Profound Decisions are cutting it close this time with the Winds of Fortune, but then, when do they not? These posts are not in their original order because I have sorted those that could be termed Winds of Diplomacy into a different post that will be coming out when they are done. Edit: That post is up now! It is the one directly before this one so go check it out if you haven’t already!
Houses of Silence
Several opportunities exist for working with the Sarcophan Delves, plus some updates on past opportunities.
The Alivetti Enclave – The Sarcophan Delves operates an enclave in Sarvos on the old Alivetti Estates. There have been some problems with the local militia because the land there has been ceded to the Delves and so it follows their laws. This means that the permissive nature of their laws in regard to both drugs and Eternals may cause problems when people try to come back into the Empire with something they shouldn’t have.
Bladgoud Tuiniers handelsschool – The school run by the the Bladgoud Tuiniers is not making a lot of money, they have asked the Sarvosan Chamber of Commerce to endorse their school to make it more popular. If they did this they would be able to diversify their businesses to sell narcotics created in the Sarcophan Delves. However, if they did so the School of the Liberated would cease to bring in as much money and the dividends paid to business owners would decrease. The Chamber of Commerce will meet at 15:00 on Saturday in the League.
Community of Silence – A congregation is attempting to build a major temple to the Sarcophan religion on the Alivetti estates. They are looking to buy 40 wains of white granite, at 4 thrones a wain, and can be contacted by winged messenger. Depending on how quickly they can arrange to buy the materials they will probably have it built in the next year. They are looking for artists who would decorate the buildings. Once it was completed they would be available to send experts on the strange creatures of the Labyrinth to Anvil to speak about them. There is the potential to stop or slow down the building work through Assembly mandates and Ambassadorial messages, however this would likely have a negative impact on the relationship between the Delves and the Empire.
Thresher’s Summer
Curse Tennis is dead! Long live the Emby Ratio!
Over the past season many Urizeni magicians went to the Farms of the Marches to offer their help and spread understanding. It worked! There is noticeably less dislike and mistrust between the two nations! Every farm in the Marches will make more money this season.
Landskeeper’s Study – There is an opportunity to build a ministry which will allow Marchers to buy more mana from Urizen. It would require 12 white granite, 36 crowns in labour.
A lot of friars and monks from the Marches went to Urizen. Things were a bit tense whilst the conversation dwelled on reincarnation, but it turns out that the Urizeni love the idea of Shriving! And they see the friars and monks of the Marches as the physical embodiment of their idea of the Net of the Heavens. All Urizeni congregations will receive more Liao and Synod votes at Anvil this season.
Temple of the Four Winds – There is an opportunity to repurpose the Temple of the Four Winds into a place where Marchers can visit to talk about religion with the Urizeni. It would require a Senate motion to change the use, cost 30 crowns for the building work, but once built it would bring in 12 doses of liao and 4 crowns for the title holder.
If the Landskeeper’s Study is built and the Monastery of the Four Winds is re-established then each will gain an additional benefit for as long as both endure. The Study will provide one additional mana at each purchase level (7, 14, 21 and 28 respectively) and the Arbiter will see their income from the orchards and surrounding gardens double from 4 crowns to 1 throne.
Participation
Any Marcher or Urizeni character may say that they have taken part in this exchange, or that they met people who have.
Healing Waters
Lord Rain has been asked to help the Empire establish a college dedicated to the study and practice of Spring magic. This magical college would cease to function if Ossegrahn were ever placed under enmity, of if the Empire lost his favour. This opportunity is only available at this event, E4 2024.
The Sanguinarius would need 45 wains each of white granite and mithril, 90 wains of weirwood, 540 crowns and would take a year to build. The College would have an upkeep of 20 thrones a season
The Master of the Sanguinarius would be able to codify new rituals at a rate of 10 ranks of magnitude a season, or 20 a season for Spring rituals. The college could not codify any ritual that Ossegrahn did not approve of.
Ambergelt could be used to speed up the number of ranks codified each season for spring rituals. The first five ranks of additional research in a season would cost 21 measures of ambergelt. The next five ranks will cost a further 32 measures (for a total of 53 measures). The next five ranks will cost another 43 measures, and so on.
