Into the spin

"Alright, alright. I understand what you're saying, I really do." Sandstone Verruk, was shaking her head as she spoke. "I know you want people to understand what assignment means, what it means that you've 'liberated' them from the Grendel but I think the problem is that you don't actually know what that means."

Verruk was one of the original Sannite sept, one of the gladiators from Beoraidh arena. She'd become an unofficial spokesperson for the people of Rathmonna. She'd grown up in the vicinity, and while they were suspicious of her they were prepared to speak to her more frankly, and more openly, than they were the other soldiers of the Winter Sun.

"We've beaten the Grendel and now these people are free to become Imperial citizens. What don't I understand?" Yantl spoke a little more hotly than he intended. Getting his emotions under control took a little effort, and he hid it by sipping her hot spiced tea. It was very good. He suspected Eft would enjoy it as well and made a mental note to pick some up to take home with him.

"Sure, we know that. But the Grendel aren't the Druj. These people don't live in fear, they're not slaves - most of them. As long as they pay their taxes, and keep up their levy, they just... get on with stuff. You think Beoraidh cares about a shithole like Rathmonna? You think the Brine Turtles even knew this place existed before they arrived here with thousands of Imperial warriors on their arses? As long as the money keeps coming in, and the 'Jaws have a good crop of drakes each year, they just..."

The Sannite gestured vaguely. She shrugged.

"All this talk of liberation is just... it's so many words," she tried again. "What the people here in Rathmonna want to know is what kind of taxes we're going to impose. Whether their young folk are going to be conscripted into your armies, and what sort of recompense they'll get if they do end up fighting for us. What kind of stupid laws and regulations we're going to impose."

"Stupid laws..." Yantl sputtered his tea.

"Look, I'm just telling you what people are saying. The Winter Sun had orders to break the chains and liberate the Sannites - and don't think those of us who were slaves aren't grateful for that. But these folk? There's no chains here. I know you imagine that the day the Winter Sun came here and liberated Rathmonna was the most important day in these people's lives, but for most of them it was... just another day. They don't see any difference between the Empire and the Grendel, and it's going to take a lot more than a few rousing words to get them to see that difference. Assuming there is any, of course."

The last was spoken quietly, almost as if it was for Verruk alone. Yantl frowned and looked askance at his friend; he knew she'd been angered by some of the foolish comments from other soldiers during the early months of the invasion but he thought they'd moved past it. The Sannite's face was unreadable. She gazed off into the middle distance, sipping her spiced tea.

There are three primary factions in Mareave; the Empire in the north, Beoraidh in the west, and the Brine Turtles in the south.

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Overview

The most recent season of war saw Imperial forces victorious in Mareave. Their conquest of Clisearn has turned the tide in the eastern Grendel territory. It is now the business of the Imperial Senate to assign the territory to one of the Imperial nations. Recent victories in territories as diverse as Skarsind, Holberg, Segura, and the Mournwold have been reasonably straightforward; these were territories that had been Imperial in the past and where numbers of Imperial citizens lived.

Mareave, however, is more like Ossium and the Barrens - territories that have never been part of the Empire before. The Barrens had long had a Dawnish presence, but the citizens of Dawnguard were far from the majority. When Ossium was conquered there were no Imperial citizens and the territory had no history of ever being Varushkan. While Varushkans have settled there since then it took a year or more of careful work by politicians and priests to settle many of the issues.

Mareave represents a similar level of challenge. The territory has no Imperial citizens and few humans. The Grendel and the orcs of the Broken Shore are at best highly suspicious of Imperial invaders. The climate and geography themselves are unwelcoming; arid and dry. Yet at the same time the territory contains hidden wealth - the mines in the eastern mountains and hills burst with precious metal and the port-city of Beoraidh apparently welcomes traders from across the known world. Whichever nation embraces Mareave will have its work cut out to ensure that the territory, in turn, embraces them back.

Assignment and Allocation

The Civil Service will raise a motion of allocation during the Saturday evening senate session

To assist with the assignment the Civil Service has asked the Speaker for the Senate to raise an administrative motion during the Saturday evening session. Any senator can then make the case for the territory to be assigned to their nation. Once the debate is concluded, the Speaker will invite Senate to vote on which of the options presented they wish to support. If the Senate does not want to assign the territory at this time, they may vote for "no nation." If this happens, the Civil Service will raise the administrative motion again at the Summer Solstice.

