No Peace

The battle lines shift, but the war is very far from over.

Questions

In the west, the story plays out again. The Jotun invade; the Empire pushes them back. The Jotun are gone from Sermersuaq, driven out by an alliance of Imperial strength and Thule cunning, but further south the situation is much less cut and dried. The Cinnabar hills exert an irresistible lure to the warlike Jotun - mithril and white granite to fuel their endless conquest - but each time they gain a foothold they are thrown back. This time it is the Lasambrian Jotun who seek to claim the hills - will they fare any better than those who have come before? And what of Bregasland - Mathilda Fisher claims the western marshes as her fiefdom, and the Jotun honour her claim. There is resistance - but will it be enough? And further south still, the fires of war come once again to Liathaven. The weakness of the vallorn presents an opportunity for the Jotun - what will it mean for the Marches now they stand once again at the very threshold of the Mourn?

Let's finish what we have started with Overwhelming Assault. Let us scour the land of our enemies. Take no prisoners, allow noneto live, drive them before us into the abyss.

Karrow Strangers Song, General of the Black Thorns

Thorns, vates, warriors and healers all; we keep going. The job of Isaella's Dance is not yet done, so fight on and fight hard. We'll finish this, my poisoned thorns.

Larkin Shattersong, General of Isaella's Dance

Vigilance demands you see to the rot in your neighbours field. Lasambria is a rot and we will sweep them out of Kahraman in a tide of blood and venom. We will do whatever it takes.

Brennos Brackensong, General of the Quiet Step

My freeborn, I am Velasco I Guerra, your new General. I hear your voices as we continue onwards against the Lasambrians and Jotun. If we can we will drive a wedge between them as they argue among themselves. We will kill this enemy as we drive them from our land. May our swords ring true and shield stay strong.

Velasco i Paloma i Guerra, General of the Fire of the South

Freeborn! Your incredible deeds have routed the enemy and inspired our nation. Your bravery is prosperous! Next season the Burning Falcons will finally join us. This is your doing! This is your skill! Hit them with more daring raids and drive these invaders from Gambit

Delora i Sol-Devorador i Erigo, General of the Red Wind Corsairs

Red Hills

The plains and fields of Gambit are already dry again; no sign remains of the storm rains that battered the cinnabar hills last season. After early victories, the Lasambrian Jotun were driven back by Imperial forces lead by the brutal Navarr armies. Now, the Empire seeks to finish the job - to break the orcs and force them back into the western hills. The Black Thorns, Isaella's Dance, and the Quiet Step lead the way. Merciless, neither asking for, nor offering quarter, the Navarr aim to sweep the Lasambrians out of Kahraman on a tide of blood and venom. Ready with spear and bow to kill as many orcs as they can, to take no prisoners, they drive westward past newly-liberated Rojota through Gambit. Servitors of the Spider Queen, Arhallogen, join the Quiet Step as they prepare to slaughter the Lasambrian Jotun - a handful of heralds and a single warband of hooded and cloaked allies of the Centipede General - offering boons of venom and ambush to those prepared to fight alongside them. The armies of the Brass Coast - the Fire of the South and the Red Wind Corsairs supported by the garrison of Braydon's Jasse - fight to liberate the western plains, to liberate Kahraman from Lasambrian rule. Granted clear sight by Imperial magicians, the Fire of the South aim to ensure that no Lasambrian forces slip through the net cast by the Navarr, moving steadily west across the dry plains of Gambit. The Corsairs in contrast range ahead of the main Imperial force, seeking opportunities to take hostages for ransom. They have their work cut out for them, needing to reach the orcs before the Navarr can cut them down. Heralds of Cathan Canae support the Fire of the South - tattooed warriors wrapped in the skins of bears, and wolves, and less identifiable creatures come down out of the mountains of Serra Briante, down from a citadel of ice and black rock conjured by Imperial magicians.

Five Imperial armies... and yet in the end they face precious little resistance. The Lasambrian Orcs and their Skjalderborn allies are gone. Having delayed only long enough to gather up their injured from the battlefields near Rojota, the Lasambrian armies quit Kahraman in good order. Retreating quickly to the west, quitting the Empire for the hills of Reinos, the orc armies are gone. A few warbands lag behind, more interested in challenging Imperial heroes. A couple of supply depots are left garrisoned, too slow to join the main retreat, and they at least try to hold back the irresistable tide of Imperial soldiers. A few fall to the Red Wind Corsairs raiders; the rest are swept away by the Navarr.

