383YE Winter Solstice winds of war

Overview

The Winds of War blow across the Empire, and beyond. Since the Autumn Equinox, Imperial armies have fought to protect their borders - and in some cases to expand them. Here we learn about the results of those campaigns. Not necessarily their resolutions, because it is rare for such things to have an ending. Rather, the state of the tide. Advancing or falling back, taken at the flood, or ebbing away.

The Heirs of Terunael strike at the Empire from within, igniting a fire of chaos and ruin in the north, the east, and the west. Heroes of the Empire have risen to meet that fire, to brave the poison these treacherous briars seek to spread with the aid of their unnatural allies. In the north and the east, their schemes are rent to tatters; in the west however they have achieved their goals, and the myriad spawn of the vallorn spread from the tainted heart to devour steadings, slaughter stridings, and threaten orc and human alike.

In the far south-west, the Brass Coast is wracked by war... and by peace. The tide rises and recedes. In Segura the Empire is victorious, slowly driving the Lasambrian Jotun back toward their barbarian hills. In Feroz, the Empire recedes, withdrawing from land traded to the Grendel invaders in return for peace. A high price, perhaps, for a people who pride themselves on known the value of everything and insisting on a fair trade.

The Heirs of Terunael have turned the vallorn lose in Hercynia, Therunin, and Liathaven.

Fire and Hemlock

Hercynia

It has been many years since the vallorn of Hercynia last stirred, but now the so-called Heirs of Terunael have roused it to wakefulness. As in the past, when its slumber is disturbed, it strikes out with unmatched viciousness. The ettercaps and vallornspawn of its dark heart seek out opportunities for bloodshed and slaughter to a degree not seen among the creatures that surround the other fallen Terunael cities.

Citizen	Nation
Andred Rion	Dawn
Arlen Collier	Dawn
Bertrand	Dawn
Bors De Carsenere	Dawn
Calbyrn Winterwise	Dawn
Dreacon Mannicuss	Dawn
Eamon	Dawn
Enchantress Olivia Sepulchre	Dawn
Ethan Scolish	Dawn
Guy Grimbold the Elder	Dawn
Johan Leyward	Dawn
Leohnar	Dawn
Logan Olivia De Havelland of house Cordraco	Dawn
Lord Armand Remys	Dawn
Lord Edmund the Enchanter of House Torawyr	Dawn
Mal` Lassal Scethos	Dawn
Maryc	Dawn
Maximilian Plowman	Dawn
Melek GreatHart	Dawn
Mordred Smith	Dawn
Nineve	Dawn
Ren Tanner	Dawn
Roger de Scavilare	Dawn
Ruse	Dawn
Silas Falconer	Dawn
Solene d'Alba	Dawn
Solomon Locke	Dawn
Taliesin Carter	Dawn
Tey'Woren Fulren	Dawn
Tierian Spirits	Dawn
Tor Forester	Dawn
Torag Du Soleil	Dawn
Tristram	Dawn
Urien Novarion	Dawn
illantris	Dawn
Ames the Amiable	Highguard
Balian	Highguard
Jaylus	Highguard
Kerioth	Highguard
Septus	Highguard
Aukka	Imperial Orcs
Gaterender Brik	Imperial Orcs
Ieuan Fallow Deer	Navarr
Lleu Tarw	Navarr
Aeron Eerielight	Navarr
Aneira Exiles End	Navarr
Arkann Shatterhorn	Navarr
Ash Honeyforge	Navarr
Baldrum	Navarr
Blaidd	Navarr
Brennos Brackensong	Navarr
Brodi Brackensong	Navarr
Bryn Iron Hill	Navarr
Clarissa	Navarr
Danza Pathfinder	Navarr
Eirian Embercast	Navarr
Farenthar	Navarr
Farren Silver Streams	Navarr
Fia	Navarr
Gaius Ashborn	Navarr
Gerallt Two Feet	Navarr
Kale	Navarr
Keelia Scorched Pine	Navarr
Kenneth	Navarr
Lugh	Navarr
Matteo	Navarr
Meilyr	Navarr
Nook	Navarr
Pew	Navarr
Rhisiart Dancewalker	Navarr
Rhoswen	Navarr
Rhyffyllann Longest Path	Navarr
Scota	Navarr
Seamus Chainbreaker	Navarr
Stony	Navarr
Taliesian	Navarr
Vic	Navarr
merlin feyerd	Navarr
David, Jademist, Guerra	The Brass Coast
Miel I Gurrea	The Brass Coast
Arrabella Di Sarvos	The League
Jonathan Thresher of Alderly	The Marches
Calgacus Apulian	Urizen
drassus	Urizen
Alderei the Fair	Varushka
Alexsei Grigoryevich Strascovich	Varushka
Vuk The Wolfeater	Varushka
Baldric Altti	Wintermark
Bordan Auber	Wintermark
Ceann Cait	Wintermark
Eldred Olsen	Wintermark
Elfred	Wintermark
Harkon	Wintermark
Helgunn Chargebringer	Wintermark
Horst Dunning	Wintermark
Kaspar Kreftinaring	Wintermark
Kelnor	Wintermark
Theoderic Ulfarsson	Wintermark
Tylian	Wintermark
Ursus Cenasson	Wintermark
Wulfric	Wintermark

What began with a few scattered encounters around the borders of Deer's Folly soon threatens to become a full-fledged disaster. The heart of the vallorn touches each of the other four regions of Hercynia, and the creatures that teem and multiply in its depths are able to strike at steadings and stridings across the territory. Even the Northpines are not entirely free from danger - although the threat to the Navarr dwelling in the western peaks arises not from the dreadful creatures of the vallorn, but from sympathisers and agents of the Heirs of Terunael.