The Sanguinarius would produce a constant magical effect akin to Rivers of Life in the territory it is in, it would also cancel out any casting of that ritual on the region, or that of Rivers Run Red. It would also not provoke the Vallorn like the rituals do.
A Stone for a Stone
Last season the Senate asked the Civil Service to do an appraisal on how to make peace with the Jotun. This is that appraisal.
The text also includes a lot of background information on the Jotun, their beliefs, and the history of diplomacy between the Empire and the Jotun. I highly recommend reading it, but I am not going to summarise it all here. I’m just going straight to the meat of the question.
There are many steps that would need to be taken to make the Jotun want to declare peace. They may not be relevant in the future if things change dramatically. In addition, if the Jotun do create peace with the Empire, they will use that time to either attack Faraden or strengthen themselves against a future war against the Empire. Or both. They believe that they can only become ancestors by dying in battle so they want to have as much war as possible.
- The first is to kill Jarl Haakon, he ruled over the Mournwold when the terrible curses were laid upon it by the Empire. He is a representative of the Jotun who feel that they were dishonoured by their inability to keep their thralls safe. So he needs to be killed to close that chapter and move on.
- The Empire must also do all that it can to avoid another disaster like the Mournwold Curses that made the Jotun feel dishonoured. This enflamed the Jotun’s hate against the Empire and made them wish to fight to regain their honour. Their concept of honour is a bit complicated and hard to understand, so the best way to keep to it is by making sure that there is always a Wintermark army fighting Honourably with the Jotun.
- The Jotun want to fight a strong Empire, if the Empire is otherwise occupied (with a war against the Vallorn or the Thule, for example) then they will accept the idea of a time of peace for the Empire to concentrate its forces on the other war front. This isn’t a perfect fix, however, we can’t just throw everything into a different war and put the Jotun to the side.
- If the Empire imposes a major defeat against the Jotun, they will accept peace while regaining their strength. If the Empire did this in a way that they saw as honourable, they would be more accepting of peace. Otherwise, see point 2.
- The Empire could also make an agreement on the rules of war with the Jotun, this could include a deadline for the war to be over. Again, if they break this agreement, the Jotun will be very angry and will see the Empire as dishonourable, and depending on how bad it might be, they could refuse to deal with the Empire for a generation.
- The Jotun beleive strongly in hospitality. If the Empire made a place where they could meet safely and discuss peace then this would be seen favourably, the bigger and more impressive the place the better. The Civil Service recommend a feasting hall.
- The Jotun believe strongly in the importance of sagas and myths, in particular, they appreciate when things in the present line up with a storyline from one of their “gests”. The Empire shouldn’t use this as an excuse to try and manipulate things into mimicking a Jotun myth, but if it were to align serendipitously, then this would likely be very helpful.
- The Jotun really hate the Navaar, and they are starting to also dislike the Varushkans. The Empire should either try to change its view of these nations or try to keep them as far apart as possible.
Lasambria
The current situation with the Lasambrian Jotun is a little different and there are other options that could be taken for this specific area.
There is the opportunity to negotiate with the Lasambrians as a separate community, but if it is not taken then they may merge into the larger Jotun community and the opportunities may disappear. The Lasambrians offer two options for peace with them, they are called the Little and Big Sibling.
In the Little Sibling Deal, the Empire would need to cede them the regions of Gambit and Serra Damata, after which the Jotun would swear not to invade any Freeborn territory for the next two years.
In the Big Sibling Deal, if the Empire “honours the historical claims of the Lasambrians,” then the Jotun say that they would recognise an independent Lasambrian state that would sit between the Jotun and the Empire.
A diplomatic group from the Lasambrians will be coming to Anvil at 13:00 on the Saturday, they have requested that it take place in the Freeborn camp to allow them to hear and be heard on the issue.
True Faith
The Lepidean Librarian instructed the library to publish their research on Vardas, the paragon of Vigilance. According to the evidence published by the Library, the Imperial Synod were taken in by what may very well have been a deliberate confidence trick by a League fraudster.
