385YE Spring Equinox winds of war

Overview

Over the last three months, Imperial forces are engaged in military campaigns against barbarian forces. Sometimes those engagements have been wide ranging and dramatic, other times they have been more sedate. Continuing the approach we took last year, we're presenting a summary of the campaign on this page. Where there's more dramatic action, or where there are opportunities, we've given a wind of war its own page. We're also continuing to provide information about the battle opportunities, listed in the theatres that they concern.

As always, how much or how little of this information you choose to know in character is up to you. Part of the purpose of Winds of War and the Winds of Fortune is to make players aware of things their characters should know, based on what their roleplaying says they have been doing, and to maintain the Empire as a living, breathing place where all kinds of events take place beyond the scope of Anvil.

It should go without saying that we ask everyone to abide by the rules about online roleplaying with regard to the military campaign. It's important that the key in-character activity of the Empire world takes place at events. The game is busier and better if everything that can happen in the field, does happen in the field. Military planning and political discussions should happen at events. For this reason we generally discourage too much downtime roleplaying between events and put strict limits on what can be done online particularly using our forums and Facebook groups.

All that said we now present a summary of the key military activity in the Empire - both with links to the expanded Wind of War pages and notes about other important things that have happened that didn't need a full battle campaign write-up.

Begin Where We End

Following the Winter Solstice, the Empire is engaged in three major campaigns.

One they did not choose for themselves; the Jotun orcs have invaded Kahraman from their holdings in south-eastern Liathaven. The orcs have successfully conquered Fort Braydon, and now dominate Braydon's Jasse. They are also well on their way to conquering the Jade Range. Had the Empire not anticipated this invasion, and stationed armies in the Cinnabar Hills, it is not impossible they would have captured the entire territory. You can read about this campaign in Grind.

Kahraman is not the only place the Empire is fighting the Jotun. Imperial forces have launched an invasion of their own, to liberate Bregasland from Mathilda Fisher and her orc allies. The Strong Reeds and their allies in House Greywater have been laying the groundwork since the territory fell, and now a host of Imperial soldiers have freed the Dour Fens from the invaders. Parts of Bregasland are still in Jotun hands - Ottermire and Gravenmarch - but the territory itself is once again Imperial. You can read about this campaign in Laid low.

There is also a major campaign in the Barrens against the Druj. An immense force of eleven Imperial armies, plus thousands of independent captains clashed with an equally mighty eleven Druj armies and the terrible power of their Spring magic wards and curses. The Empire was ultimately victorious, and drove the Druj out of Bitter Strand, Saltmarsh, and the Plains of Teeth, capturing the great citadel of the Spires of Dusk in the process. Unfortunately, the cost was very high indeed. Tens of thousands of humans and orcs died in the fighting, and during the final Battle of Twilight to take the citadel, the knights and yeofolk of the Hounds of Glory made the ultimate sacrifice. You can read about this campaign in Cost.

As always, these grand campaigns represent only a part of the Empire's battles. In Zenith, the Granite Pillar work tirelessly to clear the remaining miasma pillars that anchor the atmosphere of fear and despair over the territory. They are aided by mercenaries paid by the Imperial Senate. By all accounts the struggle against fear itself is going well, with two more pillars dealt with in the lead-up to the Spring Equinox. The opportunity to deal with the pillars was laid out in the Write your own ending Wind of Fortune.

While the Empire fares well in Zenith, there are less upbeat reports regarding not one but two of the Imperial spy networks. As expected, the Jarl of Kierheim in Skallahn has dismantled the spy network there, and rooted out the Imperial scouts operating in the territory. At the same time, there are reports coming from the south-west that something has happened in Feroz involving the unique naval operations there. It's not clear what has happened, but there is talk of an attack on the town of Shantarim, and on several other islands. It's also not clear exactly who is responsible; while it seems likely the Grendel are involved there are no definitive reports one way or another. In both cases, further information will be presented to Imperial citizens who supported those spy networks after the Winter Solstice, so those wishing to know more should seek them out.

Like the wind (Conjunction)

The warband of Jarl Iduna, as part of continuing to subdue Liathaven, has managed to track down a number of Navarri who were still in the territory; either supporting the spy network, visiting their holding. Jarl Iduna's warband seems intent on slaughtering the Navarr who have been discovered. If Iduna and the rest of her warband are not stopped then they will go on to uncover the existence of the spy network in Liathaven and the Jotun will be able to take steps to remove it .

