384YE Summer Solstice winds of fortune

A hero has a name.

Overview

Over the past three months, several events have occurred which are of significance to the Empire and may require a response from her champions. You can also read about the progress of the Empire's military campaigns in the Winds of War.

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.

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 'should' know based on what their roleplaying says they have been doing for the past three months.

Many winds of fortune open with a short section of in-character text. 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. They're mostly just a bit of fun and they tend not to contain anything vital to the understanding of the wind of Fortune.

Winds of Fortune

Begin to speak (Plenipotentiary)

• Archmages and the Imperial Conclave; specifically invited guests including House deRondell; the Grandmaster of the Sevenfold Path and the Cardinal of Wisdom; the Keeper of Tharim's Throne; sword scholars; Sirus Skybreaker; people who wish to embrace the merrow lineage; and anyone with access to significant amounts of ingots and measures or an interest in transformation

Each of the six archmages can send a plenipotentiary message each season to an eternal of the magical realm they represent. Sometimes the eternal responds with a formal parley, sometimes with something more esoteric, but they are bound to reply in some fashion. During the Spring Equinox each of the six archmages sent a plenipotentiary message, and now six replies have been received. During the coming solstice representations with four eternals will take place: with the Silver Prince, the Mariner, the Mother of Wrecks, and the Bound King|. There will also be two significantly more esoteric opportunities - a result of the messages sent by the Archmages of Autumn and Night - involving the Crucible and Forgemistress..

The details of this season's plenipotentiaries can be found in Begin to speak.

Our Thumping Hearts

• Champions of the Summer Tourney; Freeborn magicians; Summer Archmage; Master of Ice and Darkness

The Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun is the Empire's premiere College for the study of Summer magic. Seen as a prize by many of the eternals of the Summer Realm, patronage of the college is hotly contested. A year ago, the Archmage of Summer announced a tourney to determine which of the contenders would hold that prestigious position. This Solstice sees the resolution of that challenge - a melee between champions in the Dawnish Glory Square.

You can find out about the teams who will be competing in the challenge in Our thumping hearts.

Make It Happen (Appraisal)

Last summit the Imperial Senate instructed Graciana i Lòpez i Guerra of the Prognosticators Office to carry out an appraisal to find a way to inspire an uprising in the Sarangrave using the existing Spy Network in the territory. The marshes of the south-western Mallum are completely dominated by three powerful Druj clans, and wrapped in the soul-choking miasma familiar to anyone who has fought in Zenith, or during the liberation of Ossium. Anyone who tries to stand up to the cruel orcs on their home ground will need to be very sure they are going to win...

You can find out about the results of the appraisal in Make it happen.

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.

Boons of the Summer Children

Just as in Winter and Spring, the so-called "Summer Children" have an ongoing opportunity to claim boons from certain interested eternals for themselves. Some young citizens have already claimed these boons; those who have yet to do so may choose to do so during the Summer Solstice. The procedure for doing so, and the boons available, are outlined in the A horn resounding wind of fortune from the Winter Solstice.

Mandates

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

Seventeen mandates were successfully upheld in the Imperial Synod. As per our recent update, all mandates have automatically been enacted as long as the named priest has sufficient liao in their inventory before Downtime opens. Some mandates were upheld by their respective assemblies but not enacted.

Imperial Lore

Two rituals were added to Imperial lore during the Winter Solstice.

• Wardens of the Black Waste by Simargl, the Empty One
• Leonine Pavilion by Sagua i Ezmara

Urizen Lore

A number of rituals were added to Urizen lore during the Spring Equinox using the Gift of Knowledge.

• Aspect of the Mountain
• Crown of Phoenix Fire
• A Perfect Moment

Note: Several Urizen Lore rituals still need some additional descriptive elements which will appear on the wiki over the next few weeks.

Artisans

The details of how to make a new magic item have been shared with the Empire's artisans: Lowther's Gaze is a talisman that allows the person bonded to it to use the marksman skill.