The reality, that the Synod were taken in by these lies, has shattered people’s confidence in their authority. If this is a lie, what else might also be untrue? There is growing unrest; there are rumours that some people always knew that Vardas was a myth and kept the truth from people for fear it would be too destabilising. Across the Empire there is a growing crisis in faith, that will only grow worse if the Synod cannot deal with it quickly and decisively.
The Synod could use a mandate to tell the faithful that it doesn’t matter if paragons and exemplars are real or not. If this mandate gets a greater majority it will prevent a crisis of faith but it will change the way that Imperials relate to the Paragons and Exemplars of the Way. For one thing, they won’t inspire large amounts of the Empire any time a new one is found or a place is dedicated to them. There is also the very likely additional problem that if this was not passed with a greater majority, it would not be followed in Urizen or Varushka which would cause all sorts of extra problems.
Alternatively, the Synod could use a judgement of recognition with a greater majority to recognise that Vardas is not a paragon. Doing so will provoke a demand for the Imperial Synod to address fundamental questions about paragons and exemplars and how people become such. It will also upset a lot of people for whom Vardas was an important inspiration.
The synod could make the alternative choice of denouncing the Lipidean Librarian, stating that Vardas was real and that mysterious enemies of the Way tried to spread lies and undermine the conviction of the faithful. This would stop there from being a crisis of faith but it would ruin the reputation of the Lepidean Librarian. The university and the Library would fail, and everyone involved would be seen as either a heretic or a fool. The Library would collapse, there would be no dose of true Liao each season, and the title of Lepidean Librarian would lose the power to commission any historical research on the lives of paragons or exemplars or into the details of past life visions. Also, if further evidence of Vardas being false came out down the line, it would magnify the crisis of faith. The Vigilance Assembly has announced that it is conducting an investigation into this matter and the Courage Assembly have called Hazelelponi to inquisition to speak on the virtue of her action.
The longer the Synod waits to act, the worse the crisis will become, at the moment it is limited to the fact that no inspirational memorial created during this time will have any effect on the population at large. But if something is not done it will only get worse. In addition, the developing crisis has delayed the consecration of Capodomus Cathedral and no new mandates or statements will encourage people to support the Grand Inspiration of the Way (aka Super!Bastion).
The First Shot
At the Summer Solstice, the Navarr took the pivotal decision to begin the final battle against the vallorn.
Across the Empire two-thirds of stridings have decided that now is the time to leave the trods and ready themselves for the fight. Most of those who are returning head for either Miaren, Hercynia, or Therunin. As a result of this vast influx of eager recruits, the maximum number of armies the nation can support has doubled to six. The Navarr can now raise up to three additional armies, one in each of these three territories. This will only be for as long as the people of Navaar believe the fight is imminent, for every year that it takes to raise any armies at all the potential cap will decrease by one.
Of course, raising those armies is not so simple. Each army will represent a massive drain on the treasury, and just raising them at all will cost 600 wains of mithril and 225 thrones.
The Vallorn will become everyone’s problem, once it is triggered it will come boiling out of each of the hearts with enough force to shatter armies and cities. And not all of them are in Imperial lands, there is one in Axos, one in the lands of the Thule and one in Druj lands. The one in Axos, in particular, is known to be very strong which is unfortunate given that the Axos armies are not.
So building more armies seems like a good idea.
Hercynia – Building this army would need 200 mithril and 75 thrones. However thanks to the strong artisan communities in the region a single wain of mithril could be traded for 40 standard crafting supplies. If certain mandates were passed by the Wintermark and Imperial Orc assemblies then this would reduce the materials needed to trade to 36 for one nation’s mandate, to 33 for both. Both these nations would lose out on crafting opportunities in the meantime. Building this army would take 2 years.
Therunin – Building this army would need 200 mithril and 75 thrones. However thanks to the presence of the Great Forest Orcs the army could be raised with weirwood instead of mithril, on a 1:1 ratio. This would also take 2 years to raise.
Miaren – Building this army would need 200 mithril and 75 thrones, but there are five eternals that could be asked to give it a special quality depending on their sphere of influence. This army would also be rasied over 2 years.