By the Winter Solstice, Kahraman is unequivocally Imperial once more. The scars still remain - the destructive strategy of Stephen of Sacrombe, put into operation during the Summer Solstice, has made travel through the northern mountains all but impossible. Passage through Serra Damata, Serra Briante, and Braydon's Jasse has been brought to a standstill. Caravans of white granite and mithril are forced to travel laboriously south into Gambit and Jade Range before traveling east, increasing the potential peril from raiders and bandits. The systematic destruction of roads and bridges heavily impedes the ability of the Braydon's Jasse garrison to patrol the western mountains. A great deal of work lies ahead to restore the already crumbling infrastructure of northern Kharaman.

Yet for now, the orcs are gone. The territory is liberated. Kharaman is free of the Jotun Lasambrian, and the people can begin to rebuild their lives. Again.

The resistance frustrates the Fishers' rule at every turn.

Lonely Waters

Mathilda Fisher survived her visit to Anvil, and for now she rules uncontested over the marshes of Bregasland. In practice, her dominion extends only as far as the Jotun patrols that support her. They may claim that the "Jarl of the Bregas" is in charge, and indeed she has established her court at Fisher's Rock, but her household could not hope to hold the swamplands without their assistance.

Reeds! The Coward-puppet Fisher has shown her hand. Her master demand our withdrawl, but we are the Reeds, we do not bend or break. Dig Deeper, continue Laying Low, sap their strength, give them no rest.

Amberlain Black, General of the Strong Reeds

Their every move is resisted by the soldiers of the Strong Reeds, and the guerrillas of House Greywater. The Marcher forces are ready at a moment's notice to go on the offensive again but for now they lie low and focus on harrying the Jotun forces and those Bregas who have thrown in with Mathilda. Orc attempts to root them out have proved ineffective for now; the Strong Reeds are too adept at avoiding their crude attempts to lure them out.

While there may be little in the way of open fighting, a different battle is being waged. A battle for hearts and minds. With the aid of former Mournwolders loyal to Stephen of Sarcombe, the Fishers work to convince the people of Bregasland that they are in a better position now they have been "freed" from the tyranny of the Empire, and while it is slow going there are those who will listen. Even with the priests of the Marcher assembly urging them to ignore the Fishers, there are those who would rather take a path of least resistance. "It's not enough to not say yes; you have to say no" as one gnomic old parable has it. And there seem to be a number of households prepared to embrace the quiet life rather than fight. The Bregas have always been an odd people.

For now, though, the marshes of Bregasland appear to have settled into a quiet status quo. The Fishers try to sway the Bregas to their way of thinking; the Greywaters and the Strong Reeds resist them; the Jotun watch the borders preparing as best they can for the Imperial counterattack they must know is coming.

The facts are hard to come by; what exactly has happened in Liathaven?

Deep Woods

There's little Imperial presence in Liathaven; a few scattered stridings and steadings and some garrisons protecting West Ranging and West Wood, and keeping an eye on the squirming vallorn heart. With the fall of Bregasland, those garrisons have become particularly isolated - although the recent uneasy detente with the Feni of Liath Ring and Liaven's Glen has allowed contact to be re-established in recent months. A heavy Winter curse - Wither the Seed - still hangs over Liathaven further discouraging Imperial citizens from making their homes there.

Shortly after the end of the Autumn Equinox, even that precarious contact suddenly goes quiet. A messenger expected to arrive at Green March fails to arrive. The Jade Hill River striding, whose long and winding route takes them through northern Liathaven during the Autumn months, fail to arrive at Brock Heath market for the first time in... well since anyone can remember. For those in the know, it feels like a rock has been thrown into the still pond, and the first ripples are beginning to spread.