Regardless of the outcome, there will be no Senatorial election at the summit where the territory is assigned. It takes time to arrange a senatorial election. The senatorial election will be arranged for the summit after the assignment is concluded. This delay will not impede the ability to perform rituals affecting Mareave from the Imperial regio. At the point the territory became eligible to appoint a Senator, the metaphysical rules governing the regio at Anvil make it possible to affect the territory even though it has not yet been assigned.

Regardless of whether they assign the territory or not, the Senate may choose to allocate the Fundindelve mithril mine. As with the Crawling Depths, if they allocate the mine as a national position without assigning the territory, they would need to choose an Imperial nation to take temporary custody of it. This does not tie the hands of the Senate however. Once the territory were assigned, the mine would automatically become the legal responsibility of whichever nation takes control of Mareave. If the mithril mine is allocated during the Spring Equinox, it will be available for appointment at the Summer Solstice for a single season before falling into the usual pattern of Autumn appointment alongside the other mithril resources.

It is worth remembering that neither assignment nor allocation are constitutional motions. They do not require ratification - although the Throne could use their veto as normal - and it would be a matter for the General Assembly if the Synod veto was sought.

Expectation Management

When it comes to assigning Mareave - or any new territory - there are no wrong answers, and no best answer. Any nation who is assigned this territory is going to face challenges. The nature of those challenges, and the opportunities that will accompany them, will be influenced by who the territory is assigned to. Integrating a new territory into the Empire will usually take a great deal of time and involve significant challenges. Every territory is different and the challenges will be different each time. The outcome is never guaranteed but we aim to make those challenges as much fun as possible for people who want to engage with them and to be potentially achievable regardless of which nation takes on the challenge.

Dealing with the orcs who live in Mareave is one of the challenges that must be addressed here. Even if a peaceful accommodation is made with them, that doesn't mean they will want to become part of any Imperial nation. At present, the bulk of the people of Mareave have no interest in joining any Imperial nation and no desire to move anywhere else.

The Fine Art of Assignment

The Senate has free choice as to who to assign the territory to
Whichever Imperial nation is assigned control of Mareave will face challenges in bringing the territory entirely into the Empire

The Senate has a free choice as to which nation to assign Mareave to; it could be assigned to any of the ten nations of the Empire.

In particular it's important to recognise that the territory need not be contiguous with the nation it is assigned to. At the moment the territories of most nations adjoin each other, but this is largely an accident of history and geography. There is no reason that Imperial citizens may not find homes in any territory. The Navarr and the League already demonstrate how a modern Imperial nation can maintain and develop territories scattered widely across the Empire.

It's also not relevant which nations' armies were involved in conquering the territory. The Military Council is an Imperial body that makes strategic decisions based on the many different threats facing the Empire. That the Brass Coast armies have been busy fighting on the western side of the Bay of Catazar, or that the Golden Axe was at the forefront of the initial conquest are not legally significant.

Challenges

Four primary challenges have been identified by the Civil Service after their initial, limited, assessment of the territory

The civil service has had limited amount of time to codify the precise challenges that will be faced by whichever Imperial nation takes control of Mareave. They've barely started their assessment, and what little they have been able to nail down has been done with the aid of the captains supporting the Mareave spy network, and the soldiers of the Imperial armies who have been fighting in the territory. It's likely some territories will find certain challenges easier to address than others, but all of them will need to be overcome if Mareave is to become a strong part of the Empire.

Grendel Opposition

Mareave contains a mithril mine and is considered by the Grendel to be part of the Broken Shore
Further hostility from the Grendel is inevitable

As the historians of the Department of Historical Research laid out in Mareave and Urizen, the Grendel have dominated Mareave since the time of Emperor Nicovar. The Fundindelve is a major source of mithril, and the Grendel Salt Lords seem to value mithril over everything save perhaps weirwood. Like Kalliact before him, former Salt Lord Ehsan's place on the ruling council of the Grendel was contingent on control of the mithril mine - which is now reasonably firmly in Imperial hands.

Even leaving aside the fact that three regions of the territory remain at least notionally in the hands of the Grendel, it is very unlikely that the Grendel plan to give up on Mareave without a fight. Unlike Spiral, which they have been understandably cautious about invading despite developments in Apulian, they are certain to attempt to reclaim the territory. Even if it can be held in the short-term, Mareave will form a frontier with the Grendel in the same way Spiral once did. Indeed, there is some news beginning to filter into Imperial lands that there is not one but two Grendel-held territories adjacent to southern Mareave underlining the need for the Imperial Military Council to give careful thought to how the territory might best be protected.

