The cry of gulls

Over the blood-dimmed sea, over the breaking rocks, over the war-wracked villages and towns of the Brass Coast, the gulls wheel.

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In Madruga

Last season, the Grendel marked the end of the two-year peace treaty by sending overwhelming force against Madruga. They shattered the Salt Guard, overran the defences of the prosperous heart of the Brass Coast, and engaged in a day of rampant looting. Then they withdrew and allowed their Nemorian allies to fire the City of Sails. It is a fortunate mercy that there were agents of the Prince with a Thousand Foes in the city, working to ensure that as many people as possible escaped the murderous vengeance of the Asaveans. The city itself was by no means as lucky. The fire burned a wide swathe of destruction through the centre of what was once the most gloriously colourful city in the Empire. Few structures escaped unscathed - even some of the stone buildings are cracked from the heat - or from spitefully aimed catapult-shot from the Asavean warships.

Their terrible deed done, the orcs of the Broken Shore and their western allies rampaged across the coast of Madruga. They conquered Free Landing - so far the ancient town of Atalaya survives the malice of the Asaveans but how safe its future may be is unclear. They conquered Lightsea - the bustling port of Quzar transformed into a Grendel staging post. They raided along the coast of Calvos Sound, but Calvos itself evaded their grasp.

They even assailed the Lyceum, that centre of Imperial magical study that sprawls across an island in the bay near Siroc. Here, also, they were turned back. During the Winter Solstice Imperial heroes managed to use the Sentinel Gate to reach the island. Magical wards were raised - at least, those wards that would shroud the island in impenetrable fog and darkness, making it impossible for the Grendel to complete their raid, protecting the library, the staff, the students, and the visiting professors of the Commonwealth. As long as the wards last - until the start of the Winter Solstice 386YE - the island is safe. Safe, but isolated. The same wards that keep Grendel raiders at bay prevent Imperial rescuers reaching its shores. But the price of losing access to the Lyceum for a time is nothing compared to the risk of the bulk of Imperial lore - and the proprietary research of nearly four centuries of Imperial magicians - falling into the hands of the Grendel magicians.

The Darkened Beacon

While they were defeated at the Lyceum, the Grendel there were not the only raiders guided by a grim purpose. Also during the Winter Solstice, the Grendel and their allies destroyed the Shining Pillar. That massive white-and-gold tower was one of the most prominent landmarks in the Empire, and adopted by many Freeborn sailors as a symbol of the Brass Coast as a whole. Tired mariners on ships travelling to the far corner of the known world knew that when they could see the beacon of the Shining Pillar, they were almost home. It was a symbol of safety, of hearth and family, of Pride and Prosperity. Now the white granite tower is no more, the mithril mirrors broken, the Beacon Watch slaughtered, and the malign intent of the Asavean priest of wrecks and the orc High Priestess Shivaarn enacted. Or so it was believed in the weeks following the Solstice.

The Virtuous build up their fellows. We are strongest when we recognise that we are all of one Empire. We send Ahraz i Guerra with 50 doses of liao to encourage the Freeborn to break the chain around the necks of the Bay and protect our allies from the ravages of the Grendel pirates.

Asier i Elia i Guerra, Mandate, Freeborn Assembly, Upheld with a Greater Majority (152-0)

Any Imperial ship captain in the western Bay of Catazar can confirm that the Shining Pillar is gone. The bravest report that servants of the Tempest Maw hunt the seas around Atalaya and Qazar in worrying numbers. It seems that the Mistress of Wrecks found enough Victims to sate her carcharodons after all. Something new has risen in place of the Shining Pillar, a maelstrom of chaos and destruction that births monsters to ravage the Brass Coast - and perhaps even farther afield.

The corsairs and Freeborn ship captains grieve, but they have a duty to perform. The Freeborn assembly has urged them to put aside thoughts of vengeance for the grievous injury done them by the Asaveans and the Grendel, for the destruction of Madruga, Shantarim, Osseini, and instead strive to protect trading vessels passing through the Bay's waters to the League, Highguard, and Urizen.

My Freeborn, a tough decisions weighs upon my soul. Our territories burn. Our cries echo for Siroc. We are not defeated. We are not broken. The Burning Falcon will return to its place of rebirth and the Grendel will know our fury. Our Empire, siblings in Virtue, Blood and War are with us as we have been for them. Our promise to the Grendel begins here. We will rebuild and shatter their dreams and desires. They will be consumed by the flame of the coast. Triumphant Charge!

