383YE Winter Solstice winds of war

Fire and Hemlock

Hercynia

It has been many years since the vallorn of Hercynia last stired, 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.

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, bring 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.

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.

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.

The Empire sees the mark of Spring within us as a taint, a mark that we are not to be trusted. In truth, 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

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 - and that they seem to actively be reaching out to others with briar lineage they deem potentially sympathetic to their cause - 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 have suffered significant setbacks such that they will not be in a position to threaten the 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.