Well folks we are off to the races! The Winds of Fortune have started coming and they won’t stop coming until probably the night before we go camping, so get your head in the game, we are on our way!
An exciting update to how these things work, too. The Winds of Magic and the Visitor winds that usually come out right at the end (too late for us to often to anything about them) are now going to be posted earlier and then updated as the week goes by. There will be a date for the most recent change at the top of the page so everyone will know when the most recent changes have come ou. This is a fantastic change and one that I personally love. I will still leave the notes on those pages until the end, or at least until they say they aren’t going to get updated again, but I would really recommend you go and check them out and keep an eye on the changes there.
Here are the links to those updating winds!
But let’s get started on the more static Winds of Fortune. Plenipotentiary time!
Speak to Me
Every season the Archmages are allowed to send a message to oen of the eternals of their realm. The eternal must reply (but not necessarily nicely) and may offer a Parley to the Archmage to allow them to speak with them or their heralds.
Winter – Skathe – Skathe has offered the Winter Archmage a parley in a realm chamber at the Hall of Worlds. The Winter Archmage is invited to bring the Grandmaster of the Celestial Arch and the Custodian of the Bleak Tower are invited to attend the parley at 21:55 on Saturday. The vistors will be expected to bring stories of woe and pain for Skathe’s enjoyment. In particular she is “excited to hear of the well of bitterness towards the Druj that the Archmage claims swells within the heart of the heirs of Alderei the Fair and the scions of Terunael.” And if suitable she will gift the Empire with items that will help them in the Sarangrave. The Winter Archmage has asked on Facebook for people to drop off their stories to him, so if you have any ideas of what you would like to say, send them over.
Autumn – Ephisis – Traders and merchants from the City of Gold and Lead have been looking for interesting deals and things of that nature. They have provided most of their findings in the Thule Diplomacy Wind, aka the one called Louder Than Words.
Summer – Cathan Canae – Volstann the Eater of Boars will be at the Hall of Worlds at 20:00 on Friday, to take the Archmage of Summer to a Parley in his own hall. This will be to discuss the issues around the Empire ceding land back and forth to enemies, which Cathan Canae does not approve of. The Archmage can bring up to four additional people – Cathan Canae has suggested one on these be the Legion Engineer
Night – Sadogua – Sadogua has offered a Parley and will be sending several of his heralds to speak in the Hall of Worlds whilst this is happening. The Archmage of Night should bring Palaphon Ankarien and up to 6 members of the Unfettered Mind to speak with him about the wards defending the Lyceum, though Varushkan members should probably think twice about attending. His heralds will be available for chats with the Arcane Architect, Marcher Magicians who know about the Well of Shadows, the Wintermark Magicians who know about the enchantment encouraging people to try out new types of food and drink, and Navaar Magicians who wish to ask about protections for Therunin should also attend. Also, apparently someone created some art that he found interesting last event, they should probably go to the meeting too and speak to a herald about it. Both the informal parley and the more formal event in the seperate chamber will start at 21:30.
Day – Ylenwe – Ylenwe does not offer a parley, but xey will be glad to help on the matter of the White Wood of Skarsind. A tree from the wood will be brought to Anvil and groups of musicians will need to cast magic and play music over the tree. Once this is completed the tree will be returned and the music and magic will flow from it to the other trees, hopefully to return them to life. People with mana sites and ranks in Day will receive an ingredient for this ritual and anyone who wants to be involved should read the lengthy instructions in the wind. The final parts of the ritual will happen at about 23:00 on Saturday.
Spring – Ossegrahn has agreed to parley with the Archmage of Spring during the Spring Equinox. The meeting will take place in a chamber at 15.00 on Saturday and the Archmage can bring up to five additional people, and this should include a representative from the Imperial Orcs and Spiral. In addition he is open to protecting the hospital at Peakedge Sound, but in return he wishes that the rituals Rivers Run Red and Mountain Remembers Its Youth be removed from Imperial Ritual Lore. If this is not done then the protections currently in place will fail the day after the Spring Equinox.
Germinating a City
This is the Wind of Diplomacy for the Commonwealth.