Aracelis I Erigo, General of the Burning Falcon

Freeborn, we head to Madruga. Our homes, our blood, our very being is under attack. We march with our cousins from the Marches to unleash our fury upon the Grendel. Firstly we shall keep to the coast and sweep down to protect the construction of the Spider's Dream bridge. Then with an overwhelming assault with the bound knights of Tharim at our backs will ensure no Grendel shall these shores unscathed

Vincente i Zayden i Guerra, General of the Fire of the South

The bounders will aid the Freeborn just as they aided us last summit. We go to Madruga to overstate the Grendel Forces there with an overwhelming Assault. For the Empire, for the bounders, for Bobert.

Bobert U. T. Thatcher, General of the Bounders

Drakes, our cousins to the south need our help. We march to Madruga. We will strike with an overwhelming assault. Help free the freefolk from the Grendel yoke. Shoulder your bills and tighten your brigs. We have work to do!

Tancred of Meade, General of the Drakes

Folk heroes of the reeds! The Cold Sun fell to our courage and bills. We have long proven our loyalty to Bregasland, but now we answer another call with an overwhelming assault. The Freeborn have bled for us, to liberate our land now the bonds of Loyalty call us to Madruga. A debt will be paid to them; one of blood steel and friendship. We do not bow, we do not break.

Amberlain P. Black, General of the Strong Reeds

Counting Games

The Spider's Dream is still damaged from the treacherous raid of Stephen of Sarcombe last year. Any army wishing to pass between Madruga and either Tassato or Sarvos must navigate the ruined bridge and the dangerous river-crossing as best they can, risking delays and worse. It will be just as difficult to move back across into the League, should armies fighting in the territory need to retreat north rather than into Kahraman to the west.

Yet considerations of risk do not give the Imperial generals cause. Shortly after the Winter Solstice, with the Freeborn people still uncertain what their future holds, with the Grendel continuing to raid and pillage and march their armies north into Calvos Sound, the armies of the Empire reach Madruga. The Fire of the South cross the Spider's Dream and even as the first warriors' feet touch the southern banks they are forming up to march south. From Bregasland come the Bounders, the Drakes, and the Strong Reeds of the Marchers. They sweep down through Mournwold, through Jotun-threatened Kahraman and join the Fire of the South in Torres. As the four armies prepare to go south, to where the Grendel armies are advancing, they are joined by a fifth. The Burning Falcon have taken the shortest route possible from Segura, dodging the orc armies in Jade Range and erupting into Calvos Sound even as the main Imperial force hurls itself against the Grendel.

The two forces could not easily be enacting more diametrically opposed strategies here. Certainly suspecting the Empire would not allow their terrible deeds to go unanswered, the bulk of the Grendel armies still in Madruga - the Storm Sharks, the Iron Gulls, the Naguerra - press cautiously into Calvos Sound from Lightsea. They are clearly expecting resistance, and they receive it in abundance as the five Imperial armies seek to overwhelm them, drive them back, and push into them back into Feroz. Or into the sea.

Finally there are the Black Eels, and they seem less concerned with conquering the Brass Coast, with bringing Calvos Sound - and thus the whole of Madruga - within Grendel concerned. For those who fight under the banner of the sinuous sable sea-serpent, the main concern appears to be seizing as much wealth from the Freeborn as possible - at land or sea they care not - and bearing it away with them. If it is valuable, and not nailed down, the Black Eels will steal it - and if it is nailed down, and looks like it would fetch a good price, they will come back with crowbars. If there is a saving grace it is that their single-minded focus on pillage means they retreat from any significant Imperial military presence - but that offers little comfort to the Freeborn families trying to defend their homes or flee east or north with some fraction of their Prosperity still intact.

As always with the orcs of Attar, their armies receive crucial support from the sea. Three navies, more than a hundred ships with sails of blue, green, and yellow, seek to secure coastal towns, and reinforce the armies with their marines. Their main target appears to be the town of Calvos, the only remaining jewel of the Brass Coast shores that they have not plundered. A prize that, should they claim it, will in some way mark the absolute defeat of the Freeborn people.

Both sides have magical support - the Drakes fight with supernatural clarity and so do some of the Grendel. Both sides have their allies; mercenaries and independent captains fighting alongside the armies and the navies. The bulk of the Imperial captains fight with the Burning Falcon, and a network of Autumn magic grants them a supernatural ability to work together with the Freeborn army.