Orc Inhabitants

Most of the people here are orcs with no connection to, or interest in joining, any Imperial nation

There are humans in Mareave, but apart from a handful of former Imperial slaves, none of them seem to have any real connection to the Imperial nations. Some of the free humans may once have originated in the Brass Coast, Highguard, Urizen, Skoura, or the League, but they no longer feel any association with those nations. They also don't really have their own settlements, being mixed in with the orc population where they appear. Most live as mercenaries, fighting for the Grendel in return for coin and a smidgen of prestige.

The vast majority of the people in Mareave are orcs. They can be very roughly divided into three broad categories. Those in the north - in Icarion, Nadir, Eoradal and perhaps Sinfoyard are smaller, independent septs or communities of Broken Shore orcs. Subjects of the Grendel, many of them lived as slaves before being liberated by Imperial armies - especially the Winter Sun - during the invasion. It would be a mistake to assume these orcs welcome the Empire's soldiers. For the most part though they aren't especially organised - they represent loose communities of hunters, subsistence farmers, miners, and prospectors.

The Grendel proper - the sophisticated, wealthy orcs who rule Attar and the Broken Shore - still control Beoraidh and its prosperous port-city, and once occupied wealthy estates in Clisearn. Those who haven't been killed fighting the Empire have retreated either to the city of former-Salt-Lord Ehsan, or fled south to seek sanctuary among the Brine Turtles, or their neighbours in Ayereed or whatever Grendel lands lie to the south-east of the territory.

Finally there are the Brine Turtles - the organised, powerful sept of orcs who make up the majority of one of the orc armies that shares their name. They control the region of Fleisardh and while they aren't especially fond of Ehsan or his fellows they also have no love at all for the Empire. It's also notable that if the Empire intends to continue to conquer the Broken Shore, they will need to either enlist the aid of the Brine Turtles or conquer their homeland on the southern borders of the territory.

None of these orcs are follows of the Way; many of them recognise the so-called Grendel virtues to one degree or another. Many more honour their ancestors, especially Ruicraic the Storm Lord. The Empire would underestimate the influence this legendary reaver and pirate has over the orcs of Mareave at its peril.

Some of these orcs have already joined the Sannite sept of the Imperial Orcs. It's possible that more will do so in the coming months, among the smaller northern septs. A few will seek a fresh start in Skarsind, and some will want to stay in the land they know well. The prospect of trekking all the way to an alpine wilderness in the north is hardly appealing to people familiar with the heat of Mareave. However most of the orcs here have no interest in becoming Imperial Orcs, any more than they have an interest in becoming Urizen, Dawnish, or Winterfolk.

Whatever else happens, the nation that is assigned control of Mareave will need to address the challenge of the people who already live here.

Dry land and Economics

Much of Mareave is arid, with little access to fresh water which has limited agriculture here

Mareave experiences a similar climate to parts of the Brass Coast. The southern regions - especially Fleisardh and Clisearn - are similar to Kahraman or Segura. Dry, parched grasslands. The northern regions - Icarion, Nadir, Eoradal, and Sinfoyard - are much drier and more desolate than any Freeborn land. The scattered settlements are usually centred around a well that provides life-giving water, and is used to irrigate farms of hardy root vegetables. Individual communities guard their water jealously, but the wealthier groups may trade small amounts to each other in the same way an Imperial town might trade its surplus goods.

Clisearn, Fleisardh, and Beoraidh by contrast are relatively fertile, with a similar pattern of farms to those found in Segura or Feroz. Unfortunately two of these three regions are still in barbarian hands. Supporting Imperial citizens here will be a challenge without access to the food raised in these regions - although as the Urizen have proved with the assistance of the Marchers, that doesn't mean it would be impossible.

Regardless of which nation the territory is assigned to, it won't increase the ability of that nation to support an army. Getting the territory to the point where it might do so will require a lot of work to establish an Imperial population capable of supporting a new army - assuming it's ever possible. Whichever nation claims the territory will need to develop sources of food if they are to exploit the valuable natural resources of Mareave and establish an Imperial presence.

