Officially, Viriata is the imperial poet resident at the Alabaster Court, and has been for a generation. She is charged with keeping the increasingly vast stacks of the imperial library, its shelves over capacity with tomes from every corner of the known world. She has been at her current post for a generation, and she is known to have come to the banks to the Fenn by Ardesh's side.
But no one is quite sure where she comes from.
To the world, she is an utter enigma. She speaks the Rossan tongue with a thick Veranese accent, but surely she could not be Veranese? She looks absolutely nothing like the Veranese--and her own Veranese, according to rumours within the Alabaster Court, is heavily accented in itself, and with an accent no one can place. She has the features of a far easterner, but surely she could not be an easterner?
After all, why on this earth would an easterner be in the Alabaster Court?
By order of the Sanhedrin and King Saul Caleb son of Jephunneh is hereby declared traitor of the second order and anathema to the Holy Kingdom and the integrity of the world. It is the duty of all Trasque to apprehend him, per the second article of the Freehold Charter. Caleb son of Jephunneh should be considered armed at all times and should be approached with caution. Any citizen who directly contributes to his capture will be considered for immediate elevation by one rank.
Spoiler:
Internal Notice for all agents of the Sanhedrin
Spoiler:
Agent Caleb son of Jephunneh has gone rogue. We believe he has been tainted but is still loyal. He is to be treated as a moderate risk to the First Contract, but as of yet does not pose a material threat. Communication is permitted so long as it does not pertain to the Fallen. Capture is not to be attempted unless the subject is guaranteed not to escape the attempt. Caleb is not considered a threat to the security of Trasque. Any attempt to return to Trasque is to be treated as an immediate breach of the First Contract and he is to be killed with extreme prejudice.
Second Article of the Freehold Charter
Spoiler:
All members and descendants of members of the Freehold of Trasque are required to maintain the secrecy and integrity of the Freehold. Any temporary breach in the security of the Freehold is a capital offense.
Judgement of Navi Shamgar of the Sanhedrin: King Abimelech of the Holy Freehold has been judged correct in breaking the leaguer of the Freehold of Trasque. It is the opinion of the Sanhedrin that the time to end the Long Night has come.
Judgement of Navi Tola of the Sanhedrin: The ending of the Long Night and the breaking of the Leaguer has rendered any attempt to keep the location of the Freehold of Trasque secret futile. As such the secrecy clause and enforcement of the Contracts are now under the exclusive purview of a special appointment of the Sanhedrin who shall be known as the Keeper of Secrets.
First Addendum to the Freehold Charter, First Contract, AD 3
Spoiler:
The Holy Freehold of Trasque is hereby charged with preventing the resurgence of the Long Night by any means necessary.
Judgement of Navi Elon of the Sanhedrin: The Sanhedrin has decided that the rise of the ‘Sehir’ is not a threat to the First Contract. King Jehu's request to open the second leaguer is denied. Any similar request without the permission of the Keeper of Secrets is to be considered a breach of contract.
Judgement of Navi Ehud of the Sanhedrin: The Sanhedrin has decided that the Kingdom of Angband as it exists is a threat to the First Contract. King Elah's request to use the Fragments against them has been approved.
Judgement of Navi Abdom of the Sanhedrin: The Sanhedrin has decided that the destruction of the Sehir is not a threat to the First Contract. Using the Fragments in the Sea of Sehir is expressly forbidden and any further requests without the approval of the Keeper of Secrets will be considered breaches of the Second Article
-ven!" Finn awoke with a start. The air was warm and the plants and wild life more vibrant. There were other travelers on the road, glancing once in a while at his strange attire and armor but assuming that he was some foreign nobleman based on the craftsmanship of the armor's decorations and his warhorse. He clutched at his helm, groggily trying to make sense of the world that seemed to have changed in a blink of an eye.
He must have fallen asleep.
"P-" Finn glared down at the accursed thing on his belt, silencing it. "State your purpose," he grumbled at the little imp. He looked quite silly, a grown man in armor talking to a doll tied to his belt. "We are almost there! How long am I supposed to guide the horse for you!" the little demon shouted at Finn, crossing its arms. "And stop it with your verbal ticks and being so formal! Practice your Acquilivian some more! We are soooo behind schedule on language lessons."
Finn blinked. It was true that there were a lot more other people on the road than when he started the journey. Rolling farmlands were starting to replace the vibrant forests and greeneries now. Was this what it was like to go to a large city? "Hello? Hello? P-"
"Please be silent, or I swear to the Throne I shall take off your head," Finn shouted in broken Acquilivian, drawing sharp glances from fellow travelers on the road. "How can I be silent!" the imp hissed, when you keep drowsing off and not paying attention! I've been hissing at you for the last thirty minutes or so!"
Finn glanced around. It was true that the landscape somehow seemed changed despite the fact that he could've sworn that they only started conversing a few minutes ago. "Listen Feenie," the imp continued, using an insufferable nickname. "This is exactly why I told you you need to travel more often! Stay in one place for too long, and your mind starts to go la la! Trust me, I would know!" the doll gesticulated wildly to demonstrate a point. "I... I'm far too... occupied to be going on lonesome adventures like this," Finn mumbled. "Yeah, busy getting bored to death," the imp grumbled. "Everyone can see it! Admit it, you lost your passion!"
"Pa...ssion?" Finn said as he took the doll off his belt and to his face. "Are you accusing me of having lost my will and honor? We could put that to the test right here and now, can't we?"
"Oh talk big, musclehead, we both know you can't kill me," the imp said.
"Incorrect," Finn said, tilting his head. "Why does the little creature speak declarations that he knows to be false? Perhaps an educational demonstration is in order to showcase exactly how a creature as little as he can be terminated?"
"Okay okay!" the imp stammered out. "You haven't lost your honor, sorry! I swear!"
"I thought so," Finn said as he put the doll back onto his belt. What the imp said was true, however. Finn understood that. The Ringan raiders, Petrean bandits, Veranese soldiers, the occasional Astorian and Acquilivan toughs and other assorted warriors that he encountered these days and dueled no longer provided him any satisfaction. It was hardly a fair fight any longer. He could vaguely remember the fights when he was younger--the desperate fights to safeguard the shores... to drive back the invaders in the name of his Gods... back then, the sight of rival Ringan warbands clad in iron and lead by their vicious jarls filled him with what approximated terror.
Nowadays, they barely even registered.
It's not that they became any less dangerous... it was more accurate that he stopped really caring as to the outcome of the battles. His underlings, comrades, and demons simply reported to him how many there were and how many needed to be killed--and he killed them, sometimes with help, sometimes without.
At some point, it appeared as if combat and life or death struggle it represented just became numbers. Finn took a jug of water from the satchel as he thought this. He needed a vacation.
The imp had suggested that he treat this little misadventure in Omania as an extended vacation. "Hey hey!" it had told him, tilting its head and winking--an impressive feat for a possessed puppet. "Maybe those knights in armor and long lances will finally give you a challenge? Maybe let you polish off some skills?" He quite doubted that some southern pansies grown fat off the spoils of owning rich farmlands and cowering behind thick walls could genuinely give him a challenge with any form of combat, but he let the imp have its delusions.
"I... still do not understand the idea behind this... 'jousting,' is it meant to be some form of combat drill?" Finn asked after a long period of silence. The imp looked up incredulously. "Are you... are you initiating conversation with me? By the Gods, the travel *is* working!" "Please answer the question."
"I think yes, but it's also meant to be fun."
"Fun?"
"Yeah, you know how bunch of warriors throw spears or compare results from hunting between each other where we come from. It's like that, but with horse riding and lance hitting."
"Seems to be an expensive hobby," Finn remarked. The imp giggled. "What is so funny?" "You weren't trying to be funny?" "No. Was I funny?" "Yeah, but you ruined it."
More silence. "Maybe I should be more funny," Finn suggested. "Good luck with that."
Finn didn't react. The farmlands were getting thicker, and more houses were appearing than before. In the distance, they could see tall walls and towers. "That's the place," Finn said. "Yeah, a pretty thing isn't it?" The imp said. "Last time I was here, it was a lot smaller. You'll have to take my word for it though."
"People seem happy here. Happier."
"Yeah, kinda makes you sick, doesn't it?" the imp said flippantly. Finn glanced downwards towards the creature. He wanted to interject but... why? The imp was right. The rest of the journey lasted in silence as he rode into the city, attracting glances of those who wondered if his armor was genuinely silver and bronze. He decided to give himself a comfortable room at an in with warm bed and warm food--he would need to conserve his strength for the storm that he was intending to bring to the tourney.
Update 1: The Breath of the Mountain 1000 to 1005 by the Sehiran Calendar 622-627 by the Veranese Calendar
2236-2241 by the Trasque Calendar
The sorcerer watched the rolling clouds and mists below him. He rested near the peak of Great Gero, one of the highest mountains in Xion. Here, at this height, any normal man would find his breath wanting and die in short order, but this was no normal man. Currents of air flowed upward along the mountain, drawn by his magic, sustaining him through his meditation.
Below him, past the shifting clouds, out of sight but not out of mind, kings and princes moved across the world. Like the Age of Heroes before them their actions would shape it for better or worse. From his perch the sorcerer could see with more than eyes, to seek an understanding of the world outside himself. And to this end he observed, because observing was the first step toward understanding.
Astoria
To the West was Astoria, shining center of “civilization”. And at the heart of Astoria was the Gethalian League, home to a dozen of those great cities that man had raised since the end of the Long Night. Wealth flows into its many harbors on ships, bearing metalworking from Trasque and produce from Omania to feed the urban masses. They are paid for with art and gold from the hundred other agreements that the Geth had made across Astoria.
These ships find Asomione a warm welcome, as the rulers of the Geth invest their wealth back into the port. Its artisans construct great machines and lifts to allow the rapid loading and unloading of cargo, and often goods intended for another final port will stop at Asomione to be swiftly transferred to another ship. These improvements are overseen by a rising star of Gethalian Society: Maurita del Nadal. Scandalizing to many foreign visitors she is a woman, but she has secured a place by being more: a polymath and prodigy among a nation of polymaths.
Gethalian League: +1 AP income, +1 rank Maurita
The Sea of Storms
As far afield as Gethalian ships travel, the Signora would push the horizon further. A great expedition of dozens of ships is prepared, led by the famed Niccolo Cadomosto and his cousin Morlaccho Filippo Vicovich. Their goal is to, in great strength, pass beyond the lands of the Baccan League and establish contact with the lands beyond: the Vakhtani Roshate and the Astorian city of Dalman.
But, perhaps, this great strength was met with a matching force. Although Niccolo had planned to skirt the Sea of Storms and make his way along the Baccan Coast, as he made the crossing from Astoria to Bacca a hurricane of surprising power made direct for his fleet, scattering it. This, the anti-Rationalists claim, mocks mankind's supposed understanding of weather patterns (this, and the Trasque kingdom).
The surviving ships would find their own ways to Bacca, but the most exciting story of the adventure came from Morlaccho. Separated from the fleet, he and his crew made shelter upon a lone island in the ocean. While rich in trees and vegetation, the Geth found no animals in sight to hunt and no fresh water to replenish their stores. Thus, fortunately most of the crew was still on the ship when they lit their first campfires. At this the entire island shuddered and revealed itself not to be land but a great sea beast, a turtle of monumental size. With such swiftness and speed did it descend into the ocean depths that the unlucky men on the island had no time to reach the ship and only Morlaccho's quick thinking saved his vessel from being pulled under in its wake.
Gethalian League: -20 Cogs, +1 Rank Morlaccho
The tattered Gethalian Fleet would regroup in the ports of the Baccan League and after some weeks write off those still missing as lost at sea. But undeterred, Niccolo would press forward, traveling up the Baccan Coast and to the Jade Sea...
The Horsebane
Back in Astoria, the departure of the bulk of the League's fleet on Niccolo's expedition would not go unnoticed. While for some it was an opportunity to move illicit cargo without official supervision, for one man it was the chance of a lifetime. Edmund Horsebane would cement his position as the greatest pirate in the world in a daring and incredibly successful sack of the city of Povera, overrunning the unprepared defenders and looting one of the league's greatest cities for a week before levies could be raised in response. When he left, his longships augmented by Astorian busses filled with plundered wealth, the outcry was furious. Nearly every city sacked its representatives in the Signora, ending a score of political careers.
Gethalian League: -1MP -2 AP income, -1 confidence Signora
The Stone Sword
The League was not the only power in Astoria to suffer from an unsteady leadership. The Uralian Prince's soldiers were hot on the tail of an Astorian merchant, who carried the most treasured artefact of the state out of the country. But they found that their authority abruptly ended at the border with the League, whose armsmen permitted no passage in pursuit of the Stone Sword. Indeed, one could almost say they were protecting the thief. They returned to their prince empty-handed and he found one of the sources of his authority much diminished.
