There are soldiers here who remember the last siege of the Greensward and the Battle of Orchard's Watch. In the long watches of the night, some of the soldiers tell a tale of an unknown Marcher soldier, one of House Balston's badgers, who offers words of comfort to those on the walls. Some claim it's General Alusair "Flowers" herself; others that it's Bolstering Bill. More rational souls say it is a dream, or perhaps a ghost; the Greensward is haunted after all. But the story heartens some who hear it, for all that a few pilgrims worry it is blasphemous or heretical to believe in such things. There are plenty of pilgrims here, seeking refuge behind the walls. They offer spiritual support of their own, helping to keep the fear at bay.

Despite the best efforts of spirits, real or imagined, the walls of Farstrider's Watch cannot hold forever. Four days it lasts – two days longer than the most pessimistic estimate so perhaps there is something to those tales of ghostly soldiers after all. The armies are forced to retreat again as the gates fall, as the walls crumble before the overwhelming assault of the Jotun. Back past the Singing Caves, back to the Ore Hills. Perhaps there is some talk of abandoning the Mournwold altogether, of retreating to Tassato. If there is, it comes to naught. The Tusks will not tolerate such a failure. They will fight the Jotun every step, every inch of the way.

The punches keep coming. The Singing Caves is lost to the orcs of the Howling Night and the Jarl of Alftanes, the miners forewarned of the attack by strange knocking and odd dreams they ascribe to Jonah Gold are able to escape with a bounty of mithril, but they cannot hope to hold the mine itself against the Jotun.

At Honour's Rest

At Honour's Rest, the Jotun pause and break from tradition. The story that emerges says that Stephen of Sarcombe sought to sack the church there, and put to the sword any priest or pilgrim that would not bow their head and take the thrall oath. Eisa Winterborn intercedes, refusing to let him harm those sheltering there or fire the structure, her champions prepared to face his in battle to defend the place. In the end King Arasson himself is forced to intercede, to fall back from the front to mediate between his champions. His disgust at Stephen's actions becomes an open secret; upbraiding the furious yegarra he declares Honour's Rest to be a place under his protection. No Jotun will harm it or any beneath its roof, save that they invite that harm themselves, and if Stephen and his warriors will not accept that... then they will answer to the King of the South.

More than that, the king commands that work on the Orchard of the Watch will continue uninterrupted, and that those labourers involved will be allowed to leave. He points to the honour of the Brass Coast, to the way that they allowed the mound left by the fall of Fort Braydon to be raised and respected. He speaks of the good work done by the Marchers to help the angry dead rest, and loudly declares that any who would interfere in that work, who would steal from or harm those who tend the fallen, could never call themselves Jotun.

The pilgrims and the workers are no less stunned than Stephen of Sarcombe who withdraws in disarray. At the command of the King, Eisa leaves a score of her champions, humans from the frozen north, to ensure the King's dictate is honoured and when their work is done that the Imperial citizens are escorted back to Tassato.

Mutterings swell in the Jotun ranks that Stephen of Sarcombe and his yegarra have been deafened by hate, have forgotten what it means to be Jotun, have abandoned their honour. This does little to quell the fury that burns in the heart of that scion of Mournwold, or those who march beneath his banners.

Sixty years ago, our ancestors came down the hillside to show the ferocious Pride miners possess. We bleed for every inch of our land, surface and below. Miners of the Mourn; I will be the last to tell you need to prove yourself again. But you called on me to lead us to suffrage, to Exemplify our ancestors. We must be prepared to act like them. So sharpen your picks; let us show the Jotun a fight they will remember for sixty years! The Tusks will relieve us. Until then; Plan. Arm. Enchant. Resist. Exalt. Remember. Like our rebellious ancestors, we are coming down the hillside - this time, to Sarcombe!

Jedediah Boon, Marcher Assembly, Summer Solstice 386YE, Vote: Greater Majority 170-64

Raven and Mouse

The Empire tries to push the Jotun lines wherever they can but it is ultimately fruitless. The Imperial armies are outnumbered so severely, and the Jotun so absolutely committed to the conquest of the Mournwold, that the best they can do is slow the advance. By the time the western armies press into the Ore Hills, their momentum is beginning to falter a little, but they still wash over the mines and towns here like a tsunami.