As abominations spill out of Deer's Folly, the traitors hiding in plain sight unleash more subtle weapons. They seek to use betrayal, sabotage, assassination, and deception to weaken the defenders and smooth the path for vallornspawn. Nor are all of these agents of Navarr birth; the Silent Bell were able to identify two groups of Varushkan cabalists aiding the Heirs, and there are rumours of folk from even farther afield turning on their hosts and seeking to unleash the power of Yaw'nagrah against them. Yet the vigilance of the Synod, and of the Silent Bell, have provided the people of Hercynia with crucial advance warning of the Heirs of Terunael and their schemes - and provided opportunities to counter them.

We have lived in fear of the vallorn for too long, but now I say to you. The vallorn does not bring death, but life. It does not harm, but heals. It's vast, vibrant power is not to be opposed, but to be embraced.

Fenella of Fellorich Striding, Heirs of Terunael

Even before the attacks began in earnest, these allies of Yaw'nagrah, these self-proclaimed scions of ancient Terunael, brought the corrosive power of Spring magic to bear against the people of Hercynia. Shortly before the Autumn Equinox, the waters of Hercynia began to show signs that they had been infested with the illegal power of Rivers Run Red, bringing the threat of infection and sickness to add to the dangers posed by the vallornspawn and ettercaps. The vates of Navarr are quick to respond - the Voice of the Quiet Forest rally their allies and draw on the more positive aspects of the Spring realm to counter the curse of pestilence the Heirs have raised. Yet the attempted tainting of the waters is only the most obvious of the Heir's schemes. Rituals of sickness, savagery, and ruin are brought to bear across the territory, striking at the walls of steadings, infesting food supplies with flies and maggors, sowing chaos among the defenders of town and striding alike.

The protectors of Hercynia employ magic of their own as well. As the vallorn spews forth its unnatural hordes, so that magic settles across Hercynia. It is as if the entire territory resists the incursion from its heart; magical fortresses twine and twist from the woodlands of the Glen of Shadows, from Old Ranging, and from Summersend as the Voice of the Quiet Forest continue to weave Spring magic in defence of the people of Hercynia. At the same time, a mighty castle of white stone and black ice rises in the foothills of North Pines, a frozen citadel drawn from the demesne of Cathan Canae by the Eternal Family. With the forest and the mountain aiding the defenders, the vallornspawn are contained.

Magic alone will not win the day, however. That task falls to the hundred or so independant captains who answer the call to action with their friends and allies. The majority of these are Navarr and Dawnish, bolstered by significant numbers of Winterfolk, and every imperial nation is represented among the heroes that come to Hercynia. Some fight the vallorn and its spawn directly; others track down the hidden threat of the Heirs of Terunael and seek to stymie their treacherous plans. Each individual battle, each confrontation, serves to further undermine the plans of the Heirs and their allies. Even with advance warning, the unbound power of vallornspawn, and ettercap, and corrupt magic, the threat of assassins' knives, poisoned wells, and burning brands, and the sheer madness of the Heirs' cause might have been sufficient to overwhelm the defenders of Hercynia.

The Mother has given us gifts, and now she calls our account due. A green tide shall wash over the Empire, and we are chosen to be its harbingers.

Roman Andrevich, Cabal of the Green Mother

As it is, the battle is very close. Despite best efforts, a tide of chitinous ettercaps is able to reach the storied steading of Treji, just in time for conjured vines to tear great holds in the defences. Lives are lost - but the defenders manage to stand against the howling horde of insect-horrors and turn them back before they can overwhelm the settlement. Without the magical defenders provided by forest and mountain, without the courage of the heroes and soldiers of the Empire, Treji would have fallen.

The attack against the Heartwood of the Great Vale is more subtle but no less potentially disastrous for all that. A band of Varushkan cabalists calling themselves the "Cabal of the Green Mother" seek to burn the weirwood forest to the ground, supported by abominable heralds of Yaw'nagrah. The vigilance of the defenders stymies their effort, but it is only the strength of the Imperial response to the call for heroes that prevents serious damage to the forests. The ferocity of the cabalists attack continues to raise questions about precisely what the relationship between weirwood and the vallorn might be.

Therunin

We the Highborn again go to Therunin to fight cultest threatening the Empire. With Virtue we the Valient Pegasus will scour this threat from the area. With the Virtues guiding us.

Lucifer, General of the Valiant Pegasus

In the north, the Heirs of Terunael are faced by magic, and by heroes. In the south, they face the might of the military council. The Valiant Pegasus has come to Therunin, where they serve as the backbone of the defence against the might of the vallorn. Their numbers are bolstered by some five thousand soldiers belonging to independent captains from Highguard, Navarr, and the Imperial Orcs. A further thirty or more captains - predominantly Navarr with a smattering of Dawnish knights - bring their warbands to the territory to fight the Heirs directly without the cumbersome protection of an army.

As in Hercynia, Imperial magicians have drawn down the power of the realms to bolster the defence. The Voice of the Quiet Forest rouses the wholesome woodlands of Eastring, weaving a wooden fastness there to shelter those fighting the incursion of the vallorn. The Sussivari Frost Coven from far-away Wintermark weaves their own magic over the marshes of East Ashes, crafting a pall of living mist that conceals the valiant guardians and confounds the senses of both treacherous briar and ravening vallornspawn alike.

Citizen	Nation
Agravain	Dawn
Avren Leosten	Dawn
Baddon Red Oaks	Navarr
Baedd	Navarr
Beax	Navarr
Caedan Feather	Navarr
Clive	Navarr
Corrin Ashwood	Navarr
Cybi Farkas	Navarr
Dafydd Steelford	Navarr
Dalthios Stormbroke	Navarr
Eleri Bronwen's Rest	Navarr
Gaeorg Brokenbough	Navarr
Geraint Broad-Backed	Navarr
Gwill Fenwarden	Navarr
Hen Was Silverthorn	Navarr
J'zarr	Navarr
Jaramir	Navarr
Karrow Strangers Song	Navarr
Lorcan Ashenwolf	Navarr
Nyle	Navarr
Powell Hoarfrost	Navarr
Raelyn Holdfast	Navarr
Raven	Navarr
Reaghan Emberedgrove	Navarr
Rowan	Navarr
Sedanta	Navarr
Theowyn Blackhawk	Navarr
Tomarn	Navarr
Toreth	Navarr
Torri	Navarr
Travid Longest Path	Navarr
Vaan	Navarr
kylar	Navarr

The Silent Bell reported fewer Heirs in the marshy woodlands of Therunin than in cold Hercynia, but the vallorn here is considerably larger and while it may be less vicious it is none-the-less a cunning and malignant opponent. Here, the Heirs rouse the ettercaps and the vallornspawn, but they also seek to foster madness among the great insects that roam the warm forests, and to raise the ire of the marshwalkers against the people of Therunin. Their numbers may be few but they are bolstered by Urizeni magicians and sentinels of Greenfountain Spire in Peregro - traitors who bring powerful magic to bear in pursuit of their crazed desire to overrun the eastern Navarr territory with the abominations of Sweetglades and Greenheart.

