379YE Winter Solstice winds of fortune
Overview
miss the future.
Over the past three months, several events have occurred which are of significance to the Empire and may require a response from her champions. You can also read about the progress of the Empire's military campaigns here.
Audio File
A tongue-in-cheek summary of these Winds of Fortune, in the form of a news bulletin recorded by Ian Horne, can be found here with an extra special bulletin here. Listen carefully and you may be able to detect a little editorial bias!
A Fine and Private Place
There are reports from Anvil of irregularities involving regio, tied in some way to the bound king of the Thrice-cursed Court. You can learn more about this event here.
A Heap of Broken Images
In the south-west, the orcs of the Hierro clan camp a stones throw from the walls of Anduz in Segura. Tensions rise and fall, and the Imperial Synod faces difficult choices. You can learn more about this event here.
A Job Worth Doing
After the difficulties experienced by the Castle of Thorns in the lead up to the Autumn Equinox, some very peculiar stonemasons indeed have turned up to lend a hand. You can learn more about this event here.
A Long Good-Bye
The Imperial Synod assembly of Vigilance has launched a crusade against the vyig criminal organisation in Temeschwar, Tassato, and Holberg. You can learn more about the outcome of this event here.
Black and White
In Wintermark, the magpie symbolises Prosperity. The penguin... not so much. But it is the penguins that have stood dour witness to a discovery that could have far-reaching consequences for the Empire, far out on the very northern edge of the Empire, at the roof of the world. You can learn more about this opportunity here.
Conviction
In Reikos a firebrand preacher named Golan is calling for the Empire to acknowledge that the virtue of the First Empress - the virtue of Courage - is the most fundamental of all the virtues. Following a vision gained in the slave camps of the Druj, Golan claims that the Imperial Synod has finally admitted that Courage is HER virtue, and that SHE will return when the Empire has rekindled their faith in their own bravery. You can learn more about this burgeoning religious movement here.
Crusade
A fourth army in Dawn, and a major assault against Dawnguard and the Towers of the Dawn. The time is ripe, the troubadours say, for Dawn to seize its destiny and conquer the Barrens once and for all! You can learn more about this opportunity here.
Dying Light
Over the last three months an insidious curse has lain over the Highborn territory of Bastion. Vicious hail and gloomy sleet combine with a malign aura that encourages people to doubt their faith, striking at the very soul of the Highborn people. You can learn more about this curse here.
Cuttings
In the vicinity of the Upwold town of King's Stoke in Tower March there have been half-a-dozen very peculiar births. You can learn more about these events here.
Falcon in winter
Thane Dogri Thulebane has declared that Crow's Ridge in Skarsind is part of Wintermark, and not part of the Imperial Orcs homeland. His followers have claimed the tower and beacon of Crow's Keep as their base of operation, and are attracting other disgruntled Winterfolk to their banner. You can learn more about this event here.
Golden Trumpets
Magical golden trumpets have been sounding across the Empire in locations that are, or have been, associated with Summer magic. The eternal Meraud has a challenge for the magicians of the Empire. You can learn more about this event here.
Land Fit for Heroes
The decision to relinquish Skarsind has been ratified; the Imperial Senate has chosen to assign Skarsind to the Imperial Orcs. You can learn more about the implications of this momentous decision here; further significant information about opportunities and consequences for the Imperial Orcs can be found here.
Long Roads to Ruin
Four barbarian orc delegations are on their way to Anvil for the Winter Solstice. Delegates of the Druj, the Thule, the Grendel, and the independent tribes of the Barrens are coming either under flag of truce, or as foreign dignitaries depending on their status. You can learn more about this event here.
March on their Belly
Serious curses bedevil the Marches, devastating the Autumn harvest and seriously impacting the farms of Upwold, Mitwold, and Bregasland. This attack on the breadbasket of the Empire has significant implications for the Empire as a whole, especially with regard to military supplies and the price of food. You can learn all about this event here.
Price of Prosperity
The trade winds blow, bringing with them news of the foreign nations with which Imperial fleets trade. You can learn a little about the war with the Sumaah Republic - and about the international situation in general - here.