Some Marchers flee, forced to abandon their homes again. Some take the Choice and remain as thralls, knowing that they can offer passive resistance to the conquerors of the Mourn and maybe do their own part in hastening the defeat of the Jotun. Others stay to fight. They know the hills better than any Jotun save Stephen of Sarcombe, or perhaps Jarl Haakon. They take refuge in the mines and the tunnels, striking against the Jotun who seek to conquer their homes.

Helma Skutasdottir, whose battle-might is said to be matched only by her wisdom, is charged with securing the Ore Hills and rooting out these guerilla warriors. They say that Raðljóst himself whispers in her ear and guides her warband to victory, but against the miners of Our Hills, she has her work cut out indeed. There are credible reports that Jonah Gold whispers warnings to them when the Jotun come searching for their hideouts, and that they are able to stay one step ahead of the hunters. A deadly game of raven-and-mouse is waged across the mournful hills.

The last battle before the Autumn Equinox takes place in the Chalkdowns. The Empire rallies at Lindenford farm, right in the heart of the farmlands. They face the Jotun charge and for a glorious hour it seems they might stop the Jotun here but one by one they are forced to abandon their posts. The last to quit the field are the Tusks, retreating east toward Freemoor and the sanctuary of Landskeeper's Bulwark.

As the season dies, the Jotun complete their conquest of the Chalkdowns, and the Mournwold falls to the barbarians.

The Jotun are fierce in victory, but also bound by their precepts of honour.

Harvest of Sorrow

The Jotun have absolutely overwhelmed the courageous Imperial armies, but they have by no means had it all their own way. If not for the dogged tenacity of the four armies ranged against them, if not for their many allies and friends, the immense Jotun host might well have conquered the entire Mournwold in a single season. As it is, Freemoor, Alderly, and Green March remain free – at least for the moment.

Wherever they have gone, the Jotun have offered their traditional choice. Join the Jotun and fight for them, or lay down your arms and become a thrall, or be granted a swift death, with a blade in your hand if you wish it. They do not differentiate between orcs and humans, nor between those who once were thralls but then were freed. They promise to protect them, and let them get on with their lives, as long as they raise no hand against the Jotun, do not seek to flee, and pay the punishing tithes that go toward supporting the warriors of the west.

All told, thousands of Imperial warriors fall in the fight for the Mourn, and only half that many Jotun. Those who die fighting are honoured with barrows swiftly thrown up at each battlefield by the thralls. Only the Navarr are deemed unworthy of honour; no Choice and no chance to sleep beneath the rough earthen hills. Those who bear the tattoos of brand and thorn are roughly executed by beheading, their bodies left for birds and vermin to feast on.

Farstrider's Watch still stands, but in the hands of the Jotun. The keep is battered, its gate shattered, but the walls still stand - barely. There is talk that Jarl Haakon has claimed it, and begun setting up his hall there. Once again the King of the South has recognised him Jarl of the Mourn - with the unspoken promise that if he fails to hold these lands a second time he will not get a third chance to do so.

A covert war still rages in the Ore Hills – while the Jotun must guard against an Imperial counter-attack they are unlikely to spare the forces to deal with the miners and their supporters. They cannot strike at the Jotun armies directly, but for now they remain a thorn in the side of the conquering barbarians.

The Tusks have repaid the trust of the Mournwolders a hundredfold. Every one of the yeofolk who fell in the fight to protect their people from the Jotun died a hero in the eyes of the citizens of the Mourn. The General kept their word, and the people will remember it. In the face of sixty thousand Jotun they know that the Tusks will do whatever it takes to keep the Mournwold free. And that faith is a powerful thing indeed.

Game Information: Mournwold

• Southmoor, Greensward, Ore Hills, and Chalkdowns are now in Jotun hands; the territory is no longer Imperial
• The General of the Tusks faces a grim choice

With four regions now in Jotun hands, the Mournwold is no longer an Imperial territory but belongs to the western barbarians. Rituals cast at the Imperial regio in Anvil cannot target the territory.