Yet the Navarr too have allies they can call on. The Great Forest Orcs have built their settlements in the Lower Tarn Valley, but their people are scattered across the territory trading and hunting. They may have questions for their Navarr hosts about the wisdom of treating with the Druj, but they are not slow to come to the aid of their neighbours. When the Heirs sought to wrap Therunin in a curse of sickness, the orcs quickly marshalled their forces to remove that curse. The Spears of the Pine, fresh from fighting the Heirs in Brocéliande, return to the Tarn Valley to protect their homes, and the building site of the Holt of the Oak. They are quick to coordinate with the defenders of Peakedge Song, and with the brands of steadings across Therunin.

The tide is rising, and the time has come to once again cover the land in trees. Beneath the cool shadow of the oaks, beneath the spreading boughs of the elm, we will meditate upon the revelations of the Green Mother. The vallorn is a tool with which we shall remake the world.

Agrippina of Greenfountain

While there are a multitude of monstrous foes in Therunin, as in Hercynia the threat comes as much from treachery as from beasts and hearlds of Yaw'Nagrah. If not for the courage of the defenders, the Docks at Feverwater would have been crippled by a trio of abnormally large hydra rising from the deep waters, drawn by the siren songs of the Heirs of Terunael. If not for the vigilance of the Highborn, a scheme to poison the orcs labouring to complete the Holt of the Oak might have been successful, leaving them defenceless against the swarm of spore-crazed dire beetles pouring out of Greenheart. Without the dogged determination of the Imperial Orcs patrolling near Peakedge Stead, a plan to tear open the gates with ritual magic might have come to fruition allowing a river of vallornspawn to flood past the defences and butcher the physicks and herbalists at work in the hospital there.

The Empire sees the mark of Spring within us as a taint, a mark that we are not to be trusted. They are afraid that we will learn the truth; that it is the Empire that is corrupt. It is old, and sick, and full of complexity and two-faced double-dealers. By embracing the green song of the vallorn, we will learn to stand free of that corruption and grow at last unfettered by the rule of cowards.

Clevorn of Greenstride Steading, Heirs of Terunael

There are also significant battles in Therunin, make no mistake. Violence spreads across the entire territory. While the walls of Peakedge Stead are preserved, the vallornspawn still come to smash themselves against them. While the hydra are diverted from the Feverwater Docks, they are only the harbingers of a force of terrible beasts that emerge from the marshes of the Mallum and from the vallorn heart to attack steadings across East Ashes and East Ring. The fiercest fighting takes place in the peaceful woodlands surrounding the Thimble - a major force of ettercaps and heralds lead by not one but three immense, twisted marshwalkers attempt to destroy not only the settlement there but also the trees themselves. Indeed, it seems as if the entire force of Greenfountain Spire - the Urizen traitors - is focused around somehow undoing the weirwood forest there in an echo of the attack against the Heartwood of the Great Vale in Hercynia. They are turned back, but at great cost to the defenders. Not one steading or striding in Therunin is untouched by the treachery of the Heirs of Terunael, but as the Winter approaches it is clear that the defenders have been sufficient to prevent widespread loss of life. While the beasts of the vallorn, and the giant insects, and the marshwalkers are dangerous they are still beasts - and without the direction of the Heirs their attacks falter and their numbers dwindle. For all their malice, the numbers of Heirs and Urizen directing these forces are limited and each victory, each traitor brought to justice, reduces the ability of the enemy to weave their magic and direct their servants. The attacks lessen, but the worry remains. How many of the briars still living in Therunin can be trusted? How many are merely sleeping tools of the conspiracy arrayed against the Navarr?

For now though, the battle is done. The Heirs are in retreat, and while there has been some loss of life, the damage to the people and the steadings is limited.

Liathaven

While conflict engulfs across Hercynia and Therunin, there is little news from Liathaven. It seems that the Heirs of Terunael are unchallenged there, their schemes unfold without the intervention of the heroes of the Empire.

There are few enough Imperial people still in Liathaven of course. Years of violence have seen to that. While the vallorn's hold over the territory has been greatly reduced, the woodlands are still dominated by the Jotun. There are Feni settlers in the northern forest, it is true, but the Empire has little contact with them and little reason to imagine that they are especially friendly to Imperial citizens. There is a network of scouts in Liathaven of course, but they have not reported the specifics of the Heirs' operations here Perhaps the Jotun have contained them. Perhaps not.

The withering curse of Winter magic still lies across Liathaven, that much is clear. If Yaw'Nagrah possesses the power to remove that curse, the eternal seems unwilling - or unable - to do so. Those few Navarr left in the territory have no doubt suffered at the claws of the vallornspawn and the heralds of Yaw'nagrah - as a territory outside the aegis of the Imperial Conclave it is likely that the spawn of the Green Mother have had unfettered access to the forests here. What few reports have filtered out say that the damage to the remaining steadings here has been extensive, bordering on the catastrophic. While there is no danger of the vallorn itself spreading, there are reportedly dangerous pockets of vallorn-tainted creatures in all the remaining regions of the territory that will need to be dealt with in the event the Empire returns to liberate the beleaguered territory.