The Freeborn force includes what at first appears to be a small force of Asaveans, to the surprise of many. They arrive as the Burning Falcon reach Torres, perhaps ninety young folk in unfamiliar armour with peculiar weapons. They angrily deny any suggestion they have common cause with the humans fighting alongside the Grendel; they are Marracossans and let none forget it. Representatives of the little enclave at Trajadoz, they come to offer their support to the Freeborn armies.

They are weak warriors; unused to discipline and lacking the endurance of a trained soldier. They more than make up for that with their knowledge of crafting, with a remarkable facility for repairing weapons and armour or bringing unexpected magic items to bear in the clinch. Half of them do not even speak Imperial, but they want to fight - partly inspired by a serious gift given them by Imperial citizens to help defend their new home, mostly by the knowledge that if the Grendel take Torres the orcs will not protect them from the Nemorians.

The ashen knights of the Bound King who fight with the Fire of the South mock these youthful enthusiasts to their faces and encourage their Freeborn allies to turn them away. The servants of Tharim have plenty of other things to occupy their attention in the fight against the Grendel, however, and soon lose interest. They slaughter orcs and mercenaries alike with equal glee, offering their deaths to their dark monarch, and urging those who fight alongside them to indulge their darkest passions, to take vengeance against the orcs who have dealt them so many blows over the years, to unleash their fury against the hateful Asaveans, against all those who would take their homes from them.

For their part, the Grendel field plenty of mercenaries, both orc and human, especially among the Iron Gulls. And of course there are the three great Asavean warships - Balo's Grace, Leaping Bull, and Wind Tamer - and their attendant vessels. The great leviathans of the sea support the Tempest as they move to Calvos Sound - but then, unexpectedly, they peel away. Imperial scouts report that the ships are sailing south and east, and that while a few Grendel vessels pursued them they soon turned back. Are they on a different mission, another terrible errand of destruction? What is there left for them to destroy?

Notable by their absence are the servants of Siakha. While they may have been gathered at the Shining Pillar, while they may be eager for slaughter and mayhem, it appears they have no stomach for the back-and-forth of strategic battle.

Calvos is a jewel on a ring of Brass. It will be ours, but as each jewel has its worth so we will weigh the cost carefully. The Empire has been sleeping, but now it awakens, and we must be vigilant - not only against Imperial reprisals. We must keep a weather eye on our allies, and ensure that their thirst for Retribution is not slaked at the cost of our Prosperity!

Uilean Cungaele, General of the Tempest

The Freeborn are rich, but do not forget that they are also as cunning and furious as the winds of Shayeel. We will take Calvos Sound, and we will conquer Torres, but remember that whoever we fight beside we are not ruiners, but conquerors. The wise fisher knows that they cannot fill their nets in empty seas.

Mahri Lawrey, General of the Golden Winds

Take it. Take it all.

Beagh Seosam, General of the Black Eels

Calvos

The first big battle of the campaign to regain Madruga takes place at Calvos. The Grendel armada and the bulk of their forces attack along the coast to take the prosperous town. It's notable that even as the first Grendel ships disgorge their cargo of marines onto the Calvos docks, they give the Seminary of Zemress a wide berth. No siege weapons are employed against the docks near the Kraken's Bane and the House of Guerra, and there is no suggestion the orcs are here to burn. They are here to conquer.

Imperial forces have pushed themselves to reach Calvos ahead of the Grendel, and they barely make it in time. Fighting erupts across the town, and quickly spreads to the vineyards and the orangeries. The Black Eels arrive late, and rather than engage the Imperial forces they seek to tear apart the warehouses, the wineries, and the storehouses. Their fellow orcs look with envious eyes as their allies line their own pockets with plunder and fight only when engaged directly by the Empire.

The Fire of the South and the Burning Falcon blaze with anger as they fight the Grendel. Many of the soldiers in those two armies came from Calvos, or somewhere like it. Some are almost consumed by their fury (egged on by the knights of Tharim), and the Grendel cannot hope to stand against it. No less terrible is the wrath of the Marchers, three armies united by the will to drive the orcs from Freeborn soil, inspired by their own recent victories over the orcs of the west and over the scions of Cold Sun. They liberate Bregasland, and now they will liberate Madruga or die trying.