Far Frontier

Mareave has only tenuous geographical connection to the rest of the Empire

The final immediate challenge is that the territory lies far from the centre of the Empire. By land it is easily accessible only via the Apulian Way, through Spiral. As long as the region of Apulus is in Imperial hands that isn't a major problem; but anyone wanting to trade with Mareave or immigrate to the territory by land will need to brave the threat of the Black Plateau for several days. It's possible to reach the territory by sea, of course, but the only easily accessible harbour here is in the city of Beoraidh. The rest of the coast is high and rocky, similar to Sanctuary Sands in Necropolis, or the high bluffs of Tomari and Optarion.

This isolation creates particular challenges from a strategic point of view because armies suffer when they spend too much time in Spiral. It's likely that significant fortifications will be needed to secure the borders. Such construction brings to mind the other obvious problem for building in Mareave - any wains of white granite or weirwood will need to be imported, and the expense of doing so via Spiral will likely impact any commission in the territory.

Establishing a way to import and export people and goods will be an issue that any Imperial nation will need to address.

The Former Salt Lord

Ehsan, formerly Salt Lord of Beoraidh, has approached Imperial forces with an offer of neutrality
A delegation is planning to visit Anvil during the summit

One thing the Empire has already noticed is that the people here are very political in nature. There's already been signs of deep divides between the various orc factions and with the rest of the Grendel. Imperial heroes have already dabbled in the politics of Mareave, and shortly before the Spring Equinox there is a further development involving the former-Salt-Lord ruler of Beoraidh, Ehsan.

While the people of Beoraidh are not prepared to surrender to the Empire or "betray their ancestors in the manner of the former Salt Lord of Apulus", they are still apparently very angry indeed with their fellow Grendel. Ehsan has sent emissaries to the armies, indicating that if the Empire will use a declaration of peace to recognise him and his people as foreigners, then he is prepared to withdraw all forces under his control to Beoraidh and Sinfoyard. He and those who look to him for leadership will cease all hostilities, looking to the defence of their city and lands against possible reprisals from his former peers. They won't contest Imperial control of Mareave, and will be neutral to both sides in the conquest of the Broken Shore.

In addition to offering interesting military intelligence that might allow the Empire to neutralise the threat of the Brine Turtles, Ehsan has issued an edict freeing the handful of slaves remaining in Beoraidh and Sinfoyard. Their statements offer some insight into a matter that has apparently been a growing problem for some time; slaves have been increasingly hard to procure and prices have spiralled as a result. While a few salt lords have clung to old practices, the smart ones, like Ehsan, have switched to employing folk to do the work. Ehsan is completely sanguine about this fact, they and their fellow salt lords don't see this as a moral issue, just a simple matter of profit and loss.

If the Senate does recognise the orcs of Beoraidh and Sinfoyard as foreigners, which they can do with a single Senate motion, then Ehsan says there will be ample opportunity to discuss trade treaties once the fighting in Mareave is done. They're also prepared to offer sanctuary to any Broken Shore orcs who did not wish to become subjects of the Empire - which might avoid further bloodshed.

It would also be possible to recognise the Broken Shore orcs in the northern regions as foreigners at the same time, with the same motion. This would be the first step towards establishing peaceful contact with the minor septs of Icarion, Nadir, and Eoradal. It would prevent the Imperial armies attacking these orcs - but it wouldn't impede their ability or the ability of Imperial citizens to defend themselves if they were attacked.

In theory, depending on the outcome of any engagement with the Brine Turtles during the Spring Equinox, it would be possible to simply declare all the orcs of Mareave to be foreigners with the same provisos. Those prepared (in the words of the Emperor) to accept the offer of friendship may be able to find a way to live alongside the Empire in peace, while those who choose to reject that offer and continue to fight will be met with blade, bow and shield

Note: Declaring any faction of Mareave to be foreigners will make it a crime for any general to issue orders to attack them or their homes. If Ehsan and his people are recognised as foreigners, it will be a crime to attack Beoraidh or Sinfoyard. If the Brine Turtle are recognised as foreigners it will be a crime to attack Fleisardh with armies, unless the Brine Turtle have surrendered the region.

Resolution

The Imperial Senate ultimately allocated Mareave as a territory of the Imperial Orcs; the second such territory controlled by that nation. Senators also chose to ratify a treaty with the orcs of Beoraidh, recognising them as foreigners with a claim to both Beoraidh and Sinfoyard.

Into the spin

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