They may also need to deal with the Heirs of Terunael. In the absence of concrete information it is dangerous to speculate, but it seems likely that whatever goals the treacherous briars were pursuing in Liathaven, they have likely achieved. It remains to be seen what that will mean for the south-western Empire.

Briars

There is one other battlefield where the Heirs of Terunael are active; the hearts and souls of those with briar lineage.

As in Brocéliande last season, a more subtle force than traitors and vallornspawn is at play in Hercynia, Therunin, and Liathaven. Many of the defenders are unaware of it, but those with the briar lineage across these territories experience strange dreams whenever they try to sleep. Their nights are full of images of pristine wilderness untouched by human hands, where they are free to live as they wish among others who share their appreciation for a quiet, rewarding life where everything makes sense. These dreams offer a stark contrast to the barrage of complexities that surround life in the Empire. Some experience dreams of acceptance and comradeship - something many of them have never really known given the attitudes of many Imperial citizens to those with Spring magic in their veins. The details of the dreams differ from person to person but at their heart all contain the same unsettling image; a beautiful figure draped in flowers, arms outstretched to them calling them home.

As the dreams become more intense, some of those briars fighting in Therunin and Hercynia begin to experience an unsettling physical change. Unnatural flowers begin to sprout from patches of bark, and in their hair. This prompts further suspicion - there are wild rumours that these flowers presage some inevitable shift within the heart of the briars, causing them to abandon their fellows and welcome the twisted embrace of Yaw'nagrah or of the vallorn. Some briars remove them as soon as they appear, but that does not prevent rumour and scaremongering spreading the news of their appearance among the defenders. The Navarr are suspicious of briars at the best of time, and these flowers do nothing to dampen this suspicion - whatever the priests of the Synod may say.

The dreams are not, apparently, restricted to the heroes who have come to defend Hercynia and Therunin. There are not many briars in the Navarr nations, but from steading and striding alike come tales of briars acting oddly, experiencing strange dreams, and blossoming with unnatural flowers. Given that the unifying trait of the Heirs of Terunael is that they are all briars - some of whom have struck against their neighbours with surprising treachery it is perhaps unsurprising that suspicion of those with the Spring lineage is escalating in the Navarr nation.

Game Information : Hercynia, Therunin, and Liathaven

The campaign is very close, but in the end the Empire is able to keep the Heirs of Terunael from inflicting significant damage in Hercynia. Lives are still lost, and many steadings and stridings damaged, but the vallorn are turned back and the schemes of the Heirs of Terunael are defeated. Whatever plans the Heirs of Terunael had for Hercynia have been ruined by the actions of Imperial heroes, and the power of Imperial magicians. Likewise, Whatever schemes the Heirs of Terunael and their Urizen allies may have had in Therunin have likewise been stymied by a combination of vigilant soldiers, clever ritual magic, and the courage of heroic military captains. They are in disarray, and their endeavours in Therunin and Hercynia have suffered significant setbacks such that they will not be in a position to threaten either territory again for at least a year.

In both territories, several of their leaders and many of their footsoldiers have been slain or exposed. The civil service confirm that there will be an opportunity to attempt to capture or kill some of the ringleaders of these unprovoked attacks during the coming Solstice. Further details will be provided in Winds of Fortune.

That is not to say that the Navarr territories have escaped completely unscathed, however. In Therunin, the Thimble has been preserved, but its production has been halved for the coming season. It will not require any additional repairs however. At the same time every forest, farm, herb garden, business, congregation, mine, and mana site in the territory has suffered a 1 rank reduction to their production but this penalty will have run its course by the end of the Winter Solstice, restoring production to normal going forward.

The situation in Liathaven is significantly worse. Following the unfettered chaos of the vallornspawn in the territory, a further 10 Thrones each season will be diverted from the Imperial Treasury to support those Imperial citizens still in Liathaven. Every forest, farm, herb garden, business, congregation, mine, and mana site in the territory will suffer a 1 rank penalty for the next year. Worse, vallornspawn have infested the territory and will represent a significant threat to any military force that enters the territory until they are dealt with.

Participation : Hercynia and Therunin

Military units (and forests) that took the Protect Hercynia or Protect Therunin actions will suffer damage as described in the wind of fortune. Each such military unit suffers a reduction to their effective fighting strength for the next six months, representing soldiers lost or crippled in the fight against the savage vallornspawn. This penalty will be applied to the character rather than the resource; paying to change personal resource to a different resource will not clear this penalty. In the event that a character uses a ritual such as Conclave of Trees and Shadow to turn a different personal resource into a military unit, the penalty will still apply and will persist when the resource turns back - the essence of the resource has been depleted by the damage caused from fighting in the vallorn miasma.

The captain of such a military units will also receive rewards pledged by the people of Therunin and Hercynia. In Hercynia, this amounts to five random ingots of metal while in Therunin it is five random herbs, with an additional ingot or herb (as appropriate) for each rank of upgrade or enchantment.

Military units attached to the Valiant Pegasus do not suffer damage, but neither do they receive any special rewards - the assumption among the people of Therunin is that they will be recompensed by the Military Council as normal. The Valiant Pegasus has suffered casualties; these casualties will be mitigated by orders as usual.

Every character whose military unit participated in the Protect Hercynia or Protect Therunin actions (either directly, by supporting the Valiant Pegasus, or by being the general of the Valiant Pegasus) may have suffered a lingering injury. Such players may e-mail plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to request a lingering traumatic wound. If you are not the general, and your military unit did not support the campaign here, please do not e-mail in. This opportunity to be horribly injured is available only to players who participated in the action. The traumatic wounds will be a mix of injuries sustained from ettercaps, vallorn influence, and potentially lingering curses from the Heirs of Terunael and their allies.