This thief, by all accounts, did not live long. Perhaps it was the Uralian prince sending a quiet blade when an army would not do, or perhaps it was some criminal partner who thought that iron was a cheaper and fairer price to pay than the agreed upon gold. Or maybe it was the sword itself, having judged its wielder unworthy. In any case the sword would pass through Astoria's criminal underworld and out of the public eye.
But not out of earshot. There are whispers of a secret auction hosted by the g'Agnello family for a valuable artefact, one that they have no desire to keep themselves. The Stone Sword, Death, the End of the Cycle, is open to the highest bidder, at a price that only kings and princes can afford. But what is the value of destiny?
Uralia: -1 strength Royal Household
Highlands
The Uralian Prince is not the only one with his authority challenged. In Tynde, the Astorian city claimed by the Rossa, trouble brews. While the ruling prince invests heavily into fortifying the city’s harbor, his former allies in the highland freeholds are neglected. A Rossa chieftan named Malcolm Dunke is first among his detractors: Dunke would see the commercial wealth that flows through Tynde go to enriching the coalition of clans that conquered it, not the other way around.
Tynde: +1 MP income, -1 confidence Freeholders
Wyrm of Wru Claue
Among the lands of the Rossa tales are spreading of a beast, linked to the freehold of Wru Claue though increasingly venturing further afield in search of prey. A great serpent, though toothed like a wolf, with a head on both ends, it wanders the countryside feasting on sheep and shepherd alike. Many freeholders are calling for a hero to put an end to the beast but with the loss of the Stone Sword there are doubts as to whether the Rossa have the might to face such a foe.
It would be wrong to view the Rossa as a barely civilized people inhabiting a harsh, monster-filled land. Just incomplete. The center of Rossa culture is in the Fennian Empire, and the Emperor is keenly interested in importing foreign knowledge. Fennian scholars study Veranese and Acquilivian designs for rocketry and telescopes, working to develop their own means of production, with incomplete progress. At the same time the sage Viriata investigates ancient texts, drawing from Rossa records of Sehir to find that they, too, used rockets in warfare, a technology apparently lost to their descendents.
Fennian Empire: +1 rank Viriata
The Inheritance
But an issue of more immediate descendents concern the Emperor. The Fennian Empire is a patchwork of states, bound together by a common family rather than oaths and hierarchy. In his role as first-among-equals he works to keep the peace between his kinsmen while preserving his own authority, a challenging task. The newest challenge comes from the death of one of his uncles, who leaves his considerable territories to no clear heir. His brothers demand that it be divided amongst them, strengthening them at the expense of the central crown. His distant relatives ask that it be given to one of them, preserving the status quo. And, of course, he could find precedent to keep it for himself and build his own power over the Alabaster Court.
The Apex
The complicated legal structures of the Fennian Empire pale in comparison to those of the Astorians, however. Some would say they value complexity for complexity’s sake, while others claim that it is one of the means by which they prevent any one man from having too much power. In the Beluchi League this is being put to the test: its nascent political institutions are being challenged by Lucos Irrovano, who sits on both the Signora and the Quaranta and seeks to be named the chief of both, consolidating power in the Beluchi under one man.
Acquilivia
Past the coast, inland, was Acquilivia, home to a proud people that have made themselves masters of both river and steppe and raised stone strongholds across their domain. These proud castles have equally proud and regal kings who claim descent, distant or not, from Brennus the Great. His line is a tempestuous one: in one season they pledge themselves eternal allies and toast one another, but the next year strive to beat their newly sworn foe in bloody battle. Fortunately for the peasants who find themselves in the middle this is the former, as the kings of Peren, Omania, and Araminia issue the Concord of Acquilivia Vast. By this treaty, as long as convenient, they pledge themselves as allies and resolve to come to each others aid and encourage trade and commerce.
The Omanian Tournament
But the Acquilivians are a martial people and need an outlet to hone their skills. Fortunately, Omania provides, offering a jousting tournament in celebration of the Concord. All the great knights of the era came: Gabrius the Somber Knight led the gray-clad Omanians, Contoutos the fierce Araminians, Eburius the Clever came at the head of the brightly bannered Lundian knights, and an impressive delegation had ridden from Peren, led by Catacius, brother to the Queen. Each of these captains sought to claim the winner's pennant for themselves, bringing honor to their country and fame to their own name.
But it was not to be, for a fifth contender would enter the tournament. Where the others established their right to be present through their lofty name and deeds, this knight gave none. Where the others wore gilded steel armor this one wore bronze and silver, as if he had waited since the Age of Heroes for this day. And when the others challenged his right to attend, with no noble title or house, he simply tossed them aside like children.
The Huntsman, his legend named him. On the first day of the tournament he unhorsed three knights from Peren, ending with Catacius. On the second day, he unhorsed Eburius, the second defeat for the Lundian who had met his better in Gabrius before. On the third day, when all gathered had been expecting the long-awaited showdown between Gabrius and Contoutos, he unhorsed them both in consecutive jousts. His form was perfect, each blow as if it were struck by God himself, and none could imagine another outcome to the contest.
He was the Huntsman because he used his victory to issue a new challenge: rather than turn their blades on men, he invited the assembled knights to join him in a great hunt for the Demon Bear Mor'dru, who ravaged villages across the savage north. Dozens of knights from Peren and Omania jumped at the call but he only invited the select to join him: among them Catacius and Prince Gabrius. And Eburius? Clever they called him, though some would whisper coward. He resolved to stay in Lundia and protect the peace, rather than hunt monsters beyond his lands. Rumor-mongers say that he had a falling out with Gabrius during the tournament and possesses no desire to accompany the princeling for an extended journey north.
Omania: +1 Rank Gabrius
Lundia: +1 rank Eburius
The Tragedy of Contoutos
And Contoutos? Ah, well. The festivities of the tournament would be marred by his tragedy. What was, in Araminia, a whisper became a roar during a feast in the third day, when one of the Araminian princes publicly accused him and the fair lady Atepa of adultery. He denied it, but the ground had been cleverly laid through rumors before so that his denial only fuelled speculation. Forced to defend his own honor her husband, Lord Iccnos, challenged Contoutos to a duel to prove his innocence.
But what lordling could stand against Contoutos? Honor aside, before the combat Iccnos sought one of the other great knights to aid him as his champion. But none of them would set themselves against Contoutos in this foreign matter and none would risk their honor on a gossip's rumor. So Iccnos dueled Contoutos himself, and though Contoutos struck with the flat of his blade, the blow sent Iccnos to the ground dead. Fair Atepa wept, and took her own life, completing the tragedy. His honor intact but his spirit destroyed, and his faith shattered in a nation that put him in this position, Contoutos has renounced his allegiance to the Araminian King and resolved to never return to his homeland.
Any nation but Araminia can hire Contoutos, a Rank 3 Captain
The Cult of Nairo
This would be but the first chapter in the turmoil that has gripped Araminia. The returning knights from Omania were given a new task: burn out the worship of Nairo from the realm root and branch. This mission they took to with their characteristic zeal. Villages were turned upside down and communities destroyed for the crime of having candles, identified as one of the key characteristics of the cult. When the local nobility objected, they were accused of spiritualist heresy in turn and their lands were seized, as were those of the late Lord Iccnos. All of this has raised a great fury amongst much of the nobility at the crown, who they see as trampling on their rights and privileges: only they can abuse their peasantry.
Araminia: +2 EP income, -1 confidence nobility
The Great Charter
The rock of Acquilivian government rests on the feudal nobility, who hold land and title from their king in return for support in war and peace. But these obligations are often poorly defined and there is a constant back and forth between the nobility, who make up the bulk of a nation’s military might, and the king, who is the nominal ruler. In Araminia these tensions have reached a boiling point with the seizure of several nobles estates. The angry nobility claim this is a deliberate effort to strengthen the crown at the cost of their traditional rights and privileges. A group of them, spearheaded by a cousin of the late Iccnos, have organized themselves into the League of the Charter. Led by Lord Senecius they have demanded the restoration and confirmation of their ancient titles, and a sharp limitation on royal power over them, codified in a document they call the Great Charter. Even as their emissaries present it to the king they are gathering armsmen for they fully intend to claim these privileges by the sword if the pen will not provide.
The Court of Magicians
Despite the turmoil in Araminia, its king worked to attract philosophers and sages to his court. While his knights work to defeat spiritualist cults in the field, he sets these men, led by the enigmatic Merlin, to defeat them on another plane. Far removed from the academies of Astoria, Araminia is nonetheless becoming a center of rationalist thought and research, though these gains are tentative as few scholars are willing to put down roots when civil war is looming.
Araminia: +2 AP banked, +1 rank Merlin
The Telescope
While many of Lundia's knights when to Omania for the grand tourney, one scholar took the reverse trip. Once tutor to the Omanian princes, the sage Darosiphen was wise beyond his years. He had been sent by his king to investigate the Lundian telescope, but he ended up improving on the design through collaboration with the Lundian artificers who had created it, to the mutual benefit of both parties. When he returned to Omania it was with well-wishes, and a group of craftsmen able to set up their own guild. The telescope was a tool for observation of the heavens, Darosiphen said, and observation was the first step towards understanding.
The Spare
Meanwhile, in Omania, the aftermath of the tournament left a sense of calm over the country. Perhaps the local spirits of battle and violence had gotten their fill, in both the tournament and the deaths of Iccnos and Atepa? Or perhaps it was the absence of Gabrius and his companions, who had departed to hunt the Demon Bear? In either case this was the country that Prince Talotius came of age in. Too young to take part the great tournament, and ill-tempered for it, Talotius learned much from the foreign guests, especially those who weren't there to compete themselves: Astorian and Ringan traders, attracted to Omania's tournament less as a display of martial prowess than as an opportunity to trade at the great fair that accompanied it.
Omania can recruit a Rank 2 Merchant
Omania takes advantage of the calm to begin a series of significant agricultural works, focused on mastering the Minte and taming that great river and its many tributaries. But the Minte is like a wild horse and more effort and understanding is needed before it will begin to submit. They have more success with the Petreans: their northern territories are organized into a border march, awkwardly governed by two Petrean lords, as the first wary step in integrating them into the kingdom.
Omania: +1 strength +1 confidence Petreans
Castle Crag
Omania wasn't the only realm investing in itself. To the south its great southern neighbor matched it, though of a radically different sort. The great fortress of Castle Crag was rebuilt and garrisoned, with not only restored walls for the keep itself but an additional layer of defences, turning it into a rock against which an ocean of armies could break. And it was not just protected against land: into these defences were worked dozens of great siege engines, capable of throwing spears the size of a man into the air. Peren, it seemed, was securing itself against a threat to the east.
The Price of Taxation
In western Peren, among the Astorians who enjoyed a privileged if tenuous position in the largely Acquilivian kingdom, the merchant Danilo Logorio was making a fervent case asking Astorians to support the Regent Alvinus. With Peren's support they could be stronger than the Geth or Beluchi, combining Acquilivian arms with Astorian intellect. While a novice representative of the crown Danilo nonetheless was able to commnicate to Alvinus the wishes of the merchant class: an end to the complicated taxation system that hindered them in Peren, where to do business they had to pay tariffs and duties to two or three lordlings just to get from one riverine city to the next. But, Alvinus knew, this would be a direct challenge to Peren's High Nobility.
Peren: +1 rank Danilo Logorio, +1 rank Alvinus
Rippes of the Araminian turmoil reach as far south as Peren. Where just a short time ago Alvinus had aligned Canodus IV with the Araminians in the Concord, now many of the court nobility are urging him to denounce them for their crusade. It is a strange alliance that cuts across the conventional divide between the Queen's and the Regent's supporters in support of the Nairan Cultists, and once again Alvinus needs to balance diverging interests not just in Peren but Acquilivia.
The North
Up, beyond the civilized world of the West is another one, old and yet young. For some this is the last bastion of the ancient world, where dark creatures that once ruled the earth hide from the iron blades of huntsmen, while for others it is the beginning of a new dominion where braves challenge each other to feats of strength in the shadow of trees that remember when man was but a dreaming ape. Princes seek to carve out new kingdoms in this realm of long winters and harsh summers.