They are classed as a Foreigner, so it is legal to do business with them and illegal to kill them.
Their new embassy is well under way, with all of the money and half the required wains provided for. The Commonwealth are very pleased with this expression of the Empire’s interest. There is one fly in the ointment, however, the site of their new embassy will require them sharing a river entrance to the Empire with their enemies the Jarmish and they are certain that this will cause problems at some point. This may be foreshadowing.
The Senate has not approved of the opportunity to allow Commonwealth Academics to do an appraisal every season for the Empire due to security concerns. The Senate could choose to do it this season, but if not the visitors will leave and go back to the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth have, however, done an appraisal to thank Gisli Baerson. They chose to ask them to assess how to build a new city for the Freeborn in Madruga. Here is what they have to say.
The city of Siroc cannot be rebuilt by the Empire or the Commonwealth. The Sarcophan Delves might have better luck, so the Ambassador to the Delves might be someone to ask about this.
As long as the territory is split between different warring nations it will be very difficult to build anything, there needs to be some kind of peace before things can get done.
They point out that there is a current opportunity to expand the port at Oran into a fully operational Wharf with could be an option. Read more about this in the “Send For Me” Wind from last season.Calvos also has the opportunity to expand and could become a major city. It would cost 80 white granite, 40 weirwood and 45 Thrones and take one year to build. Amongst the lengthy list of benefits this would bring, the taxes for the teritory would grow by 12 thrones, more than eclipsing the 5 thrones upkeep cost. Both businesses and fleets in Madruga would gain a rank and all Freborn characters would gain 7 rings per season. It would also act as a level one citadel, and would be large enough to shelter or build up to two navies at a time. It would also create a new title that would allow trade with the Commonwealth.
If the Empire agreed to build the docks and Calvos and make them open to only Imperial and Commonwealth ships for five years, then there would also be the opportunity to build a ministry in the new docks. This new ministry would swap Imperial Mana for Commonwealth Illium.
Quzar might be an option for building a new city, but an appraisal would have to be run after the Children of Wrecks were dealt with as they are currently too close.
There is also the option of asking the eternals of the Autumn Realm for help as they would, no doubt, be very interested in the building of a new mercantile city.
Finally, the judgement in the League Assembly welcoming guests from the Commonwealth has been gratefully received but has not led to a significant increase in visitors.
A Bridge Too Far
Last season the Imperial Senate asked the Civil Service to appraise the Jotun’s massive bridge across the Gullet and how to destroy it.
Option 1
Several years ago the Empire sent a massive force against the Jotun bridge and destroyed an earleir version of it, now it is massively fortified and an attempt on the same scale would not work. So, the appraisal suggests make a bigger attempt!
If the Empire could take control of one of the regions that the bridge goes out from, it would only take a season to destroy the bridge. But that would require having control for a season of either of Alsterbo in Hordalant or Bjarkey in Skallahn. Both these regions are very well defended and the armies in place would need to keep at least some control over the region through the whole season to destroy the bridge.
Option 2
The Wintermark and Marcher National Assemblies could put in a statement to help the Red Wind Corsair army turn into a Navy, and this time in the Gullet rather than the Bay of Catazar. This would mean there was an Imperial Navy present and in the next season there would be a n opportunity to raid the bridge. The Red Wind would need to be accompanied by 5000 fleets (character resources) and would likely need to take another army along with them to be successful. The season after this attack, however, the the Jotun would definitely commit to a major counter attack, so things would have to be VERY carefully planned to work out well.
Read the Directions
The Great Race began in Summer 386YE and the final leg is about to begin!
Those that have sailed Deosil to Mystery will now be able to return to the Empire with a map of the strange new coastlines they have found and two Tourmaline Eyes. The eyes can be phys-repped with glass marbles and come in blue, green and red. They may now send their ships on the Widdershins to Riches voyage for the last season, or else leave the race.
Those that sailed Widdershins to Riches will have returned with a great deal of wealth and a cinquefoil brooch. The brooch will need to be phys-repped by the players. There will be an opportunity to trade this brooch and up to five Tourmaline Eyes to Rhianos by calling on Rhianos at the Imperial Regio (and then presumably handing it to a nearby ref). Anyone who took this path last time may take it again, and even those who have not done so before may have a go, just have your fleet enchanted with the ritual Golden Voyage to activate the down time option.