Once the Empire was ready to fight, they would need to cast rituals in spring regios to connect the two vallorn hearts not connected to the trods. The Druj know what the trods are so they would be very quick to destroy them if they were placed in their territories. So a force would have to be there to stop them doing that. In Axos, it would also be very tricky as there are no maps to say where to go, and as before mentioned, the armies of that nation are not strong enough to hold back the Vallorn. If the Vallorn were triggered without giving them warning they would be wiped out. They are unlikely to be OK with it being done if you do give them warning, however. Bit of a diplomatic and ethical conundrum there.
The Synod Speaks
The League and Varushka raised mandates showing their support for the Navaar taking their fight to the Vallorn. These passed with Greater Majorities which means those nations have opportunities to show their support in other ways too.
The League
There are three competing mandates that the League could raise in order to steer how they will help the Navaar. If one of these is passed they will not be able to support anything else for the next year. The mandates are to find new ways to fight the Vallorn, to raise money to help the Navaar fight the Vallorn, or to show their loyalty to the Navaar (this one is a bit vague about what will be done, to be honest).
Varushka
Likewise, there are three options for the Varushkan National Assembly to pick from, or not pick at all if they wish. If one is taken, then no other statements of principle will be able to be raised to steer the focus of the Varushkan people to a single cause. One option is to focus on the wealth and resources of Varushka in helping the Navaar, the second is to use their knowledge of dark powers, and the third calls on the nation’s Ambition to aid the Navaar.
Other National Assemblies
The Assembly of Nine has called on every nation of the Empire to take up the fight. Any nation could use a statement of principle to show their support for the Navarr and the coming war, but only at this event, after this the moment will have passed. Any statement that passes with a greater majority will lead to one or more mandates for further action, like the above for the League and Varushka.
Here to Stay
This is another Civil Service Appraisal, this time on the topic of how to make the orcish septs in Mareave cooperate with the Empire. Again these ideas cannot be taken individually, but rather each will make the people in Mareave feel a bit more in favour of the Empire. Because of the Inspiration of Thrace, the Imperial Orcs are more willing to volunteer for doing work on building projects, this has reduced the costs in several cases.
- Recognise the septs as foreigners. There will be a motion put before the Senate on Friday night to recognise the septs as Foreigners. After this, any who take up arms against the Empire will be breaking the law, and thus, the law can deal with them. This is an important first step for pretty much everything else.
- Clisearn – The region of Clisearn is full of people who had prestige when the Grendel were in charge and are now angry to have lost it. Building a great work will show them the benefits of working with the Empire as the Grendel very rarely ever built things for the community. The Clisearn Grand Market would take 3 months and require 50 wains of mithril, 30 Crowns. The labour cost has been reduced due to the Imperial Orcs agreeing to volunteer for the improvement of Clisearn, but the 30 crowns left is due to the uncooperative quality of the region.
- Eoradal – The people here are not unfriendly to the Empire, but do not believe that the Grendel will be kept out for long. Building a fortified town here would show that the Empire intends on sticking around and has the power to back it up. There is also the option of asking for help from a Summer Eternal through the plenipotentiary of the Summer Archmage, which would make the foundations stronger and prevent it from being destroyed as easily. Building a fortification here would cost 80 wains of white granite, 100 Crowns, one year, the labour cost has been adjusted due to the volunteering of the Imperial Orcs, but then pushed up again because of costs of building here. The town would encourage settlement and make the area produce more tax.
- Fleisardh – The Brine Turtles are the most powerful sept here and one way to make them hate the Empire less would be to make it illegal to harm turtles, this wouldn’t solve things overnight but it would make them more willing to listen in the future. The Imperial Orcs could also use a mandate to ask the Illarawm to speak to the Brine Turtles and find out more about their issues.
- And of course there is the option to put everyone who disagrees with the Empire to the sword or chase them out of Mareave. But that is a bit drastic.
We All Stand
Several groups have gone to Mareave to find ways to build its Prosperity. Again, the inspiration of Thrace is reducing labour costs as the Imperial Orcs are willing to volunteer more. Prices will go up after this event when the inspiration is not as powerful.
Golden Pyramid Conclave Order
The order gains 10 random ingots, 7 crystal mana, and 7 doses of cerulean mazzarine each season for every season they work in Mareave.