The General of the Tusks has kept their oath to return to the Mournwold if it is threatened. The challenge now is what comes next. The Jotun are more than likely to press their advantage and the Tusks are close to breaking as it is. But leaving the territory now, when it stands on the precipice, would be a terrible betrayal of that oath. Even if they stay, they may be driven out, if the Jotun claim the rest of the Mournwold. The last time that happened General Nedry of The Cullachs went into the Wicker Man.

The Tusks are faced with grim choices whatever they do. If they chose to keep their oath, they will need to stand their ground in the face of the Jotun assault. If they survive, but are pushed out of the Mourne anyway, then they'll need to return as quickly as possible, or else face the fate that awaits those who break their oaths.

None of the military units who supported the armies or fortifications in the Mournwold this season received shares of the Imperial Guerdon.

Game Information: Titles

• Several titles have lost powers due to the Jotun conquest of half the Mournwold
• The Black Canal has been completed but has reduced benefits until Chalkdowns and Southmoor are liberated
• The Singing Caves have been lost; a final shipment of mithril is on its way to Anvil

The Mournwold is no longer an Imperial territory and so is no longer represented by a Senator. If the Mourn were liberated, it would be again available to be assigned by the Imperial Senate and a new Senator elected.

Work on the Black Canal was completed shortly before the Jotun took the Chalkdowns (the length stretching from Sarcombe through the Ore Hills was already complete) stopped; it cannot be completed while the Jotun control the Mournwold. With half the canal in Jotun hands, the great work currently provides no benefit in the Mournwold and reduced benefits in Mitwold. This reduced production will persist as long as either Chalkdowns and Southmoor are not in Imperial hands.

The Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange and Keeper of the Happiston Fields have lost access to their ministry and sinecure respectively. The titles remain active, but their production is lost until the Chalkdowns are reclaimed from the Jotun.

The Empire has lost control of the Singing Caves, but the final shipment of mithril will be delivered at the Autumn Equinox. After that, the bounty of the caves will go to the Jotun until the mine is liberated. Once this happens, the Imperial Senate will be free to allocate it Imperial or National.

The Friar of Honour's Rest has been given special dispensation by the Jotun King, allowing them to continue to visit the shrine and the priests who reside there may continue to minister to the ghosts of the Greensward without interference. They have, however, lost access to both their liao and their money income - until the Greensward is liberated it does not function as a place of pilgrimage.

Participation: Tusks

• A Marcher character whose military unit supported the Tusks this season may receive a special benefit if they receive an appropriate anointing

Any Marcher character whose military unit was assigned to support the Tusks this downtime may choose to gain a special, personal benefit. If they receive an Anointing of Pride, Loyalty, or Hatred before time out on Friday during the Autumn Equinox, then they gain an extra benefit. In addition to the normal benefits they will gain an additional rank of endurance.

The effect is not magical - it does not register on either detect magic or insight. It is likely a result of the powerful hearth magic of the recent oath sworn by the general of the Tusks and their commitment to Mournwold.

This benefit lasts only as long as you continue to be committed to freeing the Mournwold and defeating the Jotun; if your will to do so falters the bonus rank of endurance is lost and cannot be regained. It is also permanently lost if your anointing is removed or changed to one other than Pride, Loyalty, or Hatred. In any event the benefit will fade along with the anointing, by the start of the Winter Solstice.

Sixty Years Gone (Battle Opportunity)

The General of the Tusks, Stanley Of Chalkdown, is faced with a grim choice. He swore a solemn oath, witnessed by his peers, to fight to defend the Mournwold at any cost. True to his word, he has led the army into battle against the Jotun; but now, badly outnumbered, they have been pushed back and bled dry. The Jotun are near certain to advance again this season, aiming to drive the Empire out once again, the Tusks are in a dire place and close to breaking point. If the Tusks are broken, then the Jotun will surely be victorious. The strategic choice here for most generals would be to retreat from the Mournwold, but then Stanley's oath would be broken and in the worst possible way. Already, some among the Ore Hills have jokingly make reference to "gathering a wicker harvest"'. The situation looks impossible for the general, the Tusks, and the Mournwold.