Finally, there is the option for those who sailed Straight for Glory. These individuals will have gained a magical talisman straight from the Eternal themselves, and a Tourmaline Eye. Players will have the opportunity to continue Straight for Glory or turn off to Widdershins to Riches. The last season in particular has been very dangerous and damaging to ships, though this is apparently the point, so who knows how much more dangerous the next season of sailing might be?
The Tourmaline Eyes and Cinquefoil brooches can be returned in certain combinations for the most money. This is very complicated, so luckily the team at Profound Decisions have created an image to explain it all. But basically, try to get as many Tourmaline Eyes as you can, make sure there is one red one, and EITHER blue or green ones. Any spares may be sent to Ephisis for one crown per item.
Put the image here!!!!!
Outside the Wall
Another appraisal! This time it is how to build the major town Delev into a city, possibly with the refugees from the Cold Sun and other disasters, but also through other means.
Fortification
The fortifictations of Delev (known as the Little Boyar’s Welcome) could be changed to a Citadel type, this would increase the security the area directly around the city, but would mean it protected the whole of Karov less. It would cost 20 mithril and 60 crowns and take one season to build. The taxes for the region would increase by 6 thrones per season, which would cover much of the 10 throne ongoing cost of the fotification.
Market
The markets of the town could be expanded too, it would require 50 wains of white granite, 150 crowns, and take three months to build. It would provide a host of additional benefits, especially if done with the extension to the Little Boyar’s Welcome.
- Any Varushkan would be able to move to Karov and take a business resource for the next year without the usual 2 crown costs, and until the end of 387 YE any business in Karov could be upgraded for one fewer wains of white granite than usual.
- The Great Market will provide additional trade opportunities for the Bargainer of the Iron Tower, and the Overseer of the Westward Road to trade. It will also provide options for Harbourmaster of the Semmerlak as prosperity spreads. This will add an additional rank to each of the main ministries overseen by these titles.
- If built along with addition to the Little Boyar’s Welcome the taxable income of the region would increase by 4 thrones a season, covering the ongoing cost of the fortification.
- Businesses would receive a one rank boost, equal to 36 rings of income a season.
- The Imperial Senate could use a senate motion to grant the Boyar of the Iron Roads the right to create a single sinecure (instead of a ministry) each season that would not count against the limited number of commissions the Senate can create.
Assayer’s Office
A new assayer’s office could be built in Delev, which would allow people to store their valuables in Varushka and not have to leave to go to the assayer’s in the League. It would cost 14 wains of mithril, and 42 crowns, and take three months to build. And this too would have addtional advantages if the fortification was changed to a citadel, the taxes would rise by 2 thrones a season.
A mandate could also be passed through the Varushkan Assembly to redirect the stream of precious metals from the League to Delev, reducing the Temeschwar taxes by 2 thrones a season and increase Karov’s by 2.
Sweeter Honey
There is an ongoing offer to buy the Hunt of Alderei the Fair, a Bourse Resource, from the Imperial Bourse and instead place it under the control of the nation. The offer is currently 900 thrones. There are a lot of in character murmurings about this, in particular given that there is a possibility the region (and the Hunt inside it) might be given to the Thule in the next treaty. People are not pleased about this and are offering options to avoid the loss.
ALSO our very own Myshki Marishka Letuchay gets a name drop for being one of the two senators who paid for a new army. This is actually the second name drop in this post, as Myshki is the “Little Boyar” of Little Boyar’s Welcome, so it is no surprise that Myshki and Aleksandr Zoravich Novosad have inspired the people of Varushka to Prosperity.
The Bee Question
There are no bees in the region and no one knows why. Given that bees are the symbol for prosperity in Varushka (and their honey is an important part of the local diet) this is concerning.
The options for solving this conundrum are to either get another appraisal done especially, or to speak to one of the eternals who like bees. Though not Sadogua as he is still very upset about the whole stealing his castle thing.
This needs to be solved soon, or else the region will lose out as businesses move to where the bees are.