When the Grendel finally break, when their soldiers and marines retreat, south along the coast or east into the Bay, silence falls over Calvos broken only by the cries of the wounded and the dying, by the weeping of the survivors, by the eager skirling calls of the gulls. Thousands of soldiers fallen in battle, orc and human alike, scattered in the streets and floating in the waters of the docks. The town still stands, though. What has been broken can be mended. The people are still free of the Grendel yoke. Yet the victory is sour. So many dead.

That night, drawn by the bloodshed, the servants of the Maelstrom are spotted for the first time. A few hundred heralds, shark-like carcharodons and stranger beasts, emerge from the waters without warning. They are crazed, driven by an uncontrollable bloodlust, attacking without care or caution. They are quickly dealt with but those who face their attack are left shaken. Even those who have faced heralds of the Queen of Wrecks before say that these creatures, these terrible bloodthirsty monsters, are different than any they have seen before.

The soldiers of the Marches, come to aid their Freeborn neighbours.

Lightsea and Quzar

There is little time to mourn, and less time to worry about the servants of Siakha. A token garrison is left in Calvos to protect it as its people begin to rebuild, to burn the bodies of the fallen as the funeral rites of the Freeborn dictate, to see the dead Marchers planted beneath the orange trees or returned to their homeland. The Imperial armies are on the move again, returning to their original goal. The end of the Grendel hold of Madruga.

Lightsea is densely settled (for the Brass Coast), and in happier times well-known across the Empire for the friendliness of its paradors. Under the Grendel it is a land of chaos and death, towns conquered and looted, all resistance crushed beneath the boot of the orcs of Attar. Their attack on Calvos Sound defeated, the Grendel forces fight to keep their grip on Lightsea. Armies clash across the grasslands, and while the Empire is not victorious in every battle, they slowly but surely win the war. The orcs are pushed south and east again, a disciplined retreat but one that is clearly part of a strategy of preserving orc lives rather than making the liberators pay for every inch of land. They fall back toward their base at Quzar. As they get closer to the sea, they fight more furiously. They receive reinforcement from the armada, morale strengthened by supplies of healing potions and more mundane materials, and by the aid of the Grendel marines.

The second great battle of the campaign takes place a month or so before the Spring Equinox, and it is perhaps inevitable that it take place in Quzar. The bustling port town of white towers and stained glass is renowned for its beauty... but now it is a garrison town, a militarised camp of the Grendel forces charged with conquering the rest of Madruga. They have already begun to transform the place; barricades and palisades are being erected, the poor folk of the town pressed to the labour of defacing their own homes in the name of strengthening it against the threat of Imperial counter-attack.

While they have fallen back before the Imperial armies, here the Grendel make a stand. They will not surrender Quzar without a fight, and the fighting is terrible indeed. The Grendel are dug-in here, like ticks, and for a time it looks as if the Imperial soldiers will have to choose between defeating their foe and leaving any part of Quzar intact. It's notable that the Asavean allies - the three great warships - are back and while they are clearly not allowed to bombard the town itself they are free to launch withering missiles against Imperial forces outside the town to the north and south.

Some of the most vicious fighting takes place around the Parador of Salt and Sand, where a cadre of Grendel battle-magicians have occupied the markets and lodgings and gathered the plundered wealth of the hakima of Lightsea. There are reports that Sky Mage Faireoir, one of the Grendel master-wizards responsible for orchestrating the assault on the Lyceum is leading this group, and they provide invaluable magical support to the Grendel soldiers fighting to keep the town under orc control.

It isn't enough - not in the face of Freeborn fury and the irresistible force of the Burning Falcon - but at the last Faireoir and his fellows unleash a terrible weapon. The sky above the Parador of Salt and Sand seems to crack open in several places, allowing the light of the Empyrean Spheres to flood through, paralysing the warriors fighting in the plaza. Only the fact that the light is indiscriminate - that it blasts and burns the minds of Grendel as eagerly as it does Imperials - prevents a terrible slaughter. By the time the light fades, Faireoir and his allies have escaped the Plaza, taking with them an unknown number of treasures seized from the hakima who once gathered there.

The fighting continues through most of the day, and by noon it is obvious the Grendel cannot hold the town. Their strategy is too careful, too conservative, too concerned with holding on to what they have conquered. Against the overwhelming fervour of the Empire, they are forced to fall back once again. South, again, toward Siroc Plains, toward the ruined City of Sails, toward the border with Feroz.