Yet, a lifeline has emerged for the beleaguered General, coming from an unlikely quarter. The leaders of the Mournwold miners have organised their workforces to oppose the Jotun's advance, harrying them and waging small skirmishes against the larger foe. Those leaders are now encircled at Jade Wood near the Matilda Stone Quarries. The woodland, an old open quarry over two-hundred years ago has been a gathering point for the partisans, but now the leadership has been found by a Jotun warband, who have sent word for reinforcements. They won't last long, unless the Empire can reach them, hold off the Jotun, then ensure the ringleaders can make it back to the other miners.

Objective: Rescue the Miners

• Leaders of the Mournwold miners have been located by Jotun scouts
• Rescuing the miners and reconciling them with the general of the Tusks, will see them aid the army over the next year
• This aid would see the Tusks become resourceful so long as they remain in the Mournwold

The wealth of the Mourn is said to lie not just in the earth of the field, but under it. In the rock and stone, in veins of rich ore and deep deposits of valuable minerals. The hard graft and labour of the territory lies as much with the miners, cart-hands, and smelters as it does with the farmhands, herders, and plough-guides. There are however long-standing feuds between the two halves of the Mourn, between farmer and miner; sixty years ago those grudges flared into violence during the Ore Hills Rebellion.

The miners are every bit as proud as the yeofolk of the Marches and just as determined to do their bit to oppose the Jotun. None of them wish to face the Choice. Their stubborn Pride and the bitter history of the region makes cooperation with the stewards difficult, so they have taken to fighting in their own way, using the mines to hide and sally forth from to attack the Jotun. Now that fierce streak of independence has cost them - a group of prominent miners have been found by Jotun scouts and trapped at the entrance to a collapse mine. Neither side can break the stalemate, but massive Jotun reinforcements are on the way. If Imperial forces can reach the mine before the Jotun, then they can hold off the assault and rescue the trapped miners. If they are saved, then there is a chance for the Marchers to secure support of the Ore Hills miners for the Tusks, before the miners can quit the area.

However, a hurried discussion with a few quick talking Mitwolders won't seal the deal. The miners will want to speak directly with Stanley and have asked for Jedediah Boon to join the deliberations. Any other Mournwolders, especially those with mines of their own, are more than welcome to attend and throw in their two rings. Those from the Chalkdowns, Stanley aside, might be best keeping their tongues still.

Pride in small things, loyalty to great ones, as the Marchers say. The best way to get the miners on side would be a convincing pledge from the general of the Tusks. Restating their oath to protect the Mourn, and celebrating their shared bonds of Loyalty. A battle is a difficult time for a ceremony but any priests present might anoint the miners with auras of Loyalty, helping things along. The only certain way to convince the miners to put aside their proud pasts, is to emphasise the Loyalty all honest Marchers feel for the nation.

If the Empire can ensure a suitable ceremony on the battlefield, anointing the miners with auras of Loyalty and swearing to protect them and the Mourn, then the miners will throw their support behind the Tusks. If that happens, then the Tusks will be resourceful, allowing them to benefit from emergency resupply for the next year, provided they remain in the Mournwold.

Objective: Defeat the Summerborn Champions

• Five army champions touched by Summer are among the Jotun's ranks
• Defeating a champion will deny the army the benefit of their inspiration in the coming season

Jotun armies are led by their jarls, experienced leaders who are wise enough to balance the demand of honour with the needs of the campaign. To inspire their warriors, the jarls often pick champions from among their number, chosen for their bravery and skill, these inspiring warriors are given powerful boons from the Jotun's allies in the Summer realm, becoming Summerborn Champions.

Their presence is a huge inspiration to the Jotun warriors who fight with them. As champions they are expected to lead from the front, and to go where the fighting is thickest, so it is no surprise that five of them are heading for this location. These champions are given the pick of the armour and weapons to better stand out in battle and be seen by their fellow Jotun.

