Rocks and gravel

Cyrus summoned up his strength and lifted the lantern a little higher, so that the illumination could pass over the shoulder of his burly companion. Esther wasn't tall but she was broader in the shoulder than the thin Urizen mage and with the plates from her cuirass adding to her bulk he was was struggling to hold the heavy lantern high enough for them all to see by.

As the lantern swung it cast a medley of light and shadows through the chamber in front of them - just enough to see that some ancient looking chests at the far side of the cave. Could the treasure they had heard about be inside? Esther signaled for quiet and they all stood straining to hear... but there was no sound other than their breathing. Time for their scout to earn his keep.

The Freeborn corsair was a new addition to their little band, after poor Morgan was eaten by a marshwalker while investigating the smuggling ring in the Holberg swamps. He was handy in a fight with that scimitar he carried, but it was his claim to be skilled at finding and disabling traps that had convinced them to take him on. Time to see if he was useful for more than just hitting things.

He moved forward a few steps and then suddenly froze. There was a sound like no trap that Cyrus had ever heard - a sort of continuous rattling... like chitin on stone.

And it was coming from behind them!

"Battle!" he shouted and moved instinctively to get behind Esther. Anna of Liran's Gate muttered an oath, turning away from the queer rock formation she had been examining. She quickly readied her mace and her Labyrinth-marked shield.

"By Inga Tarn's hammer, what is that noise?" she asked.

Cyrus had no idea. Something was coming up the tunnels from behind them... and by the sounds it was coming fast and it was not alone.

He put his hand on Esther's shoulder and nodded to his old friend - he'd start with an empowering chant - hopefully they could win the fight fast, and save the healing for later.

Overview

A little over a month after the Spring Equinox a large section of north-western Goldglades in Miaren ... disappeared. With an almighty roar, a section half a mile across simply collapsed. Goldglades is one of the richest part of Miaren, and the loss of life could have been very high indeed - but there was some warning. Several vates apparenty forsaw the danger in the Pool of Silver Clouds, and were able to deliver warnings to those in the effected area. Not everyone listened of course - but the Navarr are by nature a people prepared to move when the need arises.

After the initial collapse, the hole began to spread. Warnings were sent to Birchland in Upwold, to the Vardstein Vales in Temeschwar, and to Wood Heath in Hahnmark. Not a moment too soon - less than a day after the first Navarr messengers reached Woodhall in the far south-west of Hahnmark, the ground opened up beneath the hall literally swallowing it whole. Without timely action by the thane in response to the warnings, several hundred people might have been swallowed alongside it.

Over the next month, chaos reigned. Sinkholes opened in south-eastern Temeschwar, and in north-eastern Upwold. Eastern Guard was evacuated of all save a bare bones garrison too stubborn to abandon their post, and for several weeks there was real concern that this old fortress might go the way of Woodhall.

The last great collapse took place three weeks ago; a significant part of the Vardstein Vales slid into the widening hole. Since then, there has been no further collapse. A small team of civil service surveyors (among many others) have visited the area and confirmed that the collapse appears to have stopped, at least for now, and folk are gingerly returning to the area.

Where the four territories once met, there is now a massive sinkhole. It is estimated to be seven hundred feet deep, with a lake at the bottom that may well be bottomless. The cliff walls are nearly vertical, and still prone to collapse in some places, but there are also signs of caves and tunnels opening out in several places. Initial explorers have excitedly reported what look to be ancient mine workings - some reaching back to the time of the Terunael, and some reaching back even further. The full extent of the network of caverns here has yet to be determined. More worryingly, some of the early daredevils who have made a preliminary investigation of some of the more accessibly caves and tunnels have failed to return - and all those who have made it back in one piece have described encounters with particularly angry trogoni - creatures rarely encountered outside of the mountains of Urizen, and the northern peaks of Wintermark and Varushka.

Significance

Strategic Implications

The massive sinkhole is a natural hazard that affects the movement of Imperial armies. The territories of Miaren and Hahnmark are no longer considered adjacent; likewise, it is no longer possible for a campaign army to move from Temeschwar to Upwold and vice-versa. This is a permanent change.

Weltsilver Bounty

The civil service reports massive stockpiles of weltsilver stored in the exposed tunnels - it seems likely that this were gathered here from the ancient mine workings for some reason. Now that they have been exposed they are literally just lying there for the taking. The only problem is the trogoni - these dangerous creatures infest the tunnels in large numbers. They don't care about the weltsilver - trogoni feast on mana crystals (and occasionally tempest jade). The ones living here seem to ignore the weltsilver and instead roam the tunnels looking for the natural mana crystals that slowly form here. But they will attack anyone who comes close.

Thus the only practical way to get the weltsilver is to send a small detachment of soldeirs - a military unit - into the tunnels in search of it. The rewards for such an action will be impressive; any military unit assigned to the tunnels in the coming seasons is going to come away with at least 16 ingots of weltsilver - and more if it is enchanted or upgraded. The problem is that if too many military units sent into the tunnels they are likely to rouse the trogoni to such a level that they boil out of the tunnels and attack the surrounding regions. That would then require an Imperial military army to fix - which given the current military situation might be very expensive indeed.

• If the total effective military strength is less than 2500 for the next two seasons then according to civil service divinations, there will be no problem. At this level the trogoni response will be muted and can be easily managed by those involved.

• If the total effective strength is between 2500 and 3500 in any season then the impact would be felt by the surrounding regions. The trogoni would boil out of the tunnels in sufficient numbers that they would threaten nearby defenders causing a 25% penalty to the production of mines, forests, farms and businesses in the four territories that abut the sinkhole, and a 50% penalty to any mana sites in the affected territories.

• If the total effective strength rises above 3500, then the trogoni will swarm out of the tunnels together. Although they are not an army, at that point they will be large enough to be equivalent to one. This force would move as one, attacking one of the four territories nearest the hole, driving off the inhabitants. In practical terms the consequences will be indistinguishable from having a small army of trogoni attacking and conquering the neighbouring territories from the sinkhole. At that point the situation will be so bad that independent military units acting alone will not be able to stop the trogoni - and it will require an army to eliminate the threat.

Provided the involvement of Imperial military units remains below the critical threshold for the next two seasons, the problem should then abate. Most of the weltsilver is likely to have been recovered by then and returns will have dropped to the point that it is no longer worth the danger. The trogoni population will have been depleted by encounters with the raiders and while there will always be some creatures living in the tunnels it is unlikely to become an ongoing problem.

Lancing the Boil

If the Military Council consider the situation at the sinkhole is too precarious, then they could address the crisis directly by sending one or more armies to one of the four territories with orders to attack the trogoni. Day mages investigating the hole estimate that the effective strength of the trogoni creatures is equal to a small military force of around 2500 strength. This means that an attack by a fully provisioned Imperial army would be victorious and inflict substantial casualties on the inhabitants, but it would take at least two Imperial armies or one army with many military units in support to be certain of breaking the trogoni strength in a single season.

Once the trogoni are destroyed, the generals leading the force would then be free to claim the huge bounty of weltsilver for the Empire. There would be no further threat from the trogoni. Any possible encounters in the future would only be with small numbers of individuals - the sort of thing a band of brave heroes could deal with - not something you would need an army to resolve.

If the empire sends a foraging army on the plunder order - then the force could be directed to plunder the mines. Such a force would gain an increased share of the weltsilver available, but also be able to grab other treasures from the tunnels, including some of the mana crystals growing there.