Some attempt to escape by sea... and those soldiers who pursued the retreating orc warriors to the docks are witness to a horror sufficient to turn the stomachs of the most hardened warrior. The last three Grendel ships - three yellow-sailed ships of the Golden Winds - overrun with servants of Siakha. Carcharodons, both on the decks and in the water, and also less familiar creatures, those entities described by the prognosticators as being "living storms bound within a shroud of skin", whose touch hurls the sailors and soldiers trying to flee the fall of Quzar into the blood-dimmed waters for their fellows to feast. Not just heralds, either but also a number of blood-soaked pirates with a terrible misshapen vessels of their own - tearing into the fleeing Grendel and those Imperial soldiers who stray onto the docks with equal abandon.

Something, to put it mildly, is not right.

The heralds are no match for the armies, and nor are the pirates that fight alongside them. Most refuse to flee, however, and must be killed - and killed hard - before they will stop trying to slaughter the people of Quzar. Another garrison left behind to protect Quzar- are the Imperial armies being stretched too thin? - more funerals, more weeping. Questions, without answers, and again not enough time to worry. The pressure cannot be allowed to ease, the Grendel must be kept running lest they regroup and launch a counter-attack.

The carcharodons of Siakha are remorseless killers, always eager for soft flesh and hot blood.

Spring is Coming

But the Grendel do not try and regroup, at least not to launch a counterattack. Their flight quickly becomes a retreat, as they pull back toward Siroc Plains. The Empire follows. More fighting, more clashes, more bodies. The final tally for this season of war will come in a little over two and a half thousand Marchers who will not see their homes again, perhaps fifteen hundred Freeborn who spilled their heart's blood to free Madruga. The Grendel have paid almost as severe a price - their more cautious strategy could do only so much in the face of the strength arrayed against them.

As the Spring Equinox draws near, the Freeborn and the Marchers have made minor inroads into Siroc Plains but the Grendel are still firmly in control. Not so the territory of Madruga - the Empire controls Torres, Calvos Sound, and Lightsea. The Grendel hold Siroc Plains and Free Landing.

Or rather... it is assumed that they hold Free Landing. A handful of Grendel prisoners are interrogated, and they tell a confused story of treachery and murder. Of the fall of the Shining Pillar and a terrible miscalculation. Of Asavean priests fed screaming to sharks. Of murder and bloodshed, and the waters of Free Landing turning against the Grendel armada. Of the Mistress of the Temple of Tempest Jade calling her followers to battle against everyone who dwells along the shores of the Bay of Catazar in the name of her terrible goddess.

Partial confirmation of these fears comes a mere ten days before the Spring Equinox. A lone pirate ship, hull bound in chains holding the bloated and gull-pecked bodies of both human and orc soldiers, approaches the docks of Quzar. It weighs anchor, and a scarred, heavily-armed orc warrior comes down onto the docks. She doesn't draw her sabre, she just waits, insolently. The garrison stand ready to repel the raiders, but when it is clear they are not attacking, two captains - a Marcher and a Freeborn - come carefully down to the quayside, to find out what she wants.

The air thrums with tension, as before a storm. The pirates aboard their dreadful ship throng the railings, silently. Whoever this orc woman is, she is no diplomat. She spits into the sea, a gob of snot and blood and spittle, and a moment later the waters boil. Two massive carcharodons shark-heralds rise out of the water and clamber onto the docks behind her, towering over the orc. They bring with them the stench of blood and terror, causing one of the Imperial officers to take a step back, but the orc ignores them.

"I have been sent to speak with you," she says. Her voice ripples with contempt. "The High Priestess Shivaarn has a message for your rulers."

She cocks her head slightly, waiting to see if the Imperials recognise the name. The Freeborn officer certainly does - the crazed Grendel priestess of the Temple of Tempest Jade is known on the Brass Coast. A servant of the mad eternal Siakha, and the architect of the Shining Pillar's downfall. Satisfied the orc continues.

"The Bay of Catazar belongs to us. It has been sanctified with blood and the High Priestess claims it as her domain. Not for the Salt Lords, or for the people of Attar or the Broken Shore, but for our mistress. For the Queen of Reefs, the Devouring Maelstrom, the Thunder-that-Roars, the Blade of Seas. For the goddess of storm and slaughter. It is hers - it is ours as it always should have been. From shore to shore it is ours, and whether you are Empire or Grendel, you cling to its borders only as our prey."