Participation: Briars

Any character with the briar lineage whose military unit supported the Protect Hercynia or Protect Therunin actions, or whose personal resource is in either of the effected territories or in Liathaven, will have experienced the peculiar dreams mentioned above. Furthermore, as with those briars who fought in Brocéliande during the previous season, they may have begun to manifest peculiar flowers that grow out of their bark or in their hair. Further details of exactly what this means will be included in the Winds of Fortune, but you have the option to acquire some flower phys-reps to add to your more usual lineage trappings. Flowers are not normally a permitted trapping for briars, this effect is an exception to the normal rules for those briars whose military units were in Brocéliande for this event.

In addition, all briars in the affected territories have experienced strange dreams that held out the offer of a simpler life. A better life, perhaps, for those who would create it. If you are playing a briar who would be sympathetic to this offer, and would like your character to have sought out the Heirs of Terunael to see what support you might offer them then you can email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk before the 10^thApril. We will provide you with an additional briefing sheet in your pack at the event, with the scant information your initial contact with the Heirs has revealed and telling you what you can do to help them. This is only available to characters with the briar lineage whose personal resource is in one of the three effected territories, or whose military unit supported the Valiant Pegasus, the Protect Hercynia, or the Protect Therunin actions. While other briars may have been in the area they have not had an opportunity to pursue contact with the Heirs of Terunael at this time.

If you are interested in finding out what the Heirs of Terunael are up to so that you can oppose them, we strongly recommend against emailing us. It is vastly more fun to be vigiliant and seek out corruption in the Empire at the event when roleplaying your character, then to have your character already have found it all out in downtime by emailing Profound Decisions.

You win some, lose some.

The Game

Segura

Last season, three Marcher armies formed a wall of steel across the south-western plains against an army of orcs that did not come. Shortly after the Autumn Equinox, those Marcher armies break camp and depart for the north - to where the Jotun continue their attempted conquest of Bregasland. In their stead come the Black Thorns, the Winter Sun, and the Red Wind Corsairs. Navarr, Imperial Orc, and Freeborn soldiers move together on the south-western plains, but rather than taking defensive positions they prepare to drive the invaders out of the Brass Coast.

After a hot Summer, a dry Autumn. Away from the rivers and the wells the grasslands are dry as kindling and brushfires a constant threat. Even at the best of times, fresh water is precious in Segura, and the armies must marshal barrels and skins carefully to combat thirst. Yet what water there is is infused with Spring magic, with potent healing energies that ensure a swift recovery for the injured - all save those with mortal wounds, or those executed by their foes. Yet as with most Spring magic, the ritual power brought to bear on Segura heals the enemy orcs as effectively as it heals the Imperial soldiers.

Corsairs, it is a high price we have paid to the Grendel though the time to make good on the time Feroz has bought us is now. We need wealth to win wars, and we need to know our enemy. Push deep into Segura, find their captains. It is high time we met these Lasambrain fools.

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

While the Empire prepares to advance, the Lasambrian Jotun remain on the defensive. The Corazón, the Hierro, and the Escuta seek to hold the territory they have claimed rather than further press their claim to Segura. The Empire, however, is not content to allow them to keep the land they have conquered. With some six thousand additional troops provided by Imperial captains, primarily supporting the Winter Sun, Imperial forces push west through Anozeseri. The orcs fight ferociously but step by step they are forced to fall back. Even with more than a thousand rough-and-ready orcs fighting under the banner of the Barren Hills, the Lasambrian Jotun cannot resist the Empire - all they can do is slow their progress a little. As Winter begins to approach, the barbarians lose their precarious foothold in Anozeseri and are forced to fall back toward into Anduzjasse.

Here, the three orc armies rally their forces, and face the Imperial advance. Operating from a fortified camp in the ruins of Old Anduz in the south-east, they harry the Imperials as best they can, their anger and frustration at their inability to maintain their grip on their ancestral lands, much less to reclaim Segura from the human "invaders", increasingly apparent in their desperate tactics. With the Winter Solstice on the horizon, the Empire is well on the way to driving the Lasambrian Jotun out of Segura.

Soldiers of the Winter Sun, we have spent a season chasing ghosts but now we charge to the defence of the Brass Coast. Sweep into Segura in a steady conquest and crush whatever stands against us. Our sisters and brothers of the coast have paid a heavy price so let us stand with them and respect their sacrifice.

Morgor, General of the Winter Sun

Yet while the barbarian invaders seem prepared to make their stand at Anduz, not every force of Lasambrian Jotun soldiers has come to the defence of the town. As the Winter Solstice draws near, Navarr scouts report a sizable force of orcs in the hills south of Yellow Chase not far from the border with Reinos. Numbers are inconclusive - the scouts were spotted by orc sentries and barely half their number made it back to Imperial lines to deliver their report. It seems that an armed camp made up primarily of Escuta and Corazón, have taken up defensive positions near the Caída - an old battleground that dates back to the formation of the Empire and lies in a depression amid the Western hills. The scouts were unable to get close, but reported that the orcs were excavating the dry soil there and seemed very keen to prevent Imperial eyes seeing what they were doing. Indeed, they have reportedly raised a makeshift stockade around their digsite.

This might have been dismissed as merely another example of the Lasambrian orcs inexplicable fascination with digging things out of the ground in Segura if not for two further discoveries.

Firstly, when the Red Wind Corsairs intercepted a caravan heading south from the Caida toward Anduz they discovered that some of the covered wagons contained what seemed to be early Imperial weapons and armour alongside less recognisable artifacts of barbarian orc manufacture. Orcs captured alongside the artifacts and held for ransom would say little about what was taking place at the site but did confirm the presence in the Caida of powerful orc shaman named Junda the Grim. Junda is a favored lieutenant of Lefsnir Red-armed, General of the Escuta (the army who were once the Deep Bloods before their embrace of the Lasambrian cause). Junda is said to have a profound awareness of the ancestors of the "fourth tribe" - the tribe that once lived alongside the Hierro, Corazon, and Naguerro in Segura and Feroz if the Lasambrian orcs are to be believed.

The Valiant Pegasus and our National Captains defend our homes whilst we march west from Feroz and begin a steady conquest with the Winter Sun and Redwind Corsairs to drive the Lasambrian Jotun scum back into Reinos. We march through winter, make them pay winter's price. Drive them to the Abyss.