Red Star
The Wanderer and the Phoenix are a dangerous combination. Astronomancers across the Empire agree that there is something awry in the night skies, while an unsettling curtain of mania and aberration decends gently on the Empire. You can learn more about these eerie events here.
Road to Bramar
The Iron Confederacy have begun repatriating slaves with Imperial backgrounds as apart of an agreement with the Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy. They are interested in talking to the Imperial Senate about a treaty - especially now that they have apparently finished conquering the Lasambrian territory of Kalino and have a land border with the Empire for the first time. You can learn about these events here.
The Stars Aren't Right
Several eerie magical effects appear to be in place across the Empire and its borders, a fair proportion of them drawn from Night magic. You can learn a little bit more about them here.
Summer in Winter
It is shaping up to be a harsh winter across the entire Empire, but nowhere moreso than in Varushka. A powerful enchantment has settled over the entire nation, bringing with it the potent influence of summer magic. You can learn more about this event here.
Swans will sing
It is one thing to relinquish Skarsind, but to surrender the Silver Peaks to the Thule has wounded the pride of Wintermark. As the winter drags on that wound has continued to fester. You can learn more about this event here.
Tears in the rain
Reikos has been liberated, and while some barbarian orcs remain it is now Imperial territory once again. This brings with it several opportunities which you can learn about here.
To Sleep in Kallavesa
The regalia of Empress Britta has been removed from the Shrine of Britta in the Necropolis, and interred alongside her body in the marshes of Kallavesa. You can learn more about this event here.
The Three Refrains
The bardic sodality of the Three Refrains has re-emerged from obscurity to offer aid to the future heroes of the Empire. You can learn more about this group here.
Trove Remade
The discover of a trove of mage weapons and armour in a chamber beneath the Unmade Spire in Redoubt presented a unique opportunity to the people of Urizen. They have made their decision about how to use this windfall, and you can learn more about it here.
Vermin
The Druj have been driven out of Holberg, but their legacy still remains, in the ruins of Holmauer, in the spreading marshes ... and in the killer trees. You can learn more about the events slowly unfolding in Holberg here.
Whispering Wind
A magical wind has gone out across Madruga, Feroz, Segura, and Kahraman calling the hakima and the Kohan to a council. You can learn more about this Freeborn event here.
The Worth of a Life
The Imperial Orc nation is together in one place for the first time since the days of their formation. The presence of several groups of ambitious bonesetters in particular present intiguing opportunities to the orcs. You can learn about these opportunities here.
Ongoing Events
Hearth Tithe
During the Autumn Equinox, both the Wintermark and Marcher assemblies threw their support behind the reintroduction of the Hearth Tithe. The Wintermark assembly named Ealstan of Stormspire to encourage the reintroduction of the practice, while the Marcher Assembly named James Appleseeder of Upwold. As a consequence, for the next year. every farm in the Marches and Wintermark will set aside a plot of land to grow medicinal herbs to help the war against the Jotun. Every farm produces a little less money, but provides the owner with useful herbs. You can learn more about the effects of the Hearth Tithe here.
Crows and Colleges
As agreed by the peace treaty the Empire has negotiated with the Thule, the orcs have withdrawn the forces deployed in Karsk to the northern-eastern hills of Krevstay. Over the last three months the Golden Axe have swept through Crowslook and Branoc, reassuring the Varushkan people living in these regions that the orcs are gone. Despite the severe winter, there have also been several construction projects commissioned in Varushka.
Following the opportunities last season, the Imperial Senate has agreed not only to rebuild the roads of Karsk, but also to restore the Iron Helm. Work has begun on the new road construction, and if it continues at this rate should be completed by the Spring Equinox. However, so far no progress has been made towards mustering the Iron Helm despite the aid offered by the miners of Moresvah and the ability to pursue both projects at the same time.
Progress has begun on the The Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun in Volchitrava. There are reports that with the patronage of Cathan Canae a Summer regio has been somehow raised, or perhaps aligned, which will serve as the heart of the college.
Furthermore, construction has also begun in Mieriada on the Hearth of the Tempest, which will apparently aid in the exploration of Spring magic - although details are obscure at this time.