Then the survivors appear, stumbling into the Feni-held north-eastern regions. A great host of Jotun has swept through the western woods of Liathaven, overwhelming the limited reistance and conquering West Ranging and West Wood. The Navarr who manage to make it to the Mournwold report that there are two forces - the Lasambrian Jotun recently in Kahraman have come down from the Lasambrian Hills into Western Scout, while a matching force of Jotun have smashed through West Ranging from Grey Fens. Both regions are quickly subdued - both the Navarr and the scattered vallornspawn raised by the heirs of Terunael during the recent troubles.

The Jotun are not done, however. Once West Ranging is secure, the Jotun forces combine and push eastward. The Feni do their best to resist, but are unable to stand against the grim-faced orcs. The Jotun capture Liath Ring, and less than a month later overwhelm Hotter's Mire. Left with nowhere to flee, the Feni retreat into seclusion - hiding in the regio of northern Liathaven taking refuge with their patron eternals. The last reports, brought to the Empire by a handful of merchants trading with Hotter's Mire, indicate that the Jotun are already preparing to fortify Hotter's Mire, planning white granite walls to transform it from a makeshift settlement into a citadel. They also speak of Summer warriors among the Jotun - a host of knights and squires from the Fields of Glory - and describe the Jotun as an irresistible wave.

There has been comparatively little loss of life - at least among the Imperials. Despite the Navarr presence in western Liathaven, the territory is very far from being Imperial. There's no information about how many casualties there may have been among the Feni. Given their numbers and propensity for hit-and-run rather than pitched battles it seems unlikely they will have made much impact on the Jotun army. Wherever possible, though, the Jotun have slaughtered any Navarr they can find and seem to struggle to differentiate Feni from Navarr. Few, if any, people are receiving the Choice in Liathaven.

Liathaven has fallen silent. The farmers and miners of the Mournwold - human and orc alike - look to the western forests with trepidation. Last time the Jotun forged a path through Liathaven it was a prelude to the invasion of the Mourn...

Game Information : Against the Jotun

The Empire once again controls the whole of Kharaman. During the Summer Solstice, the Lasambrian Jotun enacted a plan detailed in the One tree at a time Wind of War. Consequently travel through Serra Damata, Serra Briante, and Braydon's Jasse is greatly impeded. Campaign armies now struggle to move freely between Braydon's Jasse and Serra Briante, or between Serra Briante and Serra Damata. This makes it impossible to attack more than one of these regions in the same season. Furthermore, any fortification in Serra Briante, Serra Damata or Braydon's Jasse is only able to defend the region it is in, it will not provide any benefit in either of the other two regions. This situation will persist until the Empire is able to commit the time and money needed to repair the roads and bridges. You can learn more about the lingering problems in Kahraman in the Winds of Fortune.

The Strong Reeds remain in Bregasland, using their special Lay Low order with the support of House Greywater. As long as the Strong Reeds continue to take the Lay Low order in the territory while the Greywaters remain free to help them, they will prevent any enemy army from being able to resupply, but will be able to benefit from both natural and emergency resupply themselves even if there are hostile forces present. Furthermore as long as the Greywaters continue to harass the Jotun, Grey Fens has the allied insurgents quality - similar to the under threat quality but benefitting the Empire - which means the Grey Fens will count as being a beach head even though the entire territory is in Jotun hands. There is an additional unexpected benefit that arises because the Strong Reeds were in the territory when it fell. Even though the territory is now entirely in Jotun hands, the army is not forced out. The general of the Strong Reeds can continue to give the lay low order - they are not forced out of the territory. This benefit will remain until they move out of the territory, give a different order, or lose the support of House Greywater.

Apart from Liath's Heart, the entire territory of Liathaven is now in Jotun hands. The Feni there are scattered, and it appears the Jotun are using the settlement of Hotter's Mire as their base of operations. The good news is that they appear to be dealing with the vallornspawn roused by the Heirs of Terunael. The bad news is that they are also consolidating their hold on the territory by executing any Navarr who fall into their hands. As of Spring 381YE, there are assumed to be no NPC steadings and stridings in Liathaven. The small Imperial presence in West Ranging and West Wood has been crushed by the Jotun, but any player character steadings or stridings are considered to have either avoided the attention of the Jotun for now, or are under siege. The conquered territory penalty now applies to Liathaven, halving the production of any personal resource held by characters in Liathaven.

Finally, the trods of Liathaven remain in tatters; the presence of the Jotun is not likely to make restoring them any easier.