Lleu Tarw, General of the Black Thorns

The Lasambrian Orcs are diverting resources to support this dig, resources that they sorely need for the defence of Anduz against the inevitable Imperial push. Whatever is happening there is important to them. Indeed, the civil service have reported that a major conjunction of the Sentinel Gate has been identified that seems to lead to the northern part of the Caida, not far from the excavation. Yet nobody can seem to find out why they are risking so much to support what looks on the surface to be little more than grave robbing. Or perhaps not quite nobody; according to the prognosticators they have received a letter from a Freeborn hermit by the name of Assio i Tambur i Gerra - a former custodian of Ghita's Veils - who claims to have further information about just why the Escuta and the Corazón are so interested in the Caida - information they intend to provide to the Imperial Necromancer and to nobody else.

The Lasambrian Jotun still maintain their control of the Western border, of the Kabalai palace, of the southernmost Towers of Anduz, and of the trading town itself, but it seems likely that unless they receive significant reinforcement, and if the Empire continues its advance, they will be driven out of the Brass Coast entirely by the start of the new year. Surely one old battlefield cannot provide the barbarians with the kind of advantage they would need to slow the Imperial advance? Surely...

Feroz

While the Empire is reclaiming land claimed by the Jotun in the west, it is ceding land to the Grendel in the east. With the ink on the Grendel peace treaty barely dry, the Iron Gulls move forcefully into Afarjasse and Morajasse, claiming both regions for their own. The Grendel also take custody of the newly completed fortification of Moras Rock, with the captain of the garrison surrendering the castle to the smirking general of the Iron Gulls before retreating with all her soldiers across the northern borders into Madruga. The Grendel seem to take special pleasure in setting up residence in the Spice Gardens of Afarjasse, and stories are already circulating that the new Grendel governor - the grizzled old veteran Lord Rahab - takes pains to ensure every meal he eats is supplemented by spices from the famous Freeborn gardens. Needless to say, those spices are gathered now by slaves - orc slaves brought across from the Broken Shore for the moment but it seems unlikely that state of affairs will continue.

As the Winter Solstice approaches, the Salt Lords formally announce that Lord Rahab has been appointed to oversee the entire territory. Following quickly on the heels of that announcement come reassurances from the new governor that, as stipulated in the peace treaty, those Imperial citizens currently in Afarjasse and Morajasse have until the start of the Summer Solstice to relocate. After that time, any who remain will be subject to the rule of the orcs of Attar and further evacuation will not be permitted. In keeping with the agreement they have made with the Imperial Fleet Master, the orc armies make no effort to prevent Imperial citizens from leaving the newly conquered lands. This same largesse does not extend to Freeborn citizens in Oranseri, Fortargenta or the Cazar Straits; they remain slaves of the Grendel conquerors to all intents and purposes. Vigilant orc sentinels patrol the borders between the conquered regions and the newly ceded territory with harsh penalties applied to any who attempt to flee north or west.

Rahab offers unexpected assurances however; any Freeborn who are prepared to bow their heads to their new orc masters need not fear chains or whips. Those who accept their new status will be free to continue much as they have before - albeit with certain restrictions on their ability to move between Feroz and the rest of the Empire. Those who resist, or offer succour to rebels or insurrectionists, will be harshly punished however. For each Grendel so much as injured by a former Imperial, a dozen Freeborn will be selected at random and shipped back to Attar to live out their lives in the salt mines of Tathar and Ayereed. There are already rumours of Grendel offering significant rewards to any Freeborn prepared to inform on any of their countryfolk who are planning to flee, or to act against their Grendel overlords.

While the Freeborn of Feroz may be in bondage, the Grendel seem to be taking a much more friendly approach to other humans. Representatives of the Asavean Archipelago in particular have been reported meeting with Lord Rahab at Oran. The Grendel governor is apparently keen to re-open Oran as a trading port - one that will offer berths not only to Asavean and Sarcophan vessels, but also to Imperial merchants should they wish to trade with the orcs of the Broken Shore... and should their consciences support such behaviour.

Game Information : Segura and Feroz

The Lasambrian Jotun have been driven out of Anozserai, and the Empire is around halfway towards driving them out of Segura entirely. The civil service confirms the presence of a major conjunction in Segura during the Winter Solstice that will allow the heroes of the Empire to reach the Caida and the Lasambrian Jotun digsite there.

The entire territory of Feroz is now in the hands of the Grendel. However, given Lord Rahab's interpretation of the peace treaty, the conquered territory penalty will not be applied until the start of the Summer Solstice. For the moment, it is still possible for Freeborn citizens to go about their business in these two regions with minimal interference from the occupation forces. This largess does not extend to the rest of the territory, needless to say, only to the two regions ceded by the peace treaty.

Any Freeborn character whose personal resource is in Feroz is free to take advantage of this situation to evacuate the territory and gain a new rank one personal resource in another territory without the usual 2 crowns payment for changing a personal resource.

The Empire no longer pays the upkeep for Mora's Rock, but at the same time they have lost control of the Spice Gardens of Feroz. While the title still exists, it provides no income or other benefits until such time as the sinecure is again in Imperial hands.

The Empire has begun the invasion of the Forest of Ulnak.

Hexwood

The forests of eastern Ossium are dark, and deep, and trackless. Haunted by centuries of cruel savagery, even with the grip of the dreadful Druj Druj miasma largely broken they still lie under a shroud of melancholy and danger. Shortly after the Autumn Equinox, as the Freeborn Fire of the South lead a great train of Ossium orcs west toward Skarsind, four Imperial armies cross the far borders of the Echofell and pass into the Forest of Ulnak.