The Black Sand Circle is keen to acquire a ritual text of the ritual the Empire calls Gift of the Wily Broker. There are two ritual they are prepared to share, Sigil of the White Sands, an enchantment that allows a fleet to secure lucrative deals when they trade with foreign ports, and the Eye of Ruby and Sapphire enchants a mine so that the workers can more easily locate valuable deposits of precious gems, causing it to produce a great deal of money and a small amount of additional tempest jade over the season. The declaration that permits the Gift of the Wily Broker being shared should also outline which of the rituals they want in exchange. They’re also open to Winged Messengers from members of the Golden Pyramid order interested in further exchange of knowledge or magical resources – in particular they are very interested in discovering how one might go about getting access to the Doyen of the Spires or one of the other Imperial magical colleges and what it might cost to purchase the codification of an arcane projection.
There is the option to create a Sinecure to focus on raising Cerulean Mazzarine and to buy even more from the locals. However, this cannot be done until they are declared foreigners. It would cost 24 weirwood, 288 rings, and take three months to build. This would create the title of Lazuline Bonetender.
The Tamazi
Members of the Tamazi sect have visited Mareave to seek opportunities to build, charged with protecting, they are looking at castles and other fortifications.
Rucraic’s Redoubt – The castle was taken by the Empire without doing too much damage, so it could easily be made bigger and better. It could also be turned into an embassy for dealing with the Skourans who are just over the border. This would be very useful in getting the plans to rebuild the aqueduct off the ground. It would require 50 white granite, 30 weirwood, 48 crowns in labour, and take six months to construct.
Fleisdardh – There is the opportunity to build a massive fortification (rank 2) in the mountains near the lands of the Brine Turtles. It would take 150 white granite, 30 weirwood, 108 crowns in labour, and a year to construct. Additional magical wards could be placed that would increase enemy casualties by half, and would cost 150 white granite, 30 weirwood, 108 crowns in labour, and take a year to construct. This would remove the Under Threat quality from the region.
Marchers and Freeborn
The National Assemblies of both nations encouraged their people to go to Mareave and help make the farms more Prosperous. There are now options to raise mandates in both National Assemblies to more forcefully instruct their people, but if they are passed then the congregations in Mitwold and Upwold will and the entire Brass Coast will take a 1 rank decrease in production to represent the people who have left.
Trade Routes
The League could build a safe route through Spiral connecting Mareave to the rest of the Empire.
Extending the Apulian way through the city and connecting it to the Court of the White Fountain would solve Mareave’s under-developed problem, it would also provide benefits to both League and Urizen businesses in Spiral. Raises the level of investment in Spiral by one providing 36 rings for each business, and removes the under-developed quality from Icarion. It would require 50 wains of white granite, 20 wains of mithril, 210 Crowns, and take six months to build. If the Master of Rings commissions the road, 6 wains of white granite will be provided by League citizens and if the Urizen Assembly support the road, 4 wains of mithril will be provided by Urizen spires.
Participation
Any character (but especially members of the Golden Pyramid or the Tamazi) are welcome to roleplay that they have been to Mareave and made serendipitous meetings thanks to the Autumn enchantment placed on the region.
A Challenging Time
Due to the rapid expansion of the game Profound Decisions have paused the use of the ritual Challenge the Iron Duke, in character it is because the stars are doing something to block it.
As a temporary alternative to his ritual, Barien asks the Archamge of Summer to help him reward those who are already competing with each other in Anvil. To do this a member of the Conclave can use a declaration of alignment to accept the boon by providing the Master of Challenges with the details of the competition. The Iron Duke would like to know a few details about the nature of the contest, who will be able to enter, and where it will take place. If the declaration passes the Conclave, then the Iron Duke will craft a single magical item to serve as a prize for the contest.
Additionally he offers a new contest to those of Wintermark and Dawn who have already succeeded at his challenge. The challenge will be between the two nations and will be revealed by Barien at a ceremony. If someone is unable to attend the meeting then they can find out the details from someone else who attended. Those who wish to attend should come to the Grove of the Thousand, Axmure, Semmerholm at 13:15 on the Saturday.
