And we’re back in business with the Winds of Fortune! As of writing this we have the Archmage and Plenopotentiary focused one, plus one about rebuilding Zenith after it’s invasion from the Druj, and most recently, we have one about possibly bringing some of the Orcs from the Great Forest Orc tribe into Navaar.
Two of these share titles with Taylor Swift songs proving that Profound Decisions are secretly Swifties, which is amusing me entirely too much.
But let’s get started.
I Knew You Were Trouble
First, a reminder that this event will be the first to hold the Arcane Colloquium. This is a chance for the various Archmages to address the mages of the empire. It will start at three on Saturday in the Hall of Worlds, and each Archmage will get 15 minutes to speak or let someone they’ve nominated speak.
Night
So this is pretty obviously a trap. The Whisper Gallery has refused an official Parley but are still wanting a meeting and they’ve asked for a shopping list of their worst enemies, aka anyone who works to reveal secrets. This is what they’ve said about it, “They also request the presence of certain specific individuals: whoever is in charge of the Anvil Library of course; the Minister of Historical Research; the Imperial Advisor for the Feni; the Seer of the Gateway; the Imperial Seer; the Imperial Archivist; and of course the Lepidean Librarian. With regard to that last, they express apparent delight that the Empire has created yet another Imperial title dedicated to poking their nose into matters that do not concern them and then telling everyone about it.” So, yeah, they want all their enemies in one place for some strange reason?
They have also announced that they don’t trust Luciano Vivaci Rezia di Tassato anymore and are looking for new minions, so reach out through one of their various rituals if you would like to chat about employment options.
Who – Whisper Gallery
When – 3 on Saturday
Vibes? – Pretty obviously a trap
Autumn
Prospero has agreed to a Parley, their herald Maestro Fisetojin and has also managed to encourage some mysterious guests to come along too. This meeting is very secretive, apparently it is in direct answer to whatever the Archmage sent in the Plenopotentiary so they should know more, though whether or not they will say anything is another thing entirely.
The meeting will be just before Conclave on the Friday, so clearly Prospero wants whatever it is cleared up quickly. As well as the Archmage two Varushkans have been invited, Loom-Master Borys and Boyar Vasiliy Strascovich.
Who – Prospero’s Herald, Maestro Fisetojin
When – 8:30 on Friday
Vibes? – Mysterious and secretive
Winter
It sounds like Sorin is getting a bit bored of the Empire. Apparently the Archmage asked for help to protect the Empire’s borders, and he has said well ok, but what would the Empire be willing to give up in tribute? As an example he suggests the destruction of the Marcher Breadbasket which acts as a protection against famine and supplies armies. Are we willing to give that up to be protected by him? Several players are also brought up as examples.
There is one thing that Sorin is interested in, however, the fight for the throne. Literally. By the sounds of it Sorin wants to run a Battle Royale where all the applicants go up against never ending waves of his warriors until only one is left. All that fall will join the ranks of the Tomb Legion, his warriors. And the one that wins will have Sorin’s favour. To agree to this Conclave just has to pass a Declaration of Concord about this Gauntlet of Fangs.
Sorin is willing to have a Parley, presumably where the details of the gauntlet could be discussed but also all the other items of interest. The timing is 10:30 on Friday night, one of his heralds will be there, and in a note at the end of the passage his herald says that basically anyone with Draughir lineage will be prioritised.
Who – A herald of Sorin
When – 10:30 Friday night
Vibes? – Sorin is pretty friendly but getting a bit bored of us
Day
Kimus has agreed to a Parley with the Archmage of Day, however they do not think that they have the answers the Archmage wants. But what they do not know and what they cannot find out might be illuminating to the Archmage. The Parley will take place during the Arcane Colloquium, directly after the Archmage’s slot, in a chamber between the realms. Three of Kimus’ most trusted Viziers will attend, and bring gifts “a key to a door that opens only outwards; a list of names that should be forbidden; and a fire to reveal what must be seen”.
Who – Three Viziers of Kimus
When – 3:30 on Saturday
Vibes? – Kind of apologetic? But friendly over all
Summer
Eleonaris is up for a Parley, to facilitate this she is sending several of her heralds to the Hall of Worlds with a magic item. The Seat of Judgement will apparently test those who try to sit in it and the Archmage is invited to have a go if they think they’re hard enough.
Also one of the heralds will be there who can receive the gift of vengeance for the Hawk Lord. (This is in relation to an ongoing plotline where the Hawk Lord has a grudge against a character, who is dead, but who he think is alive and wants to have killed, it’s complicated)
Of course, if the Seat of Judgment comes back damaged then Eleonaris will be beyond pissed off so try to avoid that if possible.