When the Empire first took the fight to the Druj, when the armies of Dawn crossed the Semmerlak on the Golden Causeway to meet their Varushkan and Thule allies, they strode forth with heads high and the Imperial Battle Anthem echoing across the waters. The invasion of Ulnak could not be more different. An attempt to get the soldiers to sing as the armies begin to mobilise falters almost immediately. Back when the Empire didn't even know the name of the territory it was invading it seemed paradoxically easier to imagine glory, and victory. Now the Empire has seen what the Druj do to their own lands... and what little the Great Forest Orcs have been able to tell them about the Forest of Ulnak suggests that the campaign to conquer it will be even more grim.

Like the woodlands of Ossium, the trees of Ulnak are old. Ancient, even. Five soldiers together can barely make a ring around the trunk of some of the largest. Hung with streamers of moss, wreathed in ivy, shrouded in brown and golden autumnal leaves, their branches weave together to create a canopy that blocks out the sun. A ghoulish twilight hangs over everything, adding to the oppressive atmosphere of menace pervading everything. It is clear that as with Ossium, and with Reikos before it, the Druj have blanketed the Forest of Ulnak with a miasma of fear. Even soldiers hardened by the invasion of Ossium find it difficult to resist the persistent disquietude that shrouds the woods. Happy memories seem distant, and it is all too easy to slip into a spiral of self-doubt and regret, or to allow uncertainty to overwhelm courage. The Dawnish keep each others spirits up with a veneer of bravado, with stories of glory, and with gifts of favours. The Varushkans trade black humour, and melancholy cautionary tales "We have iron hearts," they joke "as well as iron boots, and iron axes." The legacy of the Vard, indeed.

It is all to easy to be deceived by a trick of the light into thinking something horrible has just moved behind a tree, or that the natural sounds of the forest presage some surprise attack. Worse, sometimes it is too easy to dismiss a sound, or a furtive shadow as a trick of the light when it really is an enemy moving stealthily through the trees. There are Druj here - Druj warriors and scouts apparently keeping a close eye on the eastern borders of Ulnak.

Twenty thousand Imperial soldiers were never going to be stealthy, but the Druj seem to be aware of their presence almost as soon as they cross the border from Ossium. Almost immediately, the armies encounter trap and ambushes. Stragglers are waylaid without warning by fast-moving skirmishers breaking from the undergrowth, sowing as much confusion as possible, then fading back into the brush before anyone can react. Withering arrow fire shreds lightly armoured soldiers, seemingly timed to attack the weakest flanks almost as soon as a force leaves the crushing claustrophobia of the trees and tries to cross an open clearing. The traps are as deadly as they are inventive; pits whose walls are lined with envenomed barbs; poisoned spikes covered with loose leaves; tapering dead falls designed to collapse and smother those unfortunate to fall into them. In some cases, entire trees hung from ropes are placed along paths, designed to scythe through the ranks of whatever unit is unlucky enough to trigger them. Some of these waylays are new, but the majority seem to be old - remnants of some internecine conflict between Druj clans perhaps.

As with previous forays into the Mallum, it is not just the sapient creatures, or the supernatural dread, that test the mettle of the Imperial forces. The natural creatures of the Forest of Ulnak are just as vicious, and just as venomous, as the orcs. Woe betide the soldier who accidentally disturbs a [Arkad#Hupul|[deathstinger]] hive, or stumbles into a nest of thumb-sized, flesh hungry, ivory ants. The forests also seem to be home to a truly staggering number of different breeds of scorpion, of spider, and of snake. Perhaps it is some perverse side effect of the miasma, but none of these creatures seem to have any fear of humanity. What begins as a joke soon becomes a deadly reality - for the smaller creatures seem drawn to the warmth of human bodies, or the roomy confines of Imperial boots left empty for the night.

We are the people of the Sun, be you noble, errant or Yeofolk. Once more the Dawnish armies lead the charge into the unknown alongside our siblings in the Hounds of Glory and Gryphon's Pride. Our Varushkan cousins in the Golden Axe will be with us as we strike fear into the heart of the Druj. Death to the Druj!

TBC, General of the Golden Sun

Despite all this opposition, both active and implicit, the armies make reasonable progress, with the massed ranks of the Golden Axe leading the way. Reinvigorated by the support of their people, the Varushkan soldiers have embraced the weapon - the tool - that adorns their standards. Many of them carry great logging axes, and though it slows them down they quickly demonstrate a proficiency for clearing areas of trees and using those trees to make compact, and defensible, camps for themselves and their Dawnish allies. Several of them joke that if the Druj have not bothered to build any roads through the heart of their forests, the Golden Axe are just the people to show them how it is done.

While the cynical northerners trample tree and orc alike beneath their iron boots, the Gryphon's Pride bring their own expertise to bear. They are here to conquer the Mallum, and they will allow neither haunted forest nor Druj butchers to gainsay them. As the 'Axe pushes eastward, the 'Pride sends contingents of heavily armoured soldiers north and south scouring the backwoods for opposition - and for signs of settlement.They do not find many; a few decrepit camps or collapsing villages seem to represent the entirety of the Druj habitation of this part of the Forest. Sometimes, they encounter ambushes in these villages but more often, they see signs of recent habitation abandoned days or hours before they arrived. The subject tribes of the Druj flee before the Dawnish - while the Imperial soldiers may have orders to make contact with the inhabitants, it seems none of the orcs are prepared to risk speaking to the invaders.

For their part, the Hounds of Glory and the Golden Sun alternate between pressing forward and consolidating the gains the Empire has made. Their main focus is on reducing losses to the barbarian Druj defenders, and their traps, and the trackless wilderness. Heavily armoured knights stand guard at night, while more lightly armoured yeofolk scout ahead of the main forces, engaging the Druj skirmishers on their own terms and retreating as soon as they encounter opposition to provide invaluable warnings to the main body of the Imperial force.

Soldiers of the Pride! The time to conquer is upon us once again. We march to the forest of Ulnak to take land from the Druj once more. We will show their slaves that there is a place in the Empire for them where they can be brought virtue. Stir your courage as we advance once more into the unknown. Remain Vigilant against Druj ambushes and villany. Death to the Druj!