The Plague
It came on a longship that pulled into Hulgade. Where it came from none would know, for the crew were already dead and dying when they docked. It was a plague, unlike any seen before. Most outbreaks of disease come from poor sanitation spurring the growth of some existing malady, however this one was new and novel to Ringan and Astorian sages. It spread quickly through Tonn and from there took ship to Sundlund, Karolund, and Bleden, all across the Ringan world on their many fast ships. One man in five would catch it, and half of those would die. Ambitious dreams for monarchs in Bleden, Karolund and Tonn to expand trade and their harbors were stymied by the outbreak.
In Bleden it all came to pass as the druids predicted. But not only were they able to warn the populace of the coming of the plague, though few listened, they were able to provide their faithful with an assortment of strange ointments and poultices. A group of those cured have organized themselves into a retinue known as the Helmbeorns, holy warriors in service to the Angaguks. The Astorian merchants in Banfeld watch the waxing power of the mystics with dread.
Meanwhile, the first ships carrying the plague arrive in Acquilivian and Astorian harbors…
Bleden: -3 EP -1 AP income +1 strength Angaguk -1 confidence Merchants
Tonn: -2 EP income Sundlund: -2 EP income Karolund -2 EP income
The Fast Runner
All is not doom and gloom however. The Ringans are hardy people, and even amid death they find rare moments of celebration. The Tonnese King, Magnus, commissions a set of plays that works to transcribe the traditional legends of the Ringans into Acquilivian High Drama. Emulating the investments of the Perenese court, Magnus's advisors Othalia and Torkel Kolbeck have created a set of plays that bridge the divide between the two worlds. Among these, perhaps, the most successful is the Ringan tale “The Fast Runner”. However, the Tonnese playwrights have kept the work grounded in spiritualist mythos, which many fear will make it less accessible to the Acquilivian audience, especially as Araminia is currently gripped in an ultra-rationalist fervor.
Tonn: +1 rank Othala, +1 rank Torkel Kolbeck
The Return
Appropriately, a play ending in duelling Angaguk sees the return of the mystics proper to Tonn. Banished from the continent for centuries, the return of the Ringans has paved the way for the Angaguk high priest to dispatch some of his acolytes, beginning with the Ringan colony of Hulgade. Now hosted in the homes of sympathetic Ringan nobles, the Angaguk are fierce proponents of Ringan culture and anti-western influence, and a lightning rod for controversy.
Tonn: +Angaguk faction
The White Stag
Where the Tonnese are working to soothe tensions between Ringans and Acquilivians, Sundlund is doing the opposite. Sundlund's king, under pressure from his supporters, banned hunting the White Stag across much of the kingdom. Vast and wild, many Acquilivians set out anyway, confident they could find the stag before royal armsmen found them. And while no hunter found the White Stag, many hunters were caught by Ringan thanes and found to be flouting the king's commandment. This imprisonment has outraged the Acquilivians, but at the same time it prevents them from revolting, for many of their sons are held as hostage.
The Wild Hunt
Preoccupied with the plague, the Ringan rulers of Karolund didn't fail to notice that they could find no sign of the Wild Hunt for five years. It would give them some satisfaction to know that the Petreans were superstitious fools, if they weren't busy mourning their dead relatives.
The Demon Bear
What is not superstition is Mor'dru. The rulers of Yedrea take his threat seriously and every spear and arrow in the united nation is turned him. Not to hunt but just to ward him off and at this they are successful though not without paying some blood to his razor claws.
They seek victory against the beast not through arms but through understanding, for understanding is the first step to mastery. A group of Petrean sages and woodsmen, joined by a strange southern named Caleb, are led by the mystical Lady Cary in search of the beasts lair. In this they are successful after a long search: deep in the wild they find a ruined hold, built long ago by a tribe whose name has been forgotten by their Petrean kinsmen, if they were even Petrean. Fortunate to have come upon it when the beast was gone, the party finds it filled with the clean-picked, smashed bones of dozens, struck down during some great feast or assembly.
To know more, the Lady Cary communed with the spirits of that stronghold. And she saw the massacre, etched in the memory of that place by the weight of the death that had occurred. It had been a contest, between different contenders for the throne, but instead of the mixed competitions of Yedrea it was simple and brutal: a fight to the death until only one remained. A harsh custom, for a harsh people. But one contender had bargained with a demon, paying a terrible price in return for a terrible power. Mor'dru, he would be called centuries later, had purchased the strength of ten men from the start of the contest until he became king. But this strength had come with a rage, and after slaying his brothers he slew his father, and his family, and the entire hold, until nothing remained but his madness.
The Petreans are shaken by the revelation of the kinslaying that occurred, and wonder: how to break the curse when there is no kingdom left to be king of? And all the while a great hunting party of Acquilivian knights draws closer to the beast’s lair.
Yedrea: +1 rank Lady Cary Trasque: +1 rank Caleb
The Holy Kingdom
But who is this stranger, Caleb, who has journeyed to the far north to survey this ruined hold? To answer that question one must look to Trasque, an insular mountain kingdom that has endured unbroken for millenia. It is unknown what offense he gave to the Sanhedrin, the sages who preserve the long histories and traditions of the kingdom, but exiled he was nonetheless by their leader, Levi Zohar.
Trasque's borders are militantly guarded because of its many secrets, not least of which is the rich valleys that feed its people. While scholars claim the mountains should block much of the rain, Trasque nonetheless carefully cultivates a variety of crops in these lands, fed by a suspiciously favorable climate. These crops feed Salem, one of the first cities established after the Long Night, where Trasquan craftsmen produce fine works valued in Astoria and beyond.
Trasque: +2 EP banked
The Deadly Mine
Levi Zohar, chief advisor to the King, spends his time investigating the mysterious illness that afflicts his people in some of the deep mines. He consults ancient records, first on parchment and then on clay tablets, and even considers risking the malign power for his answer. But thankfully he finds it before then: the Blight that afflicts them has a poorly understood origin, and what is not understood cannot be mastered, but how it acts is known through past experience. Gold and silver can transmit it across distances, as the veins are doing. Lead can block its spread, if the source of the blight is completely sealed within. Jade talismans are able to ward off its effects, though they will inevitably crumble to dust several days after exposure. The issue, of course, is where Trasque can get jade.
Trasque: +1 Rank Levi Zohar
Xion
Trasque is but the gateway from the west to another world: Xion. Mysterious and filled with powerful gods and spirits, when most Astorians think of Xion they think of the powerful Veranese Empire. As powerful as Acquilivia Vast, it is believed, and strong enough to reduce the redoubt at Castle Crag to rubble.
The Broken Verl
But the eyes of Veran are turned south. And so are its armies. 10,000 men march on Verl, led by their chief general, Giv. Though this is but a fraction of the empire's might, it is more than thrice what Verl can bring to bear. Their chieftan Bara Zu harries them with riders on horse and wyvern, but Giv has wyverns of his own. Instead of engaging their counterparts they fire brightly glowing rockets, alerting massed reserves of cavalry to respond to attacks on foragers and supply lines. The Verl fighters are outnumbered in engagement after engagement and eventually a stray spear strikes Bara Zu from the sky, breaking their back. From then it is only a season of perfunctory campaigning to force the submission of the Verl's cities, as those that resist for too long see their defences demolished by massed artillery.
The Verl are a proud tribe and the loss of their country at the hands of the Veranese stings. While many stay, most of the tribesmen leave, heading south to their ancestral homes in Cadia. But it has been generations since they inhabited here: the old pasture lands have been divided among new tribes and the old settlements fly strange colors. The Verl have petitioned Glaw Ao for the restoration of their old titles, but the other tribes urge him to deny them. They would see the Verl settled among their own tribes, all but ending them as a distinct entity.
The Black One
The Verl find a Cadia very different than the one they had left centuries before. Bound into a compact by the enigmatic king Glaw Ao, the Cadian people turn to agriculture and road-building. These are unfamiliar tasks for a nation of shepherds and dragon-riders but they are invigorated by the presence of the Black One, the young wyvern that looks them in the eye as equals. He is treated as a holy beast and his leaving are used to bless fields with fertility. Perhaps this earns the favor of the spirits of the land for these fields prosper and field growing walled settlements or perhaps it was the hard work of the Cadians that did it.
High Cadia: +2 EP +1 MP Income
In either case, great offense was done to the Cadians by foreign spies in a cowardly plot. Veranese agents slipped into the pens of the Black One and attempted to abscond with him, murdering several of the holy keepers and placing a turncoat rider on the beast. Fortunately for the Cadians, and unfortunately for the Veranese, he enjoyed his current pampered lifestyle and bore this burden for only a short time. Less than an hour into the flight he disposed of his rider and settled in the wild mountains. The Veranese scattered, but pogroms gripped the Haro Tribe and many innocent Veranese merchants were seized and killed by the mob in response. Meanwhile the Black One continues to be venerated and Haro tribesmen leave offerings near the wyvern’s mountain lair.
Subjugation
Back in the north, Giv has delivered to his emperor the lands once ruled by the Verl. The Veranese find that their victory has bought them a harsh land, unsettled by the ongoing exodus of many Cadians to their homelands to be free from Veranese rule. Significant investment is needed to stabilize and restore the land, at least if they are expected to pay taxes. Fortunately, the Emperor already has the necessary tools at his disposal to do so.
It is to the great fortune of the Empire that it has a ruler with his virtue and foresight, the courtiers say. Tenzin, one of the Emperor's trusted officials, leads a major expedition to settle veteran soldiers of the empire in the newly conquered lands once inhabited by the Verl tribe. Decades of retirees are given backpay and bonuses, offered land and homes as an alternative to continued service or a return to their old forgotten homes. Tenzin masterfully oversees the effort, soothing concerns of the soldiers and seeing to the proper distribution of resources, and soon Verl is able to blossom as an imperial border territory.
Veranese Empire: +3 EP +1 MP, +1 rank Tenzin
The Concubine
But not all officials in the Imperial Court are so capable or trustworthy. The growing influence of the beautiful Nasha over the Emperor naturally provoked jealousy, but few could have expected who would ultimately be her undoing. A group of dignitaries conspired to poison and murder the imperial concubine Nasha during childbirth. The hand that arranged the deed is an open secret: behind the courtiers was an shadow figure named Kelsang, but the scandal is that he is said to have acted with the Emperor's approval. Paranoia grips the court as many fear to offend the Emperor or one of his secret servants, for if he can have one of his favored concubines murdered, who is safe?
The Mountain God
Even as the Emperor consoldiates his control over the court, he is bringing more and more powers into the imperial purview. Not only does he gain physical dominion, such as the Verl tribe, but his might grows spiritually. The priest Bizhan leads a procession to Carasch, the newcomer god of the south, and lay offerings of food, art, and livestock in his shrines. Soon the shrines are overflowing as never before and Bizhan is witness to a great display of the god's power. A great mass of crows descends on the offerings, picking them clean in minutes and carrying them up the mountain to the secret domain of the mountain lord. They leave only a strange withered vine, dry and brown with great age, in return, but to the wise Bizhan the message is clear: Carasch accepts the offering. And while some in the Imperial Court might grumble about accepting this barbarian god into the pantheon, they do not dare do so where the Emperor may potentially hear.
The Recluse
Nasha's death was not the only surprising death to occur at court in these days. One of the masters of rituals, aged but nonetheless capable of performing his supporting duties to the emperor, was found dead. Given his nine decades of life it was not surprising, but what was unexpected was the advanced state of decomposition. Though he had been performing his righteous functions only a day before it appeared he had been dead for years. The strangeness was amplified by the disappearance of one of his newest servants, a young woman only recently brought into his household, who could not be accounted for after his strange departure.
The Secret of Fire
Fortunately the Imperial Court has its share of new characters to replace the dearly departed. Power attracts power after all, and who has more power than the emperor? Azomander, a pyromancer from the Sabean kingdom of Abban, has arrived at the Imperial Court. Claiming to be exiled from his homeland by jealous rivals, he has earned the attention of the emperor both through his magic and his carefully dropped hints about his nation and its reclusive gods, who only reveal themselves to a few holy men who risk the desert and return. These Glasswalkers, he says, have recently sent a new prophet among the Sabeans and their kings do his bidding.
Magha
While in the south the Veranese Empire works to expand its borders, in the north it seeks to maintain them. A great force of 5000 men, a mighty legion, is sent to assist the Dayam in pacifying Magha. But this is no easy task, even for such a force: there are more than bandits in its forests. The troops opposing the imperial occupation are organized and well-supplied, more so than the remnants of Magha's army should be and at the very least they include volunteers from Datta. Imperial patrols have found themselves cut off and ambushed and outposts destroyed whenever the weather prevents easy reinforcement.
The great joke of “Western Civilization” is that is not neither “western” geographically, nor is it “civilized” compared to the great beating heart of human civilization in Keria. Harsh barriers such as the Sea of Storms hide this fact, but at great cost a Gethalian Fleet gets a glimpse of a larger world dominated by the works of dead gods and the ambitions of immortal tyrants.