The Pinnacle Tourney
Barien offers the sword Pinnacle as a reward for those who take part in a grand tourney. In order to have a single chance to attend the tourney any titleless citizen may pick up a favour before the start of the Summit (before time in on Friday) and they will be able to challenge each other for their favours until the time the tourney starts at 18:30 on the Saturday. There are 24 slots at the tourney and they will be filled either by people who have been invited, or who have the most favours collected. There is a long list of rules for players to follow in both the actual tourney and in the collecting of the favours; check the wind for more details.
Where the River Rises
The region once known as the Great Grasses has been under the effects of the Blight for some time. It turned the fertile plains into a desert and worse was spread by creatures that would pull all the moisture out of a person. However last season the creatures were killed, the winter regio powering the Blight was disrupted, and, just to make sure, the river was made to flood its banks and wash away the entire mess.
The egregores believe that more than two hundred people of all ages perished in the floods, and easily twice that number have sustained significant injuries, with many more losing their homes or livelihoods. In the wake of the waters’ surge, sickness begins to spread. Heralds of Ossegrahn move amongst the survivors giving help where they can, and apparently spreading gossip about how there may have been other options that weren’t as deadly.
Silver Chalice
The Silver Chalice Conclave Order may be able to help. The grandmaster of the order can raise a declaration of concord to push people to go help. This will cost the usual 20 mana.
But this will not be enough. The civil service estimate that to deal with the scale of the threat the grandmaster will also need to gather at least 50 drams of bladeroot, 50 drams of Cerulean Mazzarine, and 75 drams of marrowort. However, if the Grandmaster chooses to undertake this task on behalf of their order, there will be no further opportunities to guide the order until the Summer Solstice 387YE. There is theoretically no limit to how many herbs the Grandmaster might gather, and if they are able to double the minimum suggested here their response will be swifter and more effective, meaning they will be able to take advantage of opportunities again at the Spring Equinox 387YE.
Cerevado Nets
The floods caused damage to the nets, but also brought more illium. The holder of the title will gain 8 rings rather than 4, and will continue to gain 6 a season for the next two years. But first they will have to pay for the nets to be repaired, and that will cost 50 thrones and take 3 months.
Bridges
Most of the bridges crossing the Scorrero have been destroyed. Only one is still intact – the Sobral Bridge. The other bridges are all gone; the Cerevado Bridge was swept away, and the Rivermouth Bridge that linked Siroc Plains and Oranseri are no more. As a consequence, it is currently impossible for armies to cross the Scorrero further downstream than the Sobral Bridge. This means that armies cannot move directly between Madruga and Segura, or between Madruga and Feroz (or vice versa). It is still possible to move between Kahraman and Segura via the Sobral bridge – provided the regions on either side are in Imperial hands of course.
The Sunset Roads have also been damaged and thus the Great Work will not provide for the territories it once covered. They will need to be fixed, and in some cases rebuilt, to gain this benefit again.
Madruga
Madruga has been completely transformed by the flood, the combination of Night and Spring magic making it a very fertile but weird place. It now has 7 regions as the Great Grasses has split, and one half is now a magical marsh. The ruins of Siroc were washed into Catazar Bay, or have been flooded and sunk in the marshes. The change is so significant that the maps are no longer accurate for the region, and thus, scrying cannot be done on Madruga anymore.
The territory must be remapped; there will be a new downtime option for military units, Explore the Southern Reaches. This will be available until Spring 387YE and to make new maps the Empire needs to send 5000 strength.
There are also two Conclave Orders who could go and investigate the new magical environments, The Unfettered Mind and the Rod and Shield. Either order’s grandmaster could use a suitably worded declaration of Concord to guide their order into exploring the marshes. This opportunity is only available at this event.
Feroz
The Late Governor Rahab effectively ruined much of Feroz while it was under his control. It was also abandoned by its previous owners, the Freeborn and many who left may be less than keen to return given its current state. The territory is in as bad a state as if the Empire were conquering it for the first time, and not from a careful steward. The National Assembly could urge people to return, but it is going to take a lot of time and money for it to return to something even close to its previous state.
And folks, I am signing off there before any more Winds come out, and I make this post any longer than it is already.
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It’s only a couple of days now! Stay safe out there,
K
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