TBC, General of the Gryphon's Pride

In a way, the land itself resists the Empire. There are no roads, and few tracks. What thoroughfares there are are often trapped. Yet it would be wrong to call this part of the Forest of Ulnak featureless. From time to time the Empire encounters overgrown clearings, some of them large enough to contain an entire Dawnish or Varushkan village. Indeed, there are often signs that these places might once have been the site of actual Druj settlements - collapsed frames, discarded pieces of rusted metal, and bones. So many bones. It becomes a common occurrence for a group of soldiers pitching tents for the night or digging latrines to come across the bleached and weathered bones of orcs below the layers of leafmould, or tangled among the roots of the trees. Some of the remains seem to date back centuries.

These skeletons might go some way toward explaining another unsettling phenomenon that comes as the sun sets and true darkness falls. Especially in the clearings where villages once stood, there are signs that this part of the Forest is home to a great many ghosts, spectres, wraiths, and phantoms. At first the reports are discarded as yet another result of the Druj miasma, but in time the body of evidence becomes overwhelming: these woods are haunted. One band of Varushkan scouts speaks of discovering an entire village of pale-faced, uncommunicative orcs as evening was falling. The inhabitants refused to speak to the soldiers, staring at them with mournful faces, silently huddling together. An hour after sunset, every single one of them vanished, taking their ramshackle cottages with them, leaving the terrified scouts in a ruin-haunted overgrown dell. Several of those scouts have since disappeared themselves, perhaps prey to some unwholesome curse.

While the destroyed villages are bad enough, not all the remains represent orc subject tribes. Three weeks into the campaign, while setting up camp, an advance force of Hounds of Glory find dozens of orc remains under a layer of topsoil. When the moon rises, and moonlight touches the earth, spectral orc warriors rise out of the ground itself and fall upon each other - fighting in complete silence. When one of the knights attempts to intercede, the orcs turn as one upon the Dawnish invaders. While the phantoms seem at first to be unable to directly harm the living, their weapons leave freezing scars on the skin where they strike and all those injured by the ghostly warriors quickly fall into a terrible despondence from which only the direct aid of a troubadour is able to rouse them.

Despite this the Empire's invasion has not been repulsed - far from it. After six weeks, the armies have managed to claim a little over half of the great spreading forest region and sent a few scouts to explore neighbouring areas. At this point, however, the Imperial forces begin to encounter serious resistance. A major force of orcs arrives, accompanied by several warbands of Pakkad in chitinous black armour. Under banners of rearing emerald scorpion and savage-clawed ebony beetle these orcs put up a spirited defence, slowing the advance to a crawl. From thorough interrogation of captured prisoners, the Golden Axe are able to ascertain that these troops are a part of the garrison of the grand fortress mentioned by the Great Forest Orcs - the citadel of Cassad Ûln built in the foothills to the north. Their orders are apparently to slow the invaders by whatever means necessary, rather than to drive them out - to keep them in the western Forest until the Winter - the implication being that the Druj have prepared a strategy for dealing with the Dawnish and Varushkan forces.

Let us spread the example of the sand fishers to the subject tribes of Ulnak. A Steady Conquest with troubadors spreading the message to any that will listen. Bring Colours and faith to those who were once miserable to turn on their Druj tormentors.

TBC, General of the Hounds of Glory

While the Golden Axe question defeated soldiers, the Golden Sun are finally able to make some belated contact with those few orcs living in the forest. For the most part, the orcs are terrified of the humans, but an audacious troubadour traveling with the Hounds of Glory manages to make peaceful contact with two of them. At last, the Empire is able to learn the name of the haunted wilderness they are attempting to conquer - Oerwealt, the Trackless Forest.

Stumbling over their words, these frightened orcs are able to provide at least a partial explanation as to why the forest is so empty of life. According to their information, the Druj have spent the last year raising a new army in the Forest of Ulnak, in the eastern farmlands. An army made terrible by the blessings of the Scorpion Queen and empowered with potent elixirs and potions brewed with an indescribable quantity of herbs, and the arts of the Buruk Tepel of the clan of the Ebon Beetle. The orcs were not prepared to say much more - more afraid of their Druj masters and the vengeful Spider Queen than they were eager for the food and drink the troubadour offered - but they did share several heartbreaking tales about how Oerwealt came to be haunted. After generations of fighting between the clans, a terrible curse was laid on the place long ago by the defeated Buruk Tepel of the extinguished Woodcreeper clan. Those few villages left in the Trackless Forest belong to the last remnants of the Woodcreeper, condemned by the rest of the Druj to live among the ruins of their former glory.

Stories of ghosts and curses are all very well, but there are Druj to be fought. As the Winter solstice draws near, the Imperial forces are halfway toward claiming Oerwealt, perhaps as much as three-fifths. The audacious strategies of the Golden Sun and the Golden Axe have allowed the invastion to make more progress than they might have in the face of the miasma, and the opposition from the soldiers of the citadel of Cassad Ûln. Of particular note is that there is no magic at work in the Forest of Ulnak - at least none that the Empire is familiar with. It seems that for all their preparations, the Druj have not turned the full might of their baleful power to the task of protecting the great woodland - an oversight that no doubt they will rectify in the coming weeks.

Game Information : Forest of Ulnak

The Empire has no map of the Forest Ulnak - as with the earlier invasion of Ossium it is thus difficult to know for sure what is going on in the territory. There is certainly a very large fortification somewhere in the territory - in the mountainous north if the Great Forest Orcs information is to be believed. The region the Empire is currently engaged in conquering has the forested and haunted qualities, and is cloaked in the Druj miasma (which means that there is at least one miasma pillar somewhere in its depth).

Oerwalt appears to be bounded by additional forested regions to the north, east, and south. It is possible that the scouts dispatched to perform long-distance reconnaissance may be able to provide more information about the neighbouring regions - assuming they are able to avoid the attentions of the Druj, the verminous wildlife, and the confusing shadows that pool beneath the ancient trees.

Despite the presence of the Druj garrison, the armies have not suffered any significant casualties. While there are rumours of a new army being mustered in the territory, it has not been encountered at this time.