The carcharodons pull their lips back from their monstrous teeth and give voice to an awful booming bellow. It is echoed by a terrible cheer from the pirate ship. There is no opportunity for further discourse, and it seems as if the bloodthirsty pirates intend to launch a doomed attack against the entire garrison at Quzar. But at the last moment, their emissary turns on her heel and strides back up the gangplank and the ship loosens its sail and returns the way it came.

The heralds remain for a moment longer, looming alone on the docks, and then dive into the water and are gone.

Game Information: Madruga

Mystic messages aside, the campaign in Madruga has resulted in victory, but at terrible cost. The Marcher and Freeborn armies have driven the Grendel out of Lightsea, and prevented them taking Calvos Sound. The orcs of the Broken Shore control Siroc Plains. It is not clear who controls Free Landing - but whatever the garbled stories of Grendel prisoners might say it is not in Imperial hands. The Blightheart - what was once the Great Grasses - remains under control of... whatever the heck controls the Blightheart.

The Parador of Salt and Sand in Quzar is liberated, and the Hakima of Salt and Sand is once again free to gather their fellows in Lightsea, to find out how much damage the Grendel have done.

The Brass Coast armies are still in decline, as detailed in A beacon of smoke. They need one more prosperous coastal region to prevent this.

Game Information: No Seriously What's Going On?

Further information about what is happening in the Bay of Catazar will be given in the Winds of Fortune.

Participation: Fire of the South

A character who controlled a military unit that supported the Fire of the South, and only the Fire of the South, this season may choose to have accepted a boon from the Knights of the Bound King. The boon works as an enchantment - meaning it will be removed if you receive a different enchantment. Otherwise it will last until the end of the Spring Equinox. While it persists it will allow you to make two uses of unstoppable each day as if you knew the skill without spending any hero points.

The boon also brings with it a roleplaying effect: you find it difficult to show mercy to your opponents; it feels good to execute fallen enemies on the battlefield, and easy to find excuses to do so. If someone flees or surrenders you find it difficult not to continue to press your attack until they are all dead. In social situations you are likely to lash out at anyone who you think is threatening you or your friends, and will feel the urge to draw weapons, defeat then, and then execute them.

If your military unit supported the Fire of the South you will need to email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to have the boon assigned to your character.

Siakha's Maw (Battle)

Free Landing has been wrestled from the clutches of the Grendel, that much is certain, but that outcome is far from desirable for the Empire. The Freeborn islands are now firmly under the control of Siakha's cultists, led by High Priestess Shivaarn.

The Salt Lords have renounced Siakha and those who follow her. Hundreds and hundreds of orcs - Grendel soldiers, pirates, and reavers - along with human mercenaries from across Attar, have now banded together as the Mother of Wrecks calls her followers to Siakha's Maw in Free Landing. This disparate force presents a significant and ongoing threat to Madruga that is made more troubling by the roiling waters and swirling maelstrom that surround the former location of the Shining Pillar. The monstrous heralds of Siakha that now patrol the coastal islands already make a direct assault a difficult proposition, and it seems that Shivaarn plans to make any attempted crossing even harder yet by unleashing dozens of kraken eggs into the waters as a further deterrent.

Much of the latest information on Shivaarn has come from a troubling source. A Grendel going under the epithet the Sea-Wraith has been passing intelligence to Imperial forces. The Sea-Wraith professes to have a shared interest in seeing the Siakha cultists stopped, and claims to be supplying this information because they believe the Empire can act upon it using the Sentinel Gate. This individual is making some fairly extraordinary claims, but the prognosticators have looked into every scrap of information they have received and it all checks out... so far.

Objective: Prevent the Cult Releasing Their Kraken

• Stop cultists from moving their kraken eggs to the coast
• Destroying at least 13 eggs would stop the threat to the crossing
• If 12 or more eggs survive it will prevent army movements between Free Landing and the rest of Madruga
• The eggs are considered to be animals and it is not possible to bring them through the Sentinel Gate

The Cult of Siakha plans to isolate Free Landing from Madruga by making the coastal straits impassable to inshore craft. Information shared by Sea-Wraith reveals that the cult plans to release a number of kraken's eggs into the straits between Freelanding and Lightsea. Not native to the Bay of Catazar, kraken can grow to be fearsome ocean predators capable of killing whales and sinking ships. It is understood that kraken young normally grow slowly in the cold ocean, but can rapidly reach maturity in warmer, shallow seas where food is plentiful. If the kraken were released, Imperial, (or Grendel), armies attempting to storm Free Landing would be set upon by the voracious juveniles, a problem that would only compound as the kraken grew in size and became capable of snatching soldiers right off the deck of a boat.