The Jade Sea
Niccolo's fleet finds the world changed when it rounds the Baccan Cape. Gone is the omnipresent, restrained fury of the Sea of Storms, making way to a quiet serenity of the Jade Sea. It is a straight shot west towards Kern, guided ably by Baccans who have made the trip a thousand times. North, they say, are the “kingdoms of spring and autumn”, a shifting patchwork of Kernish states. South is where Niccolo goes, because south is where Dalman is.
South is where the center of the world is.
Dalman. Drul-Alla-Maen. Dalad. The Red City has a hundred names in a dozen languages. Wealthier and grander than Asomione, hundreds of ships sit in its harbor when he arrives. Great junks from the northern Lung, strange two hulled ships from the Thallasines in the south, and merchantmen from Great Mohar sit alongside Ringan longships, who seem to be omnipresent like vermin across the world. And, the Baccans say, there are even vessels from Nri Keraiina, the land of the setting sun. Niccolo does not understand the importance of this.
The Astorians themselves receive attention as strangers. While the Baccans are familiar enough, ships from “the east” are rare and Niccolo and his retinue are able to get an audience with members of the Curia, (one of) the ruling bodies of the city. As they make their way through Dalman they pass great stone sentinels, impressive in size but also in age, for their features have been rubbed smooth by wind and rain. Dalman is old, older than even Salem, for it survived the Long Night intact and the Sehirans claimed it after. It is just the oldest of beings that can remember when the first adobes were chiselled into the red cliffs that marked the Gate of the Dawn. When its ancient kings wore crowns of bloody antlers and were buried under the city after the birds picked their bones clean. Even the “Dalmani” are just the latest insects who inhabit it, detritus from the brief dominion of Sehir.
The Curia is pleasant, but not as interesting as the city itself because even half a world away men are the same, but there is an edge to them that Niccolo picks up on. He notices the armed soldiers, mercenaries from damned Quirium, quietly guarding the meeting and omnipresent throughout the city. When the councilor is disappointed to learn of the great expense of the trip, and that he could not expect the Gethalians to send many ships despite the offer of great sums for their service, he realizes: this is a city preparing for a war.
Vakhtan Rosh. It is a name whispered, after encouragement, in a tavern in the New City. The Deathless King in the Assaban tongue. He rules the eponymous state with its capital in the distant south, far from the Gethalian League or Astoria. Yet his name hangs in Niccolo's mind during the return voyage. Like some talisman the Sea of Storms does not contest his return, as if it too was wary of the tyrant. The Baccans are tight-lipped when he questions them and say nothing but praise for their suzerain. But the presence of robed Assaban in Bacca is like a weight on his chest. Even the vast wealth his ragged fleet possesses does not settle his mind: intricate devices of clockwork and enchantment, strange totems of jade, metal discs that can be forged into weapons and armor of impeccable strength among them. It is a year before Niccolo stops dreaming of that name. Vakhtan Rosh.
The Diviner
Among the gifts given to Niccolo by the Dalmani are examples of a strange device known as a diviner. More than a compass, which uses inconsistent magnetic forces to provide guidance, the diviner supposedly relies on an intricate network of ley lines that cover the world. In Dalman and Keria these lines are mapped, but their very existence a novelty to the west. Supposedly, the diviner can be used to find them and then navigate by them. But, of course, Niccolo has no idea how to use it.
The Bastard of Ban
Among the great affairs of kings and princes, where an emperor bargains with a god, there is little concern for the doings of smaller men. In Peren, in the far flung territory of Ban, there have always been bandits. The current crop are largely remnants of Canodus III's campaigns, whose only trade is violence. They hide in the rough hills and scrub and make a meager living by waylaying travelers and tax collectors. This season they steer clear of the main roads, for there are many knights going to and fro, some to the tournament in Omania. It is rare that they seek to do more, but sometimes they do, driven by hunger or other needs. For a poor farmer, marked by his blood for possible greatness, this was a great tragedy. It was months before his absence at market was noted, and more time still before a visitor found his burned farm and the bodies within. For the farmer it was the end of his world, for his village it was a great but terrible story, for his lord it was the inconvenient loss of tax revenue. And for his king, his unknowing half-brother Canodus IV? Nothing at all.
The First Step
“This is the world,” the sorcerer says from his mountain perch, “I must understand it as I understand myself.” He breathes deep of the frigid air and is reinvigorated. He wipes away his tears. “This world is cruel. To pretend otherwise is to lack understanding.”
Understanding is the first step on the road to mastery.
OOC: Map and Stats will be updated soon. I'm just happy everyone sent orders, last game I ran I gave the world's largest nation to a player who checked out and never told me. I'm also going to make a pass over the rules and flesh some aspects out more: yes you can bank income.
I owe Immaculate a super secret map.
Thomas.berubeg, you need to name your new hero.
Thomas.berubeg wins the hero contest and the reward is an additional rank for Brun, ironically making up for the fact that he didn’t get any experience this turn.
The new contest for Update 2 is to create a story about one of your culture’s figures from the Age of Heroes.
I’m not going to attempt to push out updates nearly this fast in the future, but this is an exception because I am traveling abroad for a week soon and can’t expect the time, inclination, or access to the internet. I want to make sure I have a few days to deal with the fallout.
A crying child clings to his mother. “Mother, Mother! The other children claims that you are not my real mother! That you are a fox demon!” The mother smiles.
“Let me tell you a story, child, of what happened long long time ago...”
.......................
The Man’s Story
He was a simple woodsman, living alone out in the forest away from the town. He lived a simple life, aiding his ailing mother and selling his firewood in the village to purchase medicine and food. He was content with such a life, but his mother grew worried.
“Oh son, when will you be wed?” She moaned out loud day after day. “It is my wish to see your little children playing in the yard where you used to play, and to see someone caring for you with love and care.” The son did not know the answer. He only ever visited the village in passing—to sell his fire wood—and thus never really had the time to seriously pursue a woman.
And so the mother continued to moan, and the son continued to work, until one winter where the surprisingly harsh and early snowfall trapped him in the forest. Running out of food, he and his mother wondered if this was to be the end, when there was a knock at the door.
When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a freshly killed rabbit left at his doorstep, along with a fox’s footprints leading into the forest.
He first assumed this to be a stroke of luck—a fluke of nature—but this strange delivery of wild game and food continued for a week. Eventually, the man stood and waited outside, holding a torch to see a glimpse of he and his mother’s savior.
From the darkness it came, pair of golden eyes approaching without sound. It refused to step where the torchlight shone stopping at the edge where the man could see an inhuman silhouette. “Are you a God?” The woodcutter asked. “To save me and my mother in my time of need?” The Fox shook its head. “Oh, brave woodcutter,” The Fox began. “Oh, your loyalty and love towards your begetter have moved my frozen heart. I am no god, merely a spirit watching over these lands, and I simply sought to reward your good nature with these gifts.”
“If you mean me no harm, my good Fox,” The Woodcutter said. “Please join me here in the light—perhaps we can share stories among each other?” The Fox refused. “I cannot show my face in the light, for I fear it may terrify your mortal heart. But I can exchange stories from where we stand. What ails you, my brave woodcutter?”
And they talked and talked until the topic came to the woodcutter’s Mother. “She wishes me wed and with children,” The woodcutter said. “I fear that I cannot stay away from her long to pursue a woman to grant her wish.”
The Fox was silent for a while. “I believe I can help, oh brave woodcutter,” it said. “On the break of spring, visit the tavern at the town. There you will meet the woman you shall be wedded to.”
And with that, the Fox was gone.
Months later, when spring flowers bloomed, the man did as he was told and visited the tavern. There he met a very beautiful and shrewd young woman who, to the surprise of everyone, responded positively to his clumsy advances.
After a shockingly quick romance, the two were wed with openly ecstatic and jubilant mother of the woodcutter in attendance. Everyone whispered that the beautiful girl was, in reality, a Fox demon come to seduce the young woodcutter.
..............
“Then it is true? You are a demon?” The boy asked. The Mother laughed. “You have not heard the rest of the story, dear child. Here is something others in the village do not know, but your parents do.”
..................
The Story of a Woman
The woodcutter was nervous. He tried to put the thought of the rumors in the town out of his mind, but even as joyous as he was as to the turn of events he could not shake the notion that his new wife, rocking his child gently in her arms, may be the Fox that he met that fateful night.
“I know what makes you worry so,” The Wife said suddenly, startling the Woodcutter. “You worry that I may be the Fox you encountered two years ago.”
“How do you know about that?”
“How would I not know? It’s what all the villagers talk about. Some of them even throw salt at me these days.”
“Well... are you?” The Woodcutter asked cautiously. The Wife laughed. “No. Let me tell you what really happened. You see, dear husband, when I was younger, there was a man who lived away from the village in the woods along with his mother. I was in love with him, but he never noticed me and it was improper for a woman like myself to pursue a man. I was on the verge of giving up, when I heard a gossip—you came to the tavern drunk one winter night and told this fantastic story of meeting a Fox demon and its promise of a wife. I decided that this was my opportunity.”
“Afterwards it was as simple as waiting at the tavern whenever you arrived in town and sold firewood until you took notice of me.”
The woodcutter stared, open mouthed. “You tricked me!” He laughed. “Tricked everyone,” she laughed with him. “Who knows, maybe this was exactly what the Fox intended?” They embraced each other, affirmed in each other’s humanity.
....................
“But mother!” The child cried out. “If you had nothing to do with the Fox, what happened to it?”
“Well,” The Mother said, patting the child’s head. “Let me tell you a story that only you and I will know.”
......................
The Story of a Heroine
The woman walked alone on the road between her house and the village, when she saw a pair of golden eyes approach from the darkness. The woman steeled herself, glaring into the dark and standing tall.
“I knew you would come for me one day, friend,” the woman said.
“You cheat! You treacherous miscreant!” The Fox bellowed. “He was mine—he was mine and you stole him from me! I was the one who hunted for him, who protected him from the creatures in the wood, who listened to his struggles and prayers! How could you so simply take him from me?!”
“He is not yours to keep, demon!” The woman declared. “I have him children, family, love, and affection. What can you give him? Fame? Wealth? Power? He desires for none of these things, only happiness. Only I can give him the happiness that he longed for as his fellow human—you can only promise greatness and miracles. None of these will make a Woodcutter happy.”
“If I cannot provide him with happiness,” The Fox declared. “Then I shall simply take yours. You do not deserve the happiness you have achieved—it was stolen from me, and I shall take my vengeance.”
A blinding light, the woman took out the iron dagger from her purse as sigils appeared in the air. For a moment, she caught glimpse of the Fox—a being as large and great to her as she was to a rabbit. She raised the knife as the being swarmed all around.
.............
The Story of the Fox (conc)
“So?” The child asked. “What happened next, Mother?” She smiled as she caressed the child’s cheeks, a scar from a forgotten gash fading on the skin.
“Your mother fought like something from the Age of Heroes,” The Mother concluded.
The child stood still, for a moment, it seemed as if the mother had said something extremely terrifying, although he could not fully understand why. Orange light from the setting sun made the Mother’s eyes gleam gold. “Come on, child, we should prepare dinner for your father,” The Mother said. “I found a nice rabbit in the trap.”
“Really?” The child cried out, previous misgivings instantly forgotten. “Yes, really,” The Mother chuckles as she lead the way, child in one hand.
Morlaccho Filippo Vicovich – level 1 agent
A man of relative youth and inexperience but unrivaled ambition, Morlaccho is the maternal cousin of Niccolò Cadamosto. Sharing Niccolò’s family connections and influence, Morlaccho is a more subtle man, comfortable trading secrets and influence in the shadowy halls of the Signoras’ Palace. He is a member (though often junior) of a number of secret societies including the influential Order of the Maga and the shadowy Order of the Coltello Striga.
Maurita del Nadal- level 1 sage
Young, female and without family connections, Maurita is named after the college where she trained (Nadal Academy). A self-made women, Maurita has established herself based on her intelligence, hard-work, keen ambition, and “moral flexibility”. She is a polymath- an excellent pianist, singer, mathematician, inventor, navigator, architect, and painter (in the tradition of the great, usually male, Astorian polymaths before her). She disdains the traditions of the various Geth secret societies, seeking instead to align herself with the rational savants of the college savants. The Gethalian Signora have recognized Maurita’s young genius and hired her on behalf of the families to serve the league.