The Hard Way
Capodomus Cathedral was consecrated with True Liao and the current Archbishop gave a speech that encouraged people to focus on fighting the Vallorn.
This has had repercussions.
There is now an opportunity for the General Assembly to tell the people of the Empire to stop thinking so much on other things (like the war with the Druj and the attempt to convert the Asaveans) for now, and solely concetrate on fighting the Vallorn.
The Archbishop could put up a competing mandate, or slightly change the wording of this one, but no one else will be able to do anything to compete with it.
Player Participation
Players can say that they have read the speech or even attended. Read the wind for more details.
Louder than Words
This is a Wind of Diplomacy for the Thule.
They are classed as foreigners so it is legal to do business with them and illegal to kill them.
The peace treaty is due to expire at the Summer Solstice 387YE, the Empire has tried to get a 6 year extension, the Thule want a 3 year one. However, whichever happens, the Empire will have to give up a lot to get the treaty. The two regions that the Dragons have named are Opascari in Volodmartz or Mieriada in Miekarova. Both of these regions contain a bourse resource, the Night Quarry is in Mieriada and the Hunt of Alderei the Fair is in Opascari. The Thule are open to making a deal which would allow the Empire to get half the proceeds from the resource.
Rak Who-Speaks-For-The-Dragons-Undivided has arranged a meeting with the Ambassador to Otkodov for 20.00 on Saturday evening in a chamber provided by Lashonar.
Trade
Discussions with the Autumn Realm have also opened up several other trade opportunities.
The Empire could trade food for mana crystals. There are five nations in the Empire who make enough food to supply an additional army, they could send some of this food to the Thule, whcih would sacrifice the nation’s ability to supply that extra army, but would bring in an extra three thrones per territory per season and the Imperial font would gain 10 mana per nation. These nations are Navarr, Highguard, the Marches, Dawn, and Varushka. The Thule would then have sufficient supply for an additional three armies. The civil service has found a title in each nation which could be in charge of this trade deal, or a new one could be made through the Senate. For every nation that agreed to be a part of this trade agreement, the Thule are willing to extend the treaty by a year.
There is also an offer to send Thule magicians to work at the Imperial Colleges of Magic. This would reduce the cost of each College’s upkee by 5 thrones a season, but of course would mean that the Thule have access to whatever people are doing at the Colleges. Agreement for the Lyceum or the Icy Crag would require a Declaration of Acceptance by the Conclave, while the Doyen of Spires would need to be voted on by Urizeni Magicians. A vote will take place in the Hall of Worlds at 13.30 on Saturday. In addition to the economic benefits to the Empire the Dragon promises that the Maze of Zoria will remain in Imperial hands, no matter which regions are ceded to the Thule.
Thule Merchants are heading to the Marcher camp on Friday at 21:30 looking to buy cattle bonds. They plan to offer a mana crystal for each bond, depending on market demand, they may increase that price.
The Dragons are grateful for the Empire’s assistance in ridding them of the traitor, the warlock Frekki, who had been working with the Eternal Blood-On-The-Snow.
Last season, a group of Thule attacked a caravan of food, a Thule Warlock asked for the Mediator of Wreck to find them and try to return them to the Thule lands. Sadly, none of the Thule of Volham have returned. As far as the Dragons can tell their people are dead or have fled into Imperial lands. They have asked the Ambassador to Otkodov, or Havlind or their representative to provide an accounting of what happened in the encounter.
The Thule offer 50 thrones to the Virtue Fund if the Imperial Synod promises not to preach The Way (the Imperial Religion) in Thule lands. They will not accept weaselly words in this situation, and if it is not taken up by the Synod then they will insist on it becoming a part of the treaty itself.
Finally, the Empire could refuse the Treaty entirely. Going to war with the Thule would allow the Empire to bring the Jotun to a truce based on on the fact that the Empire is overwhelmed, but that’s a bit of a long shot.
And that is it for this batch. More will be coming out tomorrow, and presumably every day until the weekend when Profound Decisions will run out of time to tell us anything else. Hopefully we will know everything we are supposed to by then,
Stay safe,
K
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