Who – Heralds of Eleonaris
When – 5 on Saturday
Vibes? – Friendly, but with an air of challenge
Spring
Llofir doesn’t want a parley, and they are kind of pissed off. They say that their previous offers to help with the Vallorn were made in good faith and the Empire’s decision to destroy their garden were unprovoked attacks on the children of the Rotlord.
So they aren’t happy. But they have an offer, if the Spring Archmage is serious about wanting to be friends then they should give Llofir the official designation Amity, this would allow them to send out a horrible rotting across the entire Empire. Every farm would be have their production halved and starvation would run rampant, plus armies would lack proper supplies so that would have serious ramifications too. This would last for a year. But after that Llofir promises to be friendly again, and allow parleys and plenopotentiaries.
The true extent of the problem would be impossible to quantify until the rotting started, at which point an appraisal could be used but not beforehand. The Marcher Breadbasket might be able to mitigate it in Mitwold and Upwold, but the rest of the Empire would be in serious trouble.
So yeah, lots of stuff from the various eternals. Strangely the Marcher Breadbasket has come up twice, is PD thinking it’s too powerful or something? But anyway, that’s the magical news, now on to the rest of the Winds of Fortune!
Write Your Own Ending
This WoF is focused on the ways that the Empire can help to rebuild the region of Zenith. It got pretty much obliterated by successive waves of Druj invasion, so it needs to have lots of monsters cleared out, miasma pillars destroyed, and basic resources put in place before it can be a prosperous part of the empire again.
Miasma Pillars
So there are Miasma Pillars pretty much everywhere, while they are in place they are making everyone miserable and there is no chance of Zenith being a source of tax revenue until they are gone.
The most straight forward way to get rid of them would be to pay mercenaries and various other people to go around destroying them. It would cost 75 thrones per season and one area (Proceris, Iteri, Clypion or Lustri) could be cleared per season through this route.
Another way would be to get the armies involved. A general could have their army commit to a Heroic Stand for a season in an area and clear it out over the space of a season. They would take no casualties from this, but they wouldn’t gain any benefits of resupply or rest. There are also options for multiple armies to work together, but the outline for this isn’t very clear.
Border with Tsark
So there is a country we don’t know anything about who live in the mountains next to Zenith. The Empire has had a mixed relationship with them so far, ranging from spying on them to warning them of an incoming Grendel invasion. Because of this last interaction the people of Tsark are pretty happy with the Empire at the minute, and they want to help. For a price.
Basically they have noticed that Zenith got pretty much obliterated recently, and they are willing to donate 40 wains of white granite, if the empire agrees to;
- Must build the fortress as far away from Tsark as possible
- Not allow any Imperials to ever go into the land of Tsark
- Not try and open channels of diplomacy with Tsark without Tsark’s prior instigation.
They are willing to allow warnings like the previous one, but they must be stripped of any attempts at diplomacy.
This agreement will basically be a treaty, but one where the Empire swears to not interact with Tsark in any way that is not first invited by the people of Tsark. They aren’t saying this in any way that can be construed as impolite, they are going out of their way to BE polite about this. But it’s clear they want to keep to themselves and consider this a way of making sure of that.
But what’s this about a Fortress?
The Druj are probably going to come back as soon as they can. Building a fortress could be incredibly important for keeping them out. It would need to be commissioned by the Senate, and it would cost 80 wains of white granite and 20 thrones. It would take a year to build, though this could be sped up with various rituals.
If the empire took the Tsark deal then it would “only” cost 40 wains of white granite and 20 thrones, which is a big decrease but it’s still going to be expensive.
Rebuilding Prosperity
The Cardinal of Prosperity used their power to get people to investigate ways to increase the prosperity of Zenith, they got a bunch of options.
The Golden Cascade
The Golden Cascade was a massive area of terraced farmland that fed much of Urizen, then the Druj destroyed it. If the Empire rebuilt it then Urizen would be able to mostly feed it’s own citizens and even keep the Citadel Guard supported without Spiral if something were to happen there.
It would take 6 months to rebuild, plus a Senate Commission, and it would require 60 wains of Weirwood and 15 thrones.
Three Lost Sinecures
The Druj destroyed lots of resources while they were in power – and even more when they knew they were being pushed out. These three are the ones that the civil service think can be rebuilt.
- Starlight Drift of Shimmering Snow, a cliff face farm of both crystal mana and bladeroot. It may be haunted. It would take one commission from the senate, it would take three months, and it would require 6 mithril and 7 thrones to fix up.
- Storm Vault, while hacking into this sinecure for the mana it produced the Druj opened up Tempest Jade veins. If it was fixed up a potential owner could pay for Tempest Jade to be mined alongside the Mana it produces naturally. It would need another commission, three months of work, 8 mithril and 10 thrones.