We rebuke you for your harsh declaration of crusade against the worshippers of Nairo. The burden of aspiring for true rationality and self-perfection is heavy indeed, and many lack the inner strength to truely follow the path of philosophy. It is for this reason that it is natural for lords to rule over peasants; we of stout resolve have a duty to care for those of weak mind and flawed nature. Your foolhardy battle was doomed from the start, for it is no more possible for a superstitious, Nairo-worshiping peasant to act in rationality than it is for a pig to grow wings and fly like a bird. Your crusade shall being nothing but devestation and injustice, and for this reason we implore that you end it at once.
From Omania
To Araminia
CC: Peren, Lundia
While the point the Regent of Peren has made is close to our hearts, we respect your right to determine your religious and philosophical path as a free dynasty. We, however, strongly rebuke your disregard for the rights of Acquilivian nobility and demand that their rights are restored and respected from now on, with due process being followed when the Araminain Crown indicts a noble of Acquilivian blood in crimes of faith.
In conjunction with that diplomatic decree, king Ariovistus III also declare theCharter of Candles, which specifies the right of a nobleman or a free man to a proper judicial procedure based on a proof of guilt (and not otherwise) should they be accused of heresy or a similar crime. We encourage realms of the Acquilivia Vast to adopt the same charter for the good of their subjects.
Some aspects of the rules and stats are being fleshed out, as I review some of the issues I encountered when translating players' orders into the update.
A climate map is being refined and a finalized version will be available as part of Update 2. Previews can be found in the Discord. The climate map may be accompanied by cosmetic changes to national capitals and borders.
Deadline for orders will be March 26 2018 8am EST.
From the Travelogue of Calvus of Peren, Volume 3, 2nd Edition
Spoiler:
Having found a place for myself in the village I began my study of Trasque’s culture much as I did the Petreans of Yedrea before, by learning the oral histories they pass on. While typically I would wander the width and breadth of a nation to get a feel for the regional variations of the stories, in Trasque this not only proved impossible but also unnecessary. The very insularness that made it infeasible to learn the stories of more than one village in a reasonable amount of time also made me suspect that the stories were uniform across the Holy Kingdom. This was confirmed when, after my fourth month in the village, I had managed to get one of the elders rather more drunk than she expected and learned that the story-tellers for each village are all trained in the city of Salem, capital of the Freehold, from a vast library of stories. This ensured that the same stories would be told to the farmers of the Lower Basin now as the goatherds high in the Trakkan Range four centuries ago. While I have my doubts as to whether the stories haven’t been steadily edited over time, the elder took it on faith that they weren’t.
The legends of the Trasque are largely group into five story cycles, separated by what part of their history they take place in. While only a handful of stories from each cycle are known to outsiders, even me, the details they mention are tantalizing hints to a world vastly different from the one we know now. My informants, mostly children, all swear that the stories are completely factual, though most are far too fantastical and self-aggrandizing to be anything more than parables.
The Dusk Cycle recounts the founding of Trasque in the midst of the “Sunset War”, a vast conflict only obliquely mentioned to provide a backdrop of a world in the midst of destroying itself. The primary character for these stories is First Navi Eli, the original founder of the Holy Kingdom, then referred to as a ‘Freehold’, though the focus quite often leaves him and follows his disciples as they are rejected by the nobles of the world and retreat to the Trakan Mountains. The stories I’ve heard, mostly from children, seem to be lessons on the follies of man and the dangers of magic as Navi Eli founds the Freehold.
The Midnight Cycle recounts Trasque’s isolation or ‘leaguer’ during the Long Night. There appears to be no primary character for these stories, which focus on the necessity of cooperation and community in the face of death. It is from these I learned of the Freehold Charter, apparently a core document to their governance which dictates the rights and responsibilities of each citizen and how their position in society is determined.
The Blue Cycle follows the travels of Izaiah the Traveler, apparently the first to leave Trasque since it sealed itself away. I heard more stories from this cycle than any other, its format making it easy to add more. The typical story would involve Izaiah stopping at a location during his travels across the width and breadth of modern Astoria and Xion, encounter some powerful being, whether this be a powerful spirit, a horrific monster, or some crazed mage, and then observe the being as it terrorizes some hapless village of human survivors, often to tragic results. Occasionally he would himself be captured by one side or the other only to escape in a fit of cleverness. The only prominent exception to this, which seems to also be a parable of some variety though for the life of me I couldn’t guess as to its lesson, was during his travels through modern Petrea and he was captured by a band of demons wearing the bodies of men. The entire story, which is only a few stanzas long, is them lamenting that they cannot read the Laws of the World before releasing him. If I have the dates correct this should have been one of the last stories before the beginning of the Dawn Cycle. While some of these stories teach lessons, generally about the follies of the human remnant, most seem to be told purely as a form of entertainment. Curiously for a story-cycle every story I heard is dated, implying a continuous story with internal continuity and, more importantly, a set number that isn’t expanded over time.
The Dawn Cycle covers the last century of the Long Night and the beginning of what is commonly considered the Age of Heroes. The focus of this cycle is King Abimelech, the king who they claim led mankind against the horrors of the Long Night, and his successors as they slew the various gods who had stolen the world from mankind. This is the first story cycle that heavily features non-Trasque characters as sympathetic if somewhat stupid. While the Blue Cycle had a large number of foreign characters, they were invariably shown as being complicit in the Long Night or otherwise wicked and, with one or two exceptions, only showed up for one story. The Dawn Cycle even mentions figures from other mythic cycles, such as the Rogue Demon Hunter of Sehir, famous among the Astorians for allegedly fighting alongside an Angel. The primary antagonist of this cycle is the Doom of Mankind, which I believe are the local name for the Astorian Heliophages, though they’re described in a great deal more detail than their Sehiran counterparts.
One story from the Dawn Cycle which stuck in my mind, likely because of the insight into the Trasquian mind it offers, is that of Ishmael the Smith, son of Abraham. In short Ishmael had seven children, one of whom was possessed by a demon. Ishmael killed each of his children with a cold iron knife, forcing the demon to flee from one to the next until eventually it fled into Ishmael himself. Ishmael then bound himself inside of a iron urn, trapping both the demon and himself inside of it forever. The callous and matter of fact nature of the sacrifice of his entire family to remove a threat to his community speaks of an inhumanity which in any other culture would be considered tragic, but in Trasque he is held to be a paragon to be emulated. Make no mistake, simply because they don’t commit the mass sacrifices in grandiose ceremonies like the Veranese doesn’t make them any less brutal or horrifying than any other eastern culture, albeit in their own taciturn, subdued way.
The Golden Cycle covers the classical Age of Heroes, though from a distinctly Trasquian perspective. Rather than focusing on the mighty hero slaying the giant monster or wicked sorcerer as most stories of the era do it speaks of the sages and wise men who guide the heroes to said monsters and on accounts of other kingdoms rising from the Long Night. There are hints at the legendary conflict between the philosopher-kings of Sehir and the Van of Angband which some scholars use to definitively mark the end of the Age of Heroes and the beginning of the Age of Days, though the children I spoke to didn’t know them and the elder flatly refused to tell me any.
Of note is the complete absence of any stories of the time since the fall of Sehir five centuries ago, despite Trasque’s involvement in the conquests of Emperor Azar of Veran or Brennus the Great, namely the wars that saw them driven back to their current borders inside the Trakkan Range. It is known that, despite their eventual defeat, several of their generals managed to pull off moderately impressive victories which could’ve been celebrated (the Battle of Three Fords comes to mind), and certainly other peoples have celebrated less successful generals. The elders claim its because that those battles weren’t against the true enemy, though I suspect it's because they don’t want to acknowledge any of their concrete, provable defeats when they could focus on their vague and unfalsible victories during the Age of Heroes.
When in dire need seek water's run
for this the dark will always shun
when land is parched make a circle salt
for this will make the darkness halt
when all else fails and dark still there
stand your ground and cold iron bare
and try to last till the sun does rise
for in heaven's light the darkness dies
SpoilerPlace :
Mountain strong and towers high
Where cold air blows and glaciers lie
The goatherd walks with flock around
and hunter waits, prey gone to ground
The farmers grow and elders talk
Miners work and merchants hock
All in place, all will stand
Under king's steady hand
SpoilerHierarchy :
King is strong and rules all
but without Navi, he would fall
Sanhedrin all have a say
whilst Keeper keeps the night at bay
judges help us stay the course
tribunes keep us strong with force
builders let the city grow
farmers feed us with seed they sow
miners give us gold to sell
which merchants spend as all can tell
guilds create art and wonder
and none will find us rent asunder
so long as I do what I must
the freehold stands, free and just
The Blue Cycle, 19th of Rebruary, 1016 years post-Founding, Of Izaiah's Plea before the Sanhedrin, Stanzas 5 and 6.
SpoilerBlue Cycle, 1016-02-19 :
Great King, who guards us all
Let me go beyond the wall
For though the world is great in size
and is full of hate, fear, and lies
it belongs first to mortal men
and not the things beyond our ken
Demons walk our ancient home
Beasts crawl o'er our native loam
Our brothers wait for salvation
for man to rise and carve a nation
free from fear, which makes darkness hide
and brings the light to mortal's side
I shall see what can be seen
go where man has seldom been
to find the foe and learn his ways
prepare the land for Age of Days
so when mountain wakes and men arise
the day will come when darkness dies.
King beneath the starry sky
and judges all looked on high
for confirmation of his plea
if heaven's light did agree.
The moment stretched, silence bound
till plea was answered with shrill sound
eagle rose and with raucous call
to Izaiah flew across the hall.
His fate made clear, Izaiah left
with royal blessing and spear to heft
His mind encased in iron cold
to protect it from the demons bold
Armor ancient from war long past
To ward off claws and talons fast
With royal spear and holy writ
Izaiah left to world unlit
Wars will be announced by the mod after orders are closed, if not already done so by the players, giving between 24-72 hours for surprised participants to adjust their spending to reflect. By default, nonessential projects and spending will be cancelled and spent on levies in response to an invasion. Levies are, and will remain for some considerable time, the most efficient type of military unit.
Conflict spreads like the Ringan Plague across the Earth. The tentative peace of the past half-decade, except for the subjugation of the Verl, gives way to a new round of war and civil strife.
The Veranese Empire, taunted by lesser powers at its flanks, strikes out in force. Two great columns strike into High Cadia, bearing a list of grievances that stretch back centuries, and another into Datta where the local rulers have gravely estimated how far it can reach.
Meanwhile, Ringan ships roam the seas again in the old manner. Their flirtation with commerce has crumbled against the Ringan Plague and the growing power of the Angaguk pushed Bleden's High King sends his ships south to raid Astoria.
Not all strife is foreign, as Araminia and Sundlund fall into civil war. The League of the Charter finds itself fighting for both its rights and its lives, while the Acquilivians raise the banner of an independent Belgicia against their weakened Ringan conquerers.
And, in the west, the Baccan League sends a thousand men to answer the call of the Vakhtani Roshate.
Players have until Monday, March 26 2018 8am EST to adjust their orders. No new conflicts can be started. Please note changes you make.
I didn't do this for the Verl because, honestly, who cared?
I'm interested in joining. What nations are there available for me? Is it just the Beluchi League? If so I'd be cool with taking over them after this update resolves
Update 2: the Wolf and the Lion 1005 to 1010 by the Sehiran Calendar 627-632 by the Veranese Calendar
2241-2246 by the Trasque Calendar
The Youth ran, as he had for hours. Behind him, and sometimes to the side, he felt the presence of a pack of wolves. They had pursued him through the mountains, unerring and almost humanlike in their relentless chase. And he could run no more. His feet bled into the white snow and his thighs were like lead. Ahead, down the slope of the mountain, there was a base expanse of rock, flat and offering sure footing. As he reached it he turned and drew his katar.
He expected to immediately be attacked, but the wolves passed him and turned as one. There were three, he saw: more had begun the chase, but it seemed they had fallen behind the leaders of the pack. They were four feet tall at the shoulder and the grey fur around their muzzle was specked with blood. They had pushed themselves to exhaustion, same as he.
And then they spoke, “Well done, human. It has been centuries since I have met prey such as you.”
“You can talk?” the youth asked, surprise diminishing his fatigue, for he had not expected to muster the strength to speak.
“Talk and more. In a human tongue I, we, were named Azar. But names are not important: I wish to know what has brought you .”
The youth explained: he was a lion prince of Middesta, fleeing his homeland. His father had been murdered by his uncle, who coveted one of the dual thrones and he had pinned the murder on the dead king's son. The unnatural pursuit of the wolves had convinced him that they were some demon sent by magicians.
At this the wolf laughed, as much as a wolf can laugh. It was more Hyena-like than anything else. That some savage despot could command Azar? He'd seen hundreds of such kings over the centuries: the lands beyond Middesta were full of them, all thinking they were great movers and shakers.