• Halla Oxhide, Champion of the Bear Who Swims
• Dagna Thundrasdottir, Champion of the Shield of the Mountain
• Hrafnir Yrelson, Champion of the Fell Hammers
• Jol Eifhalbarn, Champion of the Tower of the North
• Froda Ulfsune, Champion of the Mandowlas Roar

If an army's champion is defeated, then the army will not be as inspired this season, fighting with less fervour. This loss means an army's ability to capture territory will decrease by a fifth over the season.

Battlefield opportunity: Speak with the Hooper Ghosts

• The arrival of the Jotun in the Ore Hills has roused the ghosts of the Hoopers
• The ghosts may be encountered roaming the battlefield

The Matilda Stone Quarries were once owned by a cantankerous mining family, the Hoopers, who were outspoken opponents of the farming families who dominated Marcher political life. Their leader, Esme Hooper, was executed by the magistrates for her part in the Ore Hills Rebellion. According to legends her family died shortly afterwards, refusing to surrender Matilda Stone Quarries to the invading Jotun.

That was decades ago, but it seems the ghosts of the Hoopers have now been roused by the return of the Jotun. The war scouts have reported sightings of several miners in the area. Ghostly figures carrying picks, ropes or hefting mined ore have been seen, but the scouts have done no more than confirm their identity.

If these are the ghosts of the Hoopers, then they are no friends of the Jotun, but the egregores of the Marchers express some caution and candour in how they are dealt with. Tensions ran high at the time, and the ghosts might not take well to learning certain things that have happened in the world, or more about the general who now leads the Tusks in defence of the Mourn.

Conjunctions

Lion on the Hill (Tassato)

• Jarl Helgarn and his warband are attempting to steal the illium from the Tassatan Hills
• If the Jarl succeeds, they will use the ilium to curry favour with Meraud
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• The Custodian of the Tassatan Hills is responsible for stopping the Jotun
• This conjunction is against barbarians; magistrates advise that lethal force is fully justified

Even as the armies of the Jotun secure their hold on Mournwold a small warband moves ahead of the armies and strikes into the northern hills of Tassato Mestra. Jarl Helgarn, of Vallorberg, is leading their own personal warriors into Tassato to claim ilium from the Tassatan Hills. Jarl Helgarn is seeking enough ilium to craft an impressive artefact to gift to the The Jarl of Mists; if Helgarn succeeds it will mean more support from this summer eternal for the Jotun.

This is a clear threat to the Tassatan Hills and as such it is the responsibility of the Custodian, Serafina di Sarvos, to stop the Jotun on their way to the mine. Stopping Jarl Helgarn will ensure the Jotun do not win support from the Jarl of Mists, and prevent Serafina di Sarvos from losing the ilium production of the Hills at the Winter Solstice.

Leaning on the Knife (Mournwold)

Despise that which threatens what you watch over. Dalton Royse has betrayed the Marchers. We send Nigel Hornbeam with 15 liao to urge all Vigilant beaters to thwart this malice before it strikes.

Nigel Hornbeam, Marcher Assembly, 386YE Summer Solstice, Vote: Greater Majority (216-0)

• The traitor Dalton Royse has been tracked down trying to withdraw to Ashvale
• Killing Dalton Royse will remove the under threat quality from Greenmarch
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• Nigel Hornbeam is responsible for killing Dalton Royse
• There are no innocents present on this conjunction; magistrates advise that lethal force is fully justified

Last season the Marcher Assembly upheld a mandate to encourage the beaters of the nation to hunt down Dalton Royse. The traitorous son of Pigby, Green March was revealed earlier this year to be an agent of Stephen of Sarcombe; supporting the bastard son of Sarcombe in his vengeful crusade against the Marches and the Empire. Last season the call to action by Nigel Hornbeam and the support of the Highborn led to a surge of support for beaters to seek out Royse.

Dalton Royse has been tracked down to Charlie's Coppice, an expansive orchard in northern Southmoor, where he is travelling with an honour guard of Jotun. As Nigel Hornbeam enacted the mandate that has led to tracking down Royse it is their responsibility to kill the traitor. If Dalton Royse is not killed here, then he will retreat to Sarcombe and maintain his network of contacts and supplies in Green March.