Without access to a navy, it would not be possible to move an army across the narrow waters to the region's many islands. Small fishing boats, costal traders, and ferries - all of which commonly travelled to Free Landing under the watchful light of the Shining Pillar - would be be easily picked off and sunk by the predatory beasts. Young kraken would be no match for the kind of fighting vessels that make up a navy, but that wouldn't help the Empire.

The Empire must destroy 13 - more than half - of Shivaarn's eggs being moved across the island during the conjunction. The kraken spawn are large rubbery sacs containing small gestating kraken. Easily destroyed, the eggs will be under guard and moved by skilled handlers drawn from former Kraken's Jaw moridun forces. Sources indicate that the cult will be wary in how they transport the creatures, using distractions to avoid detection, and avoiding gathering them all together in a single place. Imperial heroes will need to scour the entire area to seek out any hidden egg caches or track down orcs attempting to conceal one. A battlefield is a large place, so any attempt to locate the eggs will need to be thorough and it will be essential to communicate how many have been destroyed, lest a withdrawal is made before the objective is complete.

Objective: Prevent the Spring Rituals

• Stop the cultists from casting Thunderous Deluge and Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea by any means
• Shivaarn's ritualists can only cast one ritual at each of the two regio

It would appear that the Empress of Sharks has also offered her destructive boons to Shivaarn and her cultists. Unsurprisingly, the priests have leapt at the chance to spread chaos and destruction and thereby win the Maelstrom's favour. However they lack the magical strength to create such powerful ritual effects, so Siakha has provided them with a pair of boons that will allow them to boost the power of their ritual, but which will consume the power of the regio for a season once used. That will give the priests enough strength to cast the ritual - but it means they need two regio to perform them both.

To solve that problem, the cult have come here to use the twins - a pair of weak Spring regio, located a short distance apart. Having two regio in close proximity will allow the Siakha worshippers to perform both rituals, provided they can access them. The cult will have to deploy their ritualists carefully as a single regio will no longer function once they complete one of their rituals there so they will need to relocate to the other.

In order to stop the cultists, Imperial forces have several options open to them:

• Kill enough ritualists from the Spring coven to make casting impossible
• Hold one or both regios against the cult until they run out of time
• Locate the cult's quartermaster and relieve them of the mana, paraphernalia, and the precious ilium needed to cast the rituals
• Find a way to make it impossible to use one or both regio

The cultists have a spring coven converging on the maw, desperate to perform their deity's bloody rites. The biggest weakness faced by the cult is that they have little skill, instead relying on potions, and foci to make up their shortfall. If the Empire can capture the orc tasked with overseeing the cult's ritual resources they could claim the treasure and stop the rituals. There is certain to be at least two rings of ilium, either with their quartermaster or the ritualists.

Objective: Free Mohrain Luain

• Mohrain Luain, a scion of a wealthy merchant family has been captured by the Cultists
• Return them to Anvil to obtain a reward of 15 thrones

It seems that the payment to the Red Ibis last season has already born surprise fruit. A missive sent by the scoundrel arrives in Anvil shortly before the equinox, with an unusual request for aid...

The Luain family are a rich merchant dynasty in Dubhtraig that has old ties to the Salt Lords, providing equipment, clothing, supplies, and foodstuffs to the Grendel's armies and navies when on campaign. Their lucrative contracts have led to the family living pampered lives, isolated from the gruelling wars they enable. The youngest child of the Luain's has, in an act of rebellion and boredom of a life behind a merchant's desk joined the fighting in Madruga, leading a unit of Stone Born. Inept, ignorant, and excited in trying to prove themselves, the young Mohrain was quickly captured during the upheaval on Free Landing and is now being held by cultists of the Mother of Wrecks.

The youth's family are understandably shocked at this turn of events, desperate to see their child safe; so much so that they have contracted the Red Ibis to assist. Red Ibis has in turn approached the Empire to see if they are willing to help. Simply, rescue Mohrain and return them to Dubhtraig, then payment will be sent as recompense. If Mohrain can be freed from the cultists, then it should be easy to convince them to accept a casting of The Cuckoo's Egg, enabling their extraction back to Anvil.