“I know little of the lands beyond our borders, for my kingship was to be spiritual and there was no need.”
And, despite the cold, the wolves settled down to tell the prince what they knew.
Xion
The Cadian War
In early 628, by the Veranese Calendar, tensions between the Veranese Empire and the union of Cadian tribes on its southern border were running high. Veranese spies had attempted to abscond with one of the most treasured bull wyverns of the dragon-riding people, while the Cadians retaliated with a pogrom against Veranese living in Haro lands. A Cadian delegation to Verana met a cold reception and no clear answer in response and Glaw Ao judged Cadian honor properly settled in this matter.
But the gears of war were already in motion, as the southern Dayam were ordered to raise levies and muster their soldiers for an invasion of High Cadia. Two columns, one led by Giv, the Empire’s chief tactician, entered an unprepared Cadia. The defences along the border, manned by Ideni warriors, were demolished by Veranese rockets in short order. The Cadians had planned to continue their existing program of irrigation and infrastructure, but they turned their plows into swords as news of the invasion spread. The Haro and the Baldan were able to raise their levies, nearly 10,000 men, but the Ideni suffered badly in the initial year of the invasion as the Veranese columns struck against their poorly defended cities and disorganized clans.
The first few battles went poorly for the Cadians, as their advantage in the air was minimized through the disciplined Veranese combined arms tactics. The Veranese dragon riders, a few hundred Cadian auxiliaries from the border regions of the empire, were outnumbered, but relied on the protection of archers and rocketry to score victories against the High Cadians, who were able to field over a thousand of their own wyverns. On the ground the Cadians were ferocious and hardened fighters, but the vast bulk of the Veranese were professional soldiers, and they had no answer to the Veranese warleader, Giv.
Unable to defeat the Veranese on the ground or in the sky, the Cadians turned to a field on which their enemy had yet to find a champion: the supernal. As Giv’s column closed on his seat between the Ideni and Haro lands Glaw Ao made his appearance, riding the revered black wyvern that had ignited this conflict. The dry plateau of High Cadia saw little rainfall in its interior, hence the extensive irrigation, but Glaw Ao raised a storm and the Cadians attacked under its cover. Their rocket powders damp and unusable by the freak rain, the Veranese were unable to disrupt the Cadian charge as they had grown accustomed to. Indeed, they soon found their own formations torn apart by bolts of lightning and thunder, called down by the sorcerer. The disruption turned their orderly formations into chaos and Giv was unable to salvage the battle, allowing the Cadians to rout the column.
But this victory was incomplete: while the Veranese left thousands of dead, the lands of the Ideni have been ravaged by the earlier defeats. And while they may have killed or captured many of their enemy, including Giv, Verana is vast and filled with soldiers and captains eager to replace. And while Glaw Ao demonstrated his immense power, it came at a cost: the strain of working so much magic aged the sorcerer a decade in a day.
High Cadia: -1000 retainers, + 12,000 levies -5000 levies -3ep -1ap income +captured Giv
The Broken Ideni
As their lands are ravaged the Ideni have sent many of their noncombatants elsewhere, into the territory controlled of the other tribes. But the capacity of these tribes to accept refugees has already been strained by the Verl, who have yet to be properly integrated into the kingdom. The old, the sick, the children, the women, and the wounded are an unneeded cost on the tribes at a time when all attention should be given to repelling the invaders.
High Cadia: -1 ep income, +Verl faction (2/2), -1 strength Ideni, -1 confidence Baldan, Haro
The Third Column
High Cadia was not the only kingdom to draw the Veranese Empire’s ire. Datta, a misty realm on the empire’s border, had severely miscalculated how willing Verana was to hold onto its conquered Pekkan territories. Led by the Emperor’s new favorite, the Sabean mystic Azomander, a third Veranese column passed through Magha and crossed the border. Unlike in Cadia, they were not there to conquer, but to ravage. Living off the land and the plunder the Veranese set northwest Datta aflame. Towns and fields alike were burned under the orders of their pyromantic commander.
The only hiccup came as they approached the sometime capital of Datta, the city of Kunma. The citizenry had reinforced its walls with earth and soaked the wooden roofs in a concoction that was resistant to fire, magical or otherwise. Azomander’s knowledge did not extend to strategy and here he was lured into committing to a siege. This gave the Pekkans time to raise levies to oppose the invasion and they worked to cut off the column’s lines of withdrawal back into Veran. Azomander was compelled to abandon his siege by a near-mutiny led by the army’s military tribunes and the Veranese fought their way out of the country, defeating a mixed force led by the guerrilla fighter Kissama to return to their homeland with their plunder.
This near defeat, however, has left the emperor with a problem. Azomander has thoroughly soured his reputation among the army, particularly the military tribunes who represent the rank and file. He, in turn, demands that those tribunes who forced him to retreat from Kunma be punished for their disobedience.
Veranese Empire: -1000 levies -1000 retainers +4 ep +1 rank Azomander Datta: -2000 retainers +4000 levies -2000 levies -2 ep income
The Brotherhood of the Wolf
Back in Verana the imperial spy Kelsang reported to his majesty on his discoveries regarding the dead master of rituals. The missing servant had been vouched for as a niece by a prosperous merchant. When sufficient questioning was applied the merchant admitted that he had been asked to lie to give her an entrance into the court, as payment for an old debt. When he had been a younger man, traveling from town to town selling wares in person, several members of his caravan had been murdered by a blood-drinking monster in the shape of a man. This monster was slain by a caravan guard, who identified himself as a member of a secretive brotherhood of monster hunters. Years later this “Brotherhood of the Wolf” had asked the merchant to help one of its members gain entry into the imperial court. Unfortunately, and despite painful pressure, he was unable to provide more details on this Brotherhood to Kelsang, having merely been a patsy left out to dry by the Brotherhood after discovery.
Veranese Empire: +1 rank Kelsang
The River God
There are a dozen gods worshipped across the Veranese Empire. This worship, and the accompanying offerings, are transactional: in return these elemental deities provide for the empire. One of the most critical gods is Hordad. In return for annual offerings, among them the maidenhood of a virgin, he regulates the rivers and waters of the empire. A near century of successful sacrifices has been broken, however, when the lottery fell to the daughter of a member of the Guild of Brewers. In order to preserve his daughter’s purity he plied the god with spirits and wine, leaving the elemental unable to claim his traditional offering.
It’s not Hordad’s ire that is the issue however: quite the opposite. By all accounts he thoroughly enjoyed the variation on his offering. Elementals are highly malleable creatures, however, and the god’s state of inebriation poses a risk. The consistency and regularity of many of the empire’s rivers has been called into question, as reports of limited flooding, or draining, bring worry to imperial ritualists. They have suggested significant intervention to redirect the god into his proper course, or, failing that, locating a new deity to take over his duties.
The Minotaur
Ninety years ago, when the new empire was founded, Veran was a tumultuous and poorly governed realm divided by warlords and petty kings. Bandits and merchants competed for the roads and the source of law and order was the sword and the lash. Now it is a different realm but remnants of the old days remain.
One of its governing Dayam keeps a ferocious beast, known as the Minotaur, imprisoned in a maze. Half man and half bull, with a ferocious hunger for meat, the beast was fed criminals and rebels. For many decades there was no shortage of these, who were promised their freedom if they successfully navigated the maze (few did). But under the current Emperor’s enlightened ruler the core of the empire has been peaceful and prosperous. Lacking true villains to feed its hunger the Dayam has significantly upped the penalty for many common crimes. And, some say, his soldiers abduct hapless travelers and vagabonds who won’t be missed. All of this has created tension in one of the empire’s core provinces.
Imperial College
As the Empire seeks to expand its physical dominion, the Emperor knows this must be accompanied by a mental dominion to match it. The Imperial College is a new, lavishly funded, entity created in the capital, designed to attract scholars from across the empire and beyond. The turmoil that has consumed much of the west has made the prospect of an attract sinecure in Verana very attractive. While Veranese sages are, rightfully, dominant, places are made for Astorian philosophers, who walk a careful line in their discussion of rationalist philosophy in the thoroughly spiritualist empire. The university also finds itself filled with the sons and daughters of wealthy merchants, who come to use academia as a good place to keep their children out of trouble. These children, in turn, network, forging ties with distant guilds and families that will serve them well later in life, in business or even politics.
+2 ap income, +1 strength Guilds
The Deadly Mine
Armed with talismans of jade and with lead barriers the Trasque renewed their excavation into the shaft that was corrupting their workers. The strange effects of the mine were limited, for a time, to the jade. After a few days it would begin to rot and crumble into dust, a deeply disturbing outcome but greatly preferable to the unfortunate miners who had come before. Their bodies had been burned after death, a traditional precaution in the face of dark magic.
Another three years of digging led the Trasque to the source of the Blight. They found a sealed vault, thirty feet across, with warnings written across it in several ancient languages. An earthquake, or perhaps simply time, had broken a section of the seal, from which the Blight transmitted itself through the earth using veins of gold and silver. The Trasque miners dutifully reinforced the seal with lead and wax, as their sages had told them.
This endeavor has left the Trasque with a great reserve of gold, yet this gold is tainted. Having been a conduit for the Blight this gold still carries its effects with it. It has been kept quarantined in a separate lead vault, yet there is significant material wealth that could be reclaimed, if the gold could be handled safely.
The Reborn King
Good weather has kept the passes across the Trakan open longer than normal for several years, leading to a boost in trade between the local kingdoms. Not only does wealth flow along these roads but also knowledge, of the kingdoms on either side and of Trasque especially, which is increasingly opening up to the outside world. The Trasquans themselves have begun to collect tales from other nations, both about recent events and about their own ancient histories.
But the true revelation would come from within. No Trasque sage would ever admit that their histories had been doctored, for such would be sacrilege, but in some cases unimportant or unpleasant details had been left out. These omissions are known, in increasing detail, to higher and higher ranked sages, for they can be trusted to properly interpret the nuance more than the common folk.
A shepherd, David, spread alarm among the sages when he revealed detailed knowledge of significant portions of the Dawn Cycle that were not publicized. Originally investigated as a breach in their information control, the matter came to the attention of Levi Zohar as the youth displayed more knowledge than many of the investigators, particularly of King Abimelech. His knowledge is not only complete, but also intimate, beyond what is recorded in the secret history, official or unofficial, and Levi Zohar has begun to grapple with the possibility that David possesses this knowledge because he is a reincarnation of Abimelech, a once in a million chance that a soul is reincarnated in a recognizable form in a recognizable place.
Trasque can recruit a new hero, +1 ap +1mp income
Acquilivia
Trasque is a temporary isle of stability in an uncertain world. While war wages, to greater or lesser degrees, on the borders of the Veranese Empire, civil strife spreads across Acquilivia.
The Price of Taxation
The Lord Regent Alvinus attempted to chart a narrow course that would satisfy both the merchant class and the powerful regional nobility. He worked to persuade the high lords to reduce many of their internal tariffs, offering bribes to some and publicly shaming the others, labelling many of their taxes “unjust”. In this he failed miserably.
While in Peren’s royal court status and reputation are everything, the high lords are those of sufficient power and wealth that they can maintain their own courts separate from that of the monarch. Hiring bards and musicians to smear them did little to reduce their power and everything to alienate them from the Regency. The offered carrots, encouragement to drop their barriers, was too small to outweigh the loss of many meaningful tariffs. The merchants saw little gain from the Lord Regent’s efforts and their support of him remains lukewarm at best, a dangerous position now that he has made enemies of the realm’s most powerful nobility.
Peren -1 confidence High Nobility
The Boy King
Alvinus’s position at court is dependent on his control of the king, Canodus, a power deeply resented by the Queen Mother. His political survival necessities separating mother from child, closely controlling and supervising interactions between the two, as if she were to gain influence over the king his own power would be in jeopardy. But Canodus will not be a boy forever, as he reaches his twelfth year, and another half-decade will see him reach his majority and assume power. This is a day the Queen Mother looks forward to with great anticipation, as if poorly handled it can leave the Lord Regent vulnerable to losing more than just his regency.
The Reward of Contoutos
Alvinus is not without allies. The famed chevalier Contoutos, self-exiled from his homeland, found a warm welcome in Alvinus’s court. It turns out that the Lord Regent had long been a distant admirer of his exploits and Contoutos found his lost lands in Araminia replaced several fold, elevating him to the upper tier of Perenese nobility overnight. With a less perfect knight this may have provoked resentment among those passed over, but Contoutos proved himself an asset to the Regent and won many friends at court.