- The Tower of the Fall, This one’s a bit tricky because the Druj did WEIRD stuff here beyond just ruining it. Apparently they turned it into a Winter Regio and summoned a horrible beast of Agramant from it. The beast is still out there somewhere. Now this sinecure could potentially give the most bang for it’s buck, with a commission, 3 months of work, 6 wains of mithril and 10 thrones it could start producing ten crystal mana and 6 hearts blood every season. But it’s a winter regio with an Agramant beastie roaming around, so that might be a bit of a risky proposition for some people.
A mysterious ritual was cast on Zenith, it encourages Prosperity to those who are there. Since there aren’t many people in Zenith at the moment it’s working extra hard for those who are, so if you want to move your resource to Zenith it won’t cost the usual crown and the new one will be of the same level as the one left behind. So email in to PD if you want to make the change.
The Imperial Senate asked the Civil Service to Appraise Zenith, it is now officially Bereft of Hope. To fight back against this there are some opportunities that people can take advantage of. Choosing one of them will result to an official change to the focus of the area of Zenith, if more than one is picked then a mandate through the Synod will be available for Zenith based characters to pick.
- The Eye of the Heavens, Build a series of telescopes in the shape of the Lock and Key, it would cost 30 mithril, 20 white granite, 10 weirwood and 15 thrones and take 6 months. The stargazers and astronomancers of Zenith would be the most obvious people to benefit from this choice, but the Brass Coast would also gain 100 mana crystals in payment for the delicate glass work needed. Astronomancy would be increased in importance in the area, beyond even what it was before the Druj, and the mandate would be shaped to encourage people to study it.
- Crucible of Fate, Build a giant foundry for the benefit of Artisans and Architects in particular, it would also produce the ushabti that the Urizeni count on for much of the practical work in their lands. Since loads of them were destroyed during the Druj occupation this will be of incredible practical use for the Urizeni. It would require a commission from the senate, six months of work, 20 mithril, 30 white granite, 10 illium, and 15 thrones. An additional benefit, 140 random ingots would be shared amongst the businesses of the League.
- Radix of Truth, Build a giant temple for the benefit of Questors and Illuminates. It would cost 30 white granite, 20 weirwood, 200 orichalcum and 15 thrones, and take six months. In order to properly decorate the temple the Urizeni are willing to pay Highguard artists in herbs, 200 of them split between the various congregations of Highguard. The mandate created by this choice would push Urizeni to seeing Zenith and this temple as a place for finding the truth.
Tortured Solace Conjunction
The people of the Ring of Solace have returned to their home in Zenith only to find it full of tortured souls, luckily they are very chilled out tortured souls. The returning Urizeni want the adventurers of Anvil to come and help them investigate the tortured souls and see how they can be helped to the labyrinth.
This is a low/no combat conjunction specifically for Highborn and Urizeni players.
It will take place at 11pm on Friday.
A maximum of 50 players.
And that’s that for the Zenith Wof, now onto the next one!
You Belong With Me
Several years ago now the Great Forest Orcs came to live with the Navaari after fleeing the Barrens and the Druj who ruled there. Now they want to make some villages in Miaren and Hercynia. To allow this Navaar must pass a mandate, “The Virtuous build up their fellows. We send {named priest} with 50 doses of liao to encourage Navarr across the Empire to welcome the Great Forest Orcs and encourage them to settle in Miaren and Hercynia. All that is worthwhile is shared with those who deserve it.”
Both new villages will be willing to sell Weirwood and thus will be a new source of it for the Empire.
However, if they are allowed to do this then it may lead them closer to asking to be officially inducted into the Navaar nation. Something that is a very complicated idea, since up until now only one species has been able to be a part of a nation. it is possible, but hasn’t been done yet.
If, however, the Navaar refuse to allow the Great Forest Orcs to settle elsewhere in their nation then they could release a different mandate, “Be alert to all dangers; within and without. We send {named priest} with 25 doses of liao to urge the Navarr to be civil to the Great Forest Orcs but encourage them to move on when the time comes. Let us not give them false hope of a future we cannot share with them.” There are a lot of reasons for this, from what if they betray us? To what if we betray the rest of the tribe that hasn’t come to settle here and the ones that have get pissed off? Plus there are all the usual issues with religion and how well the groups would integrate with the main Navaar community. The game isn’t really designed to have this happen so getting to the point where it might is bending the rules.
But the most important thing to remember is that no players will be able to play as characters who are Navaar Great Forest Orcs, if you want to play as an orc you have to play as an Imperial Orc.
And that is all I am doing tonight. While I have been writing this post more Winds of Fortune have come out, but they will just have to be tomorrow’s problem! This is nearly 3000 words, it is enough!
Stay safe,
K