Once they are back in Anvil, they will effectively be a prisoner. The Red Ibis says that Mohrain has a necklace with the family crest on it. A reward of 15 thrones will be sent to any Imperial citizen who offers the necklace - and a rune of Lann in a casting of Ephisis' Scale. The civil service can then arrange the prisoner's safe return to his family.

Objective: Protect Sea-Wraith's Informant

• Ensure Sea-Wraith's informant survives the battle
• If the Empire ensure that Sea-Wraith's informant survives, he will arrange a chance for the Empire to assassinate Governor Rahab

The civil service have carefully checked all of the information provided by the Grendel who calls themselves "Sea-Wraith" and have been able to confirm all the details... bar this one. There is no reason to think the Grendel is lying, and every reason to think they are telling the truth (the Grendel place great store by Fidelity). But the sheer Audacity of the offer and the depths of the betrayal involved, mean that the prognosticators are advising the Military Council to treat this offer with caution.

Sea-Wraith claims to have an informant in Shivaarn's ranks. Sea Mage Tuairisc is a powerful Sea ritualist operating in a unit of Storm Born. They remain loyal to the Salt Lords and are operating under-cover at great risk to themselves to pass information back to Sea-Wraith and the Council. The magician is carefully playing along with the cult's scheming and ritual preparations and his unit is unaware of his true loyalties. He can be easily recognised by his ritual regalia, a headpiece shaped from a shark's jaw bones.

Sea-Wraith expresses the hope that the Empire will kill as many of the Siakha cultists as possible, but they are adamant that Tuairisc must survive the battle. If the Empire don't take the battle, then the spy should be fine, but if they do attack the cultists, then Sea-Wraith has asked the Military Council to do everything possible to ensure that the Sea Mage escapes unharmed and is not revealed to the enemy.

In return, Sea-Wraith claims they will give the Empire Rahab. To be precise, they claim to be able to arrange a way for the Empire to attack and kill Rahab. The Grendel has provided no information on how this might be achieved, but presumably it would involve supplying the Empire with information on the governor's whereabouts. It is likely that if the Empire knows the location of Rahab then a conjunction of the Sentinel Gate might allow an opportunity to reach him.

Sea-Wraith is very explicit - the will only betray Rahab to the Empire if the Empire attempts to stop the Siakha cultists and only if Tuairisc survives with his cover intact.

Battlefield Environment: Blood in the Air

• Guerra's Bluff is under the effect of a powerful Spring magic
• All characters experience a feeling of rising bloodlust
• Any character who does not resist the aura has a single use of CLEAVE with an appropriate melee weapon whilst in the location

The land around Siakha's Maw is under the influence of a powerful Spring aura that affects everyone who travels to this location. Unless you have a way to resist the power you will experience the following roleplaying effect:

A coppery tang fills your nose and the mouth; you can feel a growing urge to succumb to savagery pulsing through your veins.

A character may resist this effect if they:

• Expend a hero point upon entering the area
• Draw on the spiritual strength of an anointing
• Draw on their merrow lineage and assume a calm demeanour
• Are bonded to a magical item or have a ritual enchantment that mitigates effects like these

Whilst in the location any character can make a single CLEAVE call with any melee weapon other than a pike once during the battle. You do not need to expend a hero point or have the Cleaving Strike skill to use this ability. This ability is lost if the character resists the roleplaying effect at any point, or upon their return to Anvil.

Coursing (Feroz)

• A suspicious Faraden agent has been travelling through the Brass Coast towards Feroz for unknown reasons
• Imperials should intercept this individual and investigate before they reach the safety of Grendel lines
• This skirmish is a combat highly likely encounter
• The Champion of Wisdom is responsible for preventing this possible threat to the Empire and discovering the truth

For the past week Freeborn militia in Segura have been tracking a suspicious individual dressed in Faraden garb. Having entered Yellow Chase, presumably from across the hills in Faraden, they were clearly avoiding attention and fled when encountered by citizens. While eluding the eyes of the Imperial authority they seem to be heading southeast towards the border of Feroz.

While nobody has managed to talk to this person or ascertain why they are acting the way they are, it seems likely that they are trying to reach the Grendel. Whatever their purpose, it is unlikely to be good for the Empire. It therefore falls to the Champion of Wisdom, Valens Leos, to ensure that any potential threat does not come to pass and uncover any relevant information. As this individual may have crossed the border into Feroz proper by the time of the conjunction it is likely that Grendel patrols will be operating in the area; needless to say, it is imperative to ensure that this individual does not get the opportunity to meet with the Grendel.