His issues with the Araminian king had been separate from the rationalist crusade going on in the country, but many of the Perenese nobility thought otherwise. Contoutos was brought to a secret gathering of nobility and was invited to join a mystery cult of Nairo worshippers. It was this group, which crossed many traditional political boundaries, that had been most critical of the Araminian purges. As a member Contoutos found himself with unexpected influence in Perenese politics, influence he has pledged to use to support his patron.
Peren gains Contoutos, (rank 3 Captain), +1 strength Regent’s Men
The Other Bastard of Ban
The northeastern territory of Ban has seen a change in leadership. The death of the high lord and his eldest son in mysterious circumstances saw the rule of the land fall to Adgennus, an unpleasant man for whom the highest praise is that he is only a bastard in the metaphorical sense. While the High Lords largely govern their lands with great autonomy, word has reached the court of misrule and oppression. High taxation is one thing, but reports of peasants and travelers disappearing is another. Adgennus attributes this to bandits, who have coalesced around a bandit king in his territory, but other reports say they are as much guerrilla fighters against his misrule as highwaymen. Given the tensions between Alvinus and the High Lords a misstep here could have grave consequences, but there is more and more pressure to act or at least investigate.
War of the Charter
The tensions between the Araminian crown and the nobility were not an easy one to resolve. A delicate hand was needed to reconcile the two groups and prevent civil war. This hand was not that of the Araminian king, who struck with an iron fist against the challenge to his authority. But the riders he sent out to arrest the ringleaders of the rebellion returned empty-handed, if at all: those who were not safely secured in their own castles were leading their troops in the field. The orders for their arrest ended negotiations with the League of the Charter, and the Araminian King found that the vast majority of his knights refused to answer his call to arms: indeed, many were already in league with the rebels.
He raised his own levies from the lands still loyal to him and moved against them, striking for the lands of the Duke of Sonoma, the chief of the league. But his men were met with superior numbers under the rebel commanders and they were routed. What had been envisioned as a series of decisive strikes against the rebel leadership, followed by an effort of rehabilitation, became a series of sieges as rebel forces attacked and reduced loyalist castles. Hastily raised levies are able to hold back the tide for a time, but many of his best troops have already been killed and the rebels have momentum. His ambitious dreams of reforming and strengthening the feudal system, on his terms, were fruitless in the face of this comprehensive military defeat, and it seems only surrender or outside intervention can preserve his crown.
Araminia: -6000 retainers, +9000 levies -6000 levies, -13 ep, -1mp income +2 ep banked, -2 confidence +1 strength nobility +Royal Court faction
Royal Fire Sale
The loss of income, and the assorted prices of the conflict, saw the King’s plans to build a great university in the capital threatened. As his coffers were depleted to field levies he directed the Merlin to turn to the guilds of the cities for funding. While civil war and the Ringan plague had caused hard times, they were eager to make what they viewed as a long-term investment. In return for funding the university they gained exemption from many taxes and their own municipal courts, a reasonable price to pay now for a much greater profit later.
Araminia +1 confidence +1 strength merchants, +1 ap income
Soll’s Key
Araminia’s new university has become the focal point for research into rationalist philosophy’s greatest goal: Soll’s Key. Conceived of at times as a metaphor for enlightenment or a physical object, Soll’s Key is the missing ingredient in the human condition that prevents them from using magic. As contact with Xion grows, stories have filtered in of the Sorcerer King Glaw Ao, who commands wind and storm without the aid of any elemental or demon. This has reinvigorated the old search, albeit thousands of miles away. If achieved it would be a powerful asset for any monarch, who would not need to barter with fickle spirits for magical power.
I Speak for the Trees
A decade of sustained investments into local agriculture along the Minte have begun to pay off for Omania. Overseen by the Prince Talotius, now increasingly the face of the monarchy with his brother's absence, the local farmers and nobility were engaged in an effort to clear additional arable land at the expense of the pristine forests that make up much of the nation. While this has not yet led to the envisioned demographic boom, as the population declines from the Ringan Plague, it has drawn the attention of other powers. A delegation of shamans has approached the crown's appointed Petrean lords, warning that the Acquilivian clearance is threatening many of the woodland spirits that predate human settlement. If the deforestation continues they may take actions to defend themselves, indiscriminately, for they care little for human politics.
Omania: +2 ep income, +1 rank Talotius
Charter of Candles
Perhaps alarmed by the sudden discombobulation of the Araminian feudal structure, or perhaps seeking to take advantage of it, Omania has put forward its own version of the Great Charter. The "Charter of Candles" was not especially a goal of the Omanian nobility but it was welcomed nonetheless, for it provided some additional privileges and rights to them at the expense of the crown. Nevermind that they had to share them with common folk, a rising tide lifts all boats, though in the future they may come to discover that it limits in turn their ability to exploit the urban guilds. The Omanian nobility is increasingly secure in its station as the pillar of the state.
Omania: +1 strength nobility
The Ringan Plague
Strife or stability, the Ringan plague spreads by river and land across Acquilivia during these years. Only in Peren are precautions taken against it, but for them it is just a matter of insulating the royal court from the plague. The common folk are hit hard, but so are the rich: the sage Darosiphen falls ill and passes, a victim of probability. His student Talotius nearly joins him but fortunately recovers. For doctors and healers this is a new disease, unknown to their knowledge, and methods of treatment are still largely unsettled. What tentative gains some realms had made by diligent investment are wiped out, while those already suffering are hit harder still.
Araminia: -3ep income, Omania: -3ep income, -Darosiphen Lundia: -1ep income, Peren: -5ep income
Pirates of the Aral Sea
Compounding the plague, the Astorian subcontinent saw itself under attack from an old threat. Decades of profitable trade and commerce had been rendered worthless by the rising influence of the Angaguks and the spreading death toll from the Ringan Plague. The most powerful of the Ringan kingdoms, Bleden, sent its fleets abroad once more as reavers and raiders, directing them into the waters of the wealthy Astorian cities. There they found swift allies in the pirates led by Edmund Horsebane, reaching the peak of his influence using the wealth and fame from the sack of Povera.
They were confronted by the Beluchi and the rebuilt Gethalian fleet, who would come to be led by Alvise Contarini. The Gethalian Fleet had been badly damaged as a result of its Kerian expedition earlier in the decade and it was still in the process of being rebuilt. Both of the Astorian Leagues, and Peren, worked to defend their own coastlines against the pirates, neglecting any joint effort to confront the raiding ships. Not that their opponents were that coordinated: Bleden's ships were around only for a single season of intensive raiding, which was exploited by the Horsebane rather than supported, as he took advantage of the chaos to target shipping and commerce. Trade across the Aral Sea was hit hard, as many merchants and guilds ran into debt.
Gethalian League: +1 rank Alvise, -2 ap income, -10 galleys Beluchi League: -2 ap income, - 2mp income, -10 galleys, -10 cogs Peren: -10 galleys
Bleden: +5 ep +2 mp banked, -10 cogs, +1 rank Row
The Stone Sword
One Gethalian merchant family did well out of these years: the g'Agnellos profited from their sale of the magical stone sword, Death, to a consortium based out of Bacca. Negotiating on behalf of an unspecified Kerian buyer, the Baccans drew extensively on their credit with Gethalian banks in lieu of importing the necessary funds over the tenuous route to Keria. The immense profitability of the trade goods brought back by the Gethalian Expedition several years before was sufficient to impress the bankers into extending the loans.
Unfortunately, buying the sword is a different thing from acquiring it. Before a trustworthy ship to transport it to Keria could be arranged it was stolen, in a daring raid on the Baccan trading compound in Asomione. Witnesses to the thieves identified them as easterners: Veranese. Much like the Astorian merchant who originally absconded with the sword from Uralia they have made themselves scarce, catching passage on one of the dozens of outbound ships.
The Baccans, prompted by the true buyers, are furious and demand the Gethalian League make every effort to secure the return of the sword. Lacking influence or networks in Astoria they are unable to pursue it beyond their enclaves in the Gethalian port cities. As leverage they have threatened to withold repayment from the bankers that extended them the credit, a move that could push many struggling financial institutions past the point of no return.
Gethalian League: g'Agnello +1 strength
Poveran Pride
Even as conflict churned the waters around the league, the merchant lords worked to repair the damage done by the great pirate raid on the city of Povera. Gifts to local families and funds for reconstruction made their way to the city and five years after the attack it had been restored to its former glory and more, as the League invested heavily in the mines and quarries that made up the city's chief exports. They were seeking Jade but they found much more: silver and gold in abundance. Sufficient abundance that investors overlooked reports of miners suddenly growing ill from a strange wasting sickness: after all, dying from plague was very much in vogue right then.
Gethalian League: +3 mp income +1 ap income
The Diviner
The Gethalian philosopher Maurita del Nadal's investigation of the Kerian Diviner took two steps forward, one step back. Tentative experimentation, and consultation with what information she could gather in its use, led to the highly surprising revelation that Asomione was the center of multiple ley lines. The implications, both for magic and navigation, were enormous and with much trial and error she worked to begin to identify the routes.
These efforts were upended by a sudden, and unprecedented, shift in the leylines after several years. By her calculations the nexus move east, back towards Astoria. Much of her earlier work and research into the subject was compromised, both in practical terms as her efforts to map the ley lines leading to Asomione were wiped out but also in theoretical terms, as Kerian sources are scarce on the subject of ley lines moving. Indeed, many of them seem built on the assumption that this shouldn't happen, making ley lines ideal for navigation.
Gethalian League: +1 rank Maurita
Wyrm of Wru Claue
Eastwards, the Rossa principalities attracted attention from their nothern neighbors. Fortunately this consisted only of a small party of knights and armsmen riding south, led by the Araminian exile Contoutos. The day to day tedium of ruling extensive and wealthy estates did not become him, so he had recruited an able seneschal to look after his lands. This freedom of action led him south, where a notorious cave wyrm preyed on the populace. The battle was short, but fierce, as after locating the beast he promptly speared one of its heads with his lance and struck off the other with his sword. He presented the latter head to the local freeholders, earning their praise, before returning to Peren.
Unfortunately, his triumph was temporary. Despite the evidence provided word has spread north that the Rossa freeholders are accusing him of false glory. Apparently the attacks on their cattle and subjects have continued after a brief pause. Contoutos has vowed to return south and re-kill the Wyrm, but it remains to be seen if his patron the Lord Regent can afford to lose one of his few remaining allies amid the rising tensions at court.
The Highlands
In Tynde, the long-standing tensions between the eponymous city and the inland Rossa freeholders have broken down. Under Malcolm Dunke's leadership they have formally presented an axe to the ruler of the city, a Rossa tradition symbolizing that war has been declared, and even now the first of their raiding parties are coming down from the Highlands to test the mettle of the coastal province.
Tynde: Freeholders -1 confidence, -3 ep income
The Printing Press
There are few peoples in the world more enthusiastic about sharing their ideas with others than the Astorians. Their cities are a hotbed of philosophy, theatre, and politics, with at least one public forum for debate in every municipality. Pamphlets and fliers plaster the walls of every shop and street, limited only by how fast scribes can churn them out. Or, at least they were before: building on a Kerian device, one ingenious inventor has devised a system of wooden blocks soaked in ink that can be used to quickly produce writing on paper in great quantity. While there is much refining to do before widespread adoption is possible, the printing press offers the possibility for the rapid dissemination of knowledge. And while some may disagree, to the Astorians that is a good thing.
The Apex
The twin scourges of the Plague and the pirates helped Irrovano consolidate his control over the Beluchi League. By 1010 he was chair of both the Signora and the Quaranta and increasingly transferred powers to the latter. He was the Apex of the Beluchi State, wielding executive power contrary to the professed purpose of most Astorian government, but for the moment dissent was quiet as the most influential figures in Beluchi society were either disgraced, quiet, or under his thumb.
Beluchi League: +1 rank Luco Irrovano, -1 strength Signora, +1 strength +1 confidence Quaranta
The North
The Demon Bear
In early 1005, forces were swirling around the den of the infamous demon bear Mor'dru. Power attracts power, and as the Petreans had learned, Mor'dru had purchased great power at the price of his own madness, the death of his family, and the destruction of his tribe. Rather than attempt to break the curse laid on the former prince they grouped with a hunting party of knights from Acquilivia and laid a trap for the beast once he returned from one of his long hunts. For, while he felt a strong connection to his den, staying there renewed his rage from the half-repressed memories of the slaughter that had occurred. His frequent rangings increasingly brought him into populated lands, sparking the current conflict between him and the heroes resolved to slay them.