Connecting Lines (Mournwold)

Let us seek out the poison in our neighbour's fields. We send Samuel of Balthazar's Vineyard with 15 liao to urge all vigilant unconquered to root out the threat in Southmoor before it is too late.

Olyvar of Esther's Sanctum, Highborn Assembly, 386YE Summer Solstice, Vote: Upheld (402-18)

• Enough caches have been uncovered to remove the under threat quality from Southmoor
• There is an opportunity to raid one of the largest and best defended caches in Southmoor to recover the valuable resources
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• Olyvar of Esther's Sanctum is responsible for clearing the last Jotun cache
• This conjunction is against barbarians; magistrates advise that lethal force is fully justified

Last season the Highborn Assembly upheld a mandate to encourage the vigilant unconquered to destroy the Jotun caches established more than a year ago by Jarl Haakon. The Highborn have excelled and cleared most of them, so Southmoor is no longer under threat. Before the work ends, there is one final opportunity to raid of the largest and best defended caches in the area. Olyvar of Esther's Sanctum, as the member of the Synod who raised the mandate, is responsible for clearing the last cache and claiming any goods within for the Empire.

A Matter of Thought (Mournwold)

• The Jotun are moving to attack a landskeeper who supports the Happiston Exchange
• If the Jotun are driven off, the landskeepers will provide 6 mana a season to the Exchange until it is reclaimed by the Empire
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• The Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange is responsible for defeating the Jotun
• This conjunction is against barbarians; magistrates advise that lethal force is fully justified

Henry Bridger is a respected landskeeper who has lived a stone's throw from Happiston since the Mourn was reclaimed five years ago. Henry was fast becoming a regular at the Happiston Mana Exchange; her sardonic humour, acerbic wit, and readily available biscuits meant she was always one of the first to finish selling her goods at the exchange. This renown has evidently created enough grudges that the Jotun have been directed towards Henry's hamlet.

The warband of Jotun is small, barely more than a dozen. If they're beaten on their way to Henry then that would be enough to ward off smaller groups like this for the time being. In return for that safety Henry will arrange a seasonal meeting of landskeepers and threshers at the hamlet; charging a small fee for taking part in discussions as well as bed and board. For this, she is willing to send six mana crystals a season to the Reeve, at least until Happiston is reclaimed by the Empire. As this is a clear threat to the people who use the Happiston Mana Exchange it is the responsibility of the Reeve of the Happiston Mana Exchange, Morgan Townsend, to defeat the Jotun.

Lessons and Teachers (Bregasland)

• A warband of Jotun have entered Grey Fens hunting a group of Moon-That-Sings Feni
• If the Empire stop the warband, Liath's Ring will come under threat from the Empire
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• The Imperial Advisor for the Feni is responsible for stopping the Jotun from slaughtering the Feni
• This conjunction is against barbarians; magistrates advise that lethal force is fully justified

The Jotun are well known for their distaste of the Feni; the orcs of the west's invasion of Ashvale delivered death to the Feni as easily as the Navarr. Warbands of Jotun have been inspired by Urse Longarm and his slaughtering of an enclave in Liathaven, and one of them is in hot pursuit of a group of Feni who have fled into Bregasland.

This group, the Moon-That-Sings Feni, appear to be allied with the Prince with a thousand foes in some way - either that or the Golden Hare has taken pity on them for some reason. For whatever reason, one of his associates, the eeler, Tam Fisher, has passed on an urgent request from the Shackle Smasher imploring the Empire to intercede. Tam Fisher claims that if the Empire can drive off the Jotun, then the Moon-That-Sings Feni will be able to slip back into Liathaven. If that happens, they claim that the Moon-That-Sings will help the next Imperial army to attack Liath's Ring from Bregasland, providing crucial information on the enemy positions. Liath's Ring will gain the under threat quality from the Empire.

The Jotun warband have managed to avoid the Imperial armies stationed in Bregasland so far and are only a few days behind the Feni. The Imperial Advisor for the Feni, Syn Truth-Walker Returned, is responsible for any intervention to try to stop the Jotun.