Jarl Iduna's warband is made up of a combined force of Raoljost, Ulvenwar, and Skjaldir. Given that this represents a threat to an Imperial spy network it is the responsibility of the Imperial Spymaster: Bernard Dugdale to rescue the Navarri and kill Jarl Iduna.

Chose to start (Conjunction)

The Navarr National Assembly passed a judgement raised by Eira Larksong calling on guides to work with citizens of Therunin to help the bandits that had been plaguing the south of the territory in an attempt to help them find their place in the Great Dance once more. This call to action worked surprisingly well; Navarri from across the territory have worked to help those who were forced to banditry in an attempt to survive and these former bandits have some help of their own to offer.

The docks of Mudlark's Haven has seen increasing numbers of thorns making the journey over the Feverwater to adventure in the Sarangrave. These increasing numbers have led to one group from the Thornwasp clan of Druj attempting to find out how the thorns are arriving in Bloodwater Marsh. The Thornwasp are preparing to ambush the next group of thorns that crosses the Feverwater and use information gathered from them to potentially launch their own attacks into Therunin, and specifically against Mudlark's Haven.

There will be a stiff resistance from the Druj group; a combined force of troops drawn from the arkad and accompanied by heralds of Arhallogen. Given that the group is threatening Mudlark's Haven the responsibility for this conjunction lies with the current Dredgemaster of Feverwater; Eosffair Farwalker.

Just fooling myself (Conjunction)

A year and a half ago the Empire struck into Sermersuaq, at the Pride of Ikka's Tears, to take mithril (and thralls) from under the watchful eye of the Jotun. Now, perhaps encouraged by heralds of the Hawk Lord, a force of warriors journeys deep into Sermersuaq; their path leading directly to the precious mine near borders of the Jotun, the Thule, and with Tsirku. The Jotun have been equipped in the fane of Estavus recently constructed in Greenwall. Why they have received equipment from the heralds at the fane, and what that means for any mithril recovered from the mine is unknown.

If the Jotun force is not stopped then the Custodian will lose five wains of mithril from their expected production at the Summer Solstice.

The force is made up of a combined force of Raoljost, Ulvenwar, and Skjaldir along with a number of heralds of Hayaak. Given that this is a direct threat to the Aviary of Ishal it is the responsibility of the Custodian of the Pride of Ikka's Tears, Tuija Dunning, to stop the Jotun.

Battle Opportunities

Imperial prognosticators have identified four possible major conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate at the coming summit. The Military Council will muster on Friday night, and the generals will select two of them to be taken up by Imperial heroes. At the moment the full details of these battle opportunities are not clear; more information will be provided nearer to the event.

All battle opportunities are Combat Highly Likely environments.

The sides for the battles will be chosen by the generals in the Muster of the Imperial Military Council on Friday night. Each of the two battles must have at least 126 and at most 135 force weight sent on it.

Conjunctions

The Sentinel Gate also allows smaller groups of Imperial citizens to reach locations all over the Empire where their intervention might change the course of events. Many of these conjunctions involve fighting, but there are also a variety of other opportunities presented by the magic of the Gate.

For most conjunctions the Civil Service has identified the Imperial titles that are the most fitting to take overall responsibility for ensuring that an opportunity is organised. Whilst the named individual has been deemed the most appropriate by the Civil Service, there is no legal requirement for them to coordinate a response or travel on the conjunction. They may delegate oversight to another individual of their choosing. As always, Imperial war scouts will be on hand at the muster point by the Sentinel Gate to provide further information to any citizens wanting to know more. Further information relating to the nature of the large conjunctions might be available from the war scouts on duty at the Sentinel Gate. They can provide updates on barbarian movements, guidance on how to engage enemy troops or advice on how to avoid casualties and return back to Anvil in safety.

Sometimes it is necessary to make small adjustments to the timing or size of skirmishes, owing to delays or availability of crew that arise between the time of publication and when an encounter runs at the event. Details will be finalised on Friday afternoon of the event before time-in. Please do check the details of a conjunction you are interested in before using the gate to ensure that you have the full and up-to-date information. You can check a conjunction by casting Detect Magic (Discover Conjunction) on the Sentinel Gate in the presence of a ref.

It's very important to pay attention to the Accessibility note for each conjunction, which covers the likelihood of combat. Further details about the accessibility of a conjunction are available both before and during the event. You can learn more about this on the accessibility page.

A list of all publicly known conjunctions, along with the size of the gate, the destination, and the Imperial citizen responsible for taking advantage of them, will be presented closer to the event.

Friday

Saturday

Military Considerations

The following considerations should be borne in mind when discussing military strategies during the Winter Solstice.

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