There were five such heroes. The Lady Cary, who led the Petrean shamans and hunters. Caleb, a Trasquan from the south who kept his motives secret. The Omanian Glabrius and the Perenese Catacius led the Acquilivian knights. And last but not least, the mysterious Huntsman who had bested both of these knights in a joust and led them north to confront the beast. It was the latter that was the only one capable of standing up to the demon bear.
Mor'dru had centuries of experience in hunting and being hunted. The Petrean look-outs did not detect the beast, despite his bulk, and the combined party was surprised in the night. The first knight to take up arms had his head removed for his troubles and then Catacius was flung across the camp with a single swipe. Another Perenese was struck down before Glabrius reached his sword, but Mor'dru's claws were like daggers and smashed through steel and flesh with equal ease. The Petreans fought a fighting retreat with long spears and javelins, buying time for the Lady Cary to escape while more Acquilivian knights were struck down, before the Huntsman revealed himself fully armored in his archaic battle dress.
In the moonless night, lit only by the dying fires and punctuated with the screams of dying men, the Huntsman and the Bear exchanged blows. Any single swipe of his paws could have ended the Huntsman, armor or no, but they always just missed. Where Mor'dru had centuries of experience and an immense raw strength the Hunting Knight more than matched him in skill and the beast could not match his speed. Again and again his sword bit into the beast's hide, carving a way through the thick skin through sheer quantity of blows where power would not do. And after four great strikes to the beast's chest the Huntsman's blade pierced the rib cage and smote him in the heart.
Mor'dru let out an agonizing, increasingly human roar. Before the onlookers he shrunk and his fur receded, revealing skin was covered in a tapestry of scars and wounds. But before the transformation was complete the beast took advantage of his surprise and struck one last time with his claw, piercing the knight's armor. The blow tore open the Huntsman's chest and broke whatever enchantment granted him his inhuman grace, as there was a flash of light on his death. Mor'dru's roar ended in triumph, but only because he did not have the strength to continue, as the now-human villain promptly died of his many wounds from the battle.
Only Caleb and Lady Cary came away without wounds from the battle. Half the Acquilivian knights and many of the Petrean hunters were slain, and those that remained carried greater or lesser reminders of Mor'dru's ferocity. Many of Catacius's bones had been broken and Glabrius had lost the use of his shield arm, likely permanently. The Acquilivians recovered in the care of the Huntsman's companions, and as thanks for the assistance Glabrius drew on his title as Prince of Omania to grant them Mor'dru's den in perpetuity as a holding. This rankled the Petreans, for it was deep in Yedrean territory, and the tentative alliance between the hunting parties soon dissolved. Yedrean hunters would escort the Acquilivians back to the borders of the realm while the Huntsman's companions took possession of the den and the knight's armor, giving the corpse of their champion a perfunctory burial.
The Perenese and Omanians returned to their homelands much changed. For Glabrius, his martial pride may not recover without two good arms and the prince has been insular, keeping to the company of his close companions and being highly guarded in courtly interactions. Catacius is the same: though his wounds were not permanent, they were nonetheless severe and required substantial recovery. Many of the other Acquilivians are similar, having undergone some sort of spiritual experience at the hands of their healers.
Omania: -1 rank Glabrius ??: -Huntsman
Butter Fingers
Lady Cary returned to the heart of the Yedrean kingdom in time to weigh in on a new crisis. A great reserve of funds and produce had been built up over the decade, kept safely in the hands of the king's own tribe. But a recent count at the height of winter found it greatly diminished: in the previous year someone had pilfered away a significant chunk of the kingdom's coffers to their own ends. Accusations are flying, centered around the king's own family, which other tribes are claiming took the funds for their own purposes, and if not addressed this could badly damage the prestige of the still nascent monarchy and possibly the kingdom's stability.
Yedrea: -2 ep banked
Yedrean emissaries to the Tentran Kingdom were received warmly, if not as warmly as they had hoped. While more than willing to trade, if given specific proposals, the Tentrans were not interested in an alliance. Their eyes, rather, were turned south. Many among the southerners, the dominant ethnic group, wished to reclaim their homeland in Dagonath from the Veranese Empire and they were interested in warm relations with Yedrea only so as to keep that flank secure.
The Quiet Hunt
Caleb of Trasque made his departure from from Mor'dru's lair in secrecy, not wishing to attract the attention of either feuding party, for the Acquilivians were possessed of strange moods and the Petreans were suddenly uncharitable towards outsiders. Before he had intended to investigate the Huntsman, but with the mysterious man dead he west west, into the vast Petrean territories conquered by King Karo. The Petreans here gave him a warm greeting, happy that he wasn't a Ringan as anything else, and graciously answered all they could about their own tales of the Wind Hunt. Its abrupt end a decade ago, for it had now been several years since the last reported occurrence, concerned him greatly. As did tales of those who had been abducted by the hunt and then returned, for they seemed greatly changed and unfamiliar to friends and family. But Karolund is vast and loosely settled and he was unable to pin down any physical location as of yet.
Trasque: +1 rank Caleb
The Sacrifice
Bleden had sent its ships south, into the Aral Sea, and those that returned carried loot and plunder from the rich southern cities. Not just gold, or precious items, but captives too. While the Astorians had no royalty, preferring the sovereignty of gold, there were many well-bred captives taken on the sea. Ravaged themselves by what was known in the south as the Ringan plague, Bleden's King had intended to offer the choice pickings of their loot in a bonfire to the gods. But the Angaguk intervened.
In the same series of visions that warned them of the plague, and then led them to the means to treat it, the Old Gods had specified the proper method to prepare the sacrifice. The sea, not fire, was the medium of communication. The prisoners were bound to the oars of a longship that was then filled with booty and plunder and set unmanned out to sea on an easterly wind. The Angaguk pronounced the gods satisfied with the offering and pledged that they would look kindly on Bleden in the future.
Bleden: -2 mp -2 ep banked, +1 rank Brun, +1 confidence Angaguk
The Plaguelord
Where Bleden turned to the old religion for succor against the plague, Tonn turned to reason. The bard Torkel Kolbeck journeyed south, in vain searching for answers among the rationalist sages of the southern kingdoms. Back home Othala the Blessed gathered more primitive practitioners for their wisdom. The counsel of the Angaguk was much the same as in Bleden, but Petrean mystics had more to offer. It seemed the Ringan Plague was similar, in quality if not quantity, to a disease they were familiar with, one that was poorly known outside the Petrean homelands. Though its infectiousness, and potency, were much greater, their suggestion was that some mad magician or evil spirit had lent its strength to the plague. To do so would take both great power and great skill, beyond any known in the West, and the motivations of such a powerful foe were as yet unknown to Othala.
Tonn: +1 rank Torkel Kolbeck
The Bonds of Loyalty
A century ago Magnus's ancestor was granted the mouth of the Minte by the Araminian King, and his line has held the land and the dominion over its people since. But both the Ringans and Acquilivians of Tonn are still nominally answerable to the Araminian crown. The truth of this has come into question of late, as Araminia has collapsed into civil war. Many of the Ringan nobility, urged on by the Angaguk, have called for Magnus to declare himself an independent king and reject his vassalage to Araminia. But this move would doubtless greatly fray ties with the Acquilivians, who make up much of the realm and are already wary of the rising power of the Angaguk.
Tonn: Angaguk +1 strength
The risk inherent in angering Tonn's Acquilivian nobility was evident in Sundlund, where fighting broke out between the Ringan rulers and their majority Acquilivian subjects. A daring raid by foreign mercenaries rescued the imprisoned hostages and the Acquilivian nobility has risen up, laying plans for an independent Belgica. A Ringan force heading inland was caught in the open by Acquilivian knights, where they were able to overpower its lighter cavalry contingent and smash it in the field of battle.
Lundia: +1 rank Eburius Sundlund: -2000 retainers, +10,000 levies, -6000 levies +1 strength -1 confidence Acquilivian nobility
Elsewhere
The Gethalian rake Morlaccho, meanwhile, returns to his homeland after years of absence. Missing an eye and with several less serious scars, he has spent considerable time infiltrated into a band of reavers under the employ of the notorious Edmund Horsebane. Morlaccho comes bearing a great deal of news: Edmund Horsebane is gone from Astoria for good, one way or another. The pirate king's goal had long been to claim a proper crown for himself, and, having amassed a considerable fortune and fleet, he had set his sights on the traditional Ringan homeland of Avlund, also known as the Sunset Kingdom. His ships were gone from his semi-private port on an island in the Sea of Storms, leaving shortly after Morlaccho had deserted and commandeered a vessel of his own.
More interestingly, the agent reported, Edmund Horsebane had his own coterie of mystics and shamans, primarily kept around to investigate the Sea of Storms. They had concluded, obviously, that it was not a natural occurrence, that at the heart of the maelstrom was a powerful elemental that fed, and was fed by, the tumultuous sea. An entity that alarmingly had been growing stronger off a diet of unfortunate sailors and fishermen. Its motivations were unknown and inscrutable despite his mystics' best efforts. So, more than the threat of reprisals from the Astorians, the growing power of the entity had prompted him to sail west to liberate Avlund from its Lung Overlords. Decades of experience risking the storm's wrath had taught him that discretion was the better part of valor.
Gethalian League: +1 rank Morlaccho
More ominous news comes out of the west: Baccans tell tales of the war between the Vakhtani Roshate and the Dalmani. The rivers of Heresh are choked with corpses, it is said, as both armies unleash magic to supplement levied armies and mercenaries. Sources disagree as to who is winning: the Baccans assure listeners that it is their suzerain. The Vakhtan Rosh, mighty is he, will soon claim a dominion over the Pillars of Dawn and his enlightened rule will provide badly needed stability for the world.
--End of the framing story goes here--
Spoilermaps :
Dark Blue-Green : Taiga.
Pale Green: Cool Continental
Medium Sea Green: Continental
Aqua: Mediterranean
Brown: Steppe
Tan: Arid
Orange: Semi-arid
Medium Green: Humid Subtropical
Asparagus Green: Tropical monsoon; savannah
Dark Green: Tropical rainforest
Dark Off-Green: Cloud forest
Sky Blue: Alpine
OOC: Stats will be sometime this week. Just be glad I beat Ahigin. There are likely errors or omissions in the update that I'll track down and correct in the next few days.
Kyzarc_Fotjage wins this turn's contest, resulting in a unique quest for Trasque.
Out of necessity the next contest will be mandatory. Several times in this update I've had to tiptoe around naming people's capitals. Players should provide a description, and possibly stories, focused on their seat of political power or another major city in the game world. The more content you give me, the more I can give you.
Foundation
Brennus the Great originally built the fortifications that would become Brennodunun while consolidating power among the Aquilivians. Positioned to easily block off riverine travel, the fort exerted a strong influence up and down the river. Taxation transformed that influence into wealth for the settlement, and series of prudent leaders would reinvest that wealth into inns, expanded harbors, and warehouses. By the time of Brennus’ death, the town had grown into a vibrant trade hub.
Wars of the Eagles
These prosperous times soon ended as the empire divided and conflicts between Canoda and Vellaunus caused major trade to dry up. While the town had lost the value of it’s trade network, its military view grew to become more pertinent than ever. For the next decades, fell into a pattern of capture by one side, rebuilding walls even high than before, and then the other side ultimately retaking the fortifications with some innovative siege technique, thus renewing the cycle. As the wars wore on, a cabal of leading families grew to dominate the city, remaining steadfastly loyal to the town’s lord up to the moment the walls are breached, at which point they would promptly swear allegiance to the conquered. In exchange for their rapid allegiance, these families would grow rich off of taxation, corruption, and embezzlement.
Chartering
As the Wars of the Eagles finally ended, trade flowed once more and prospects began to improve for Brennodunun. The city holds the distinction of being the first Aquilivian city to be charted, a fact which citizens are proud to tell any outsider who doesn’t know. Meanwhile, a growing influx of Astorians settle into what will become the Astorian quarter, bringing with them the trade tongue of Lingua Astoria. This is also the time at which the Perenese royal court takes up permanent residence in the city, seeking a strategic, centralized location and a greater connection to the burghers to check the nobility’s power.
Current day
Brennodunum is still reeling from the mighty blow plague has struck against the city, yet a closer look reveals signs of life beneath the dismal pallor of pestilence. Trade is beginning to flow once more as the longshoremen get back to work. Rumors flow through high society about the latest development in the Queen Mother and the Regent’s years-long chess match. In quiet studies, foreign scholars try to scrape together whatever faint inklings of Trasque lore they find. The old believers continue with their solemn ceremonies, to Nairo and other gods, too. The aroma of the bakers’ fresh bread once more wafts the the city early in the morning, and the stench of beer likewise emanates from taverns late at night. Once again, the city survives, and rhythms of life renew their song.
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