387YE Winter Solstice winds of war

Overview

Over the last three months, Imperial forces have engaged in military campaigns. Sometimes those engagements have been wide-ranging and dramatic, other times they have been more sedate. Where there has been dramatic action, or where there are opportunities, we've given a Wind of War its own page; other military actions are discussed here.

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.

Fire and Wood, Water and Stone

Autumn to Winter, and the year ending. Nights lengthen at the expense of the day. Long evenings give way to long nights, rain and wind to snow and ice. As the rhythms of the earth slow, the drumbeat of war continues undiminished, unrelenting, never changing.

Turn your eye to the east, to the borders of the Empire, to sodden Therunin. First came the Druj, harbingers of slaughter and fear. They still hold that land which for centuries belonged to the Navarr. Their malice has awoken the vallorn of Tharunind, which swells and blooms beyond the Sweetglades and Greenheart. The colder weather does nothing to slow that irresistible vegetable tide that, unchecked, will swallow the marshes and the forests entirely. The Imperial armies have withdrawn but the fighting is far from over; the waters run crimson and green.

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 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 Military Council on Friday night. Each of the two battles must have at least 152 and at most 161 force weight sent on it.

Battle participation

If you have your own orc mask please do bring it along as we're keen to ensure we can field a force predominantly comprised of barbarian orcs. If you are unable to wear a mask, then all battle opportunities have limited roles for human barbarian combatants and low-combat roles such as healers, support mages, artisans, messengers and attendants. Player elite monster units (EMUs) are expected to monster as their barbarian orc units in the Sarangrave, Skallahn, or Mareave battle opportunities, and should not include human combatants in those.

We ask the majority of player volunteers to take on the roles of Druj orcs as normal. If you have your own orc mask, please do bring it along as we're keen to ensure we can field a force predominantly comprised of Druj orcs. You can help by wearing leather or plate armour you have, as well as any iconic Druj weaponry, particularly swords, spears and great weapons, as well as bows of all types. You can find out more about the iconic Druj look here, but the key element for portraying the Druj is a mantle and ragged material layers that echo natural greens, browns, greys, and black, with occasional bright accent colours as their iconic look.

This opportunity also offers a chance for player volunteers to play heralds of the Autumn realm, in service to the Druj. If you have your own cambion phys-reps, please do bring them along, and you can join the force of Autumn heralds. Any phys-reps are suitable, but the higher-lineage and more prominent, the better. You can come equipped for battle however you wish.

We ask the majority of player volunteers to take on the roles of Jotun orcs as normal. You can help by wearing any Jotun, Marcher, or Wintermark-style kit or armour you have, as well as any iconic Jotun weaponry, particularly axes, maces, and circular shields. You can find out more about the iconic Jotun look here, but the key element for portraying the northern Jotun is leather and fur over mail as their iconic look.

Due to the nature of this battle, there will be _very_ limited numbers of human yegarra roles, only available to those who are unable to wear the orc masks.

We ask the majority of player volunteers to take on the roles of Grendel orcs as normal. You can help by wearing leather or plate armour you have, as well as any iconic Grendel weaponry, particularly swords, spears, and bows of all types. You can find out more about the iconic Grendel look here, and the key elements for portraying the Grendel are a light coloured base layer, with mantles, shoulder capes, wraps and other purple clothing and other bright colours as their iconic look.

We ask all player volunteers to take on the roles of rebellious Marchers. You can help by wearing any armour you have, as well as any Marcher weaponry, particularly bills and polearms, swords and bucklers, and bows of all types. You can find out more about the iconic Marcher look and feel here.

Due to the nature of this battle, there will be _no_ orc roles in this battle. Anyone who would normally wear an orc mask should monster as a human. We are asking our Elite Monster Units to also participate in this battle as elite Marcher forces, equivalent to trained soldiers that might be found in a military unit.

IMPORTANT - we will not be reusing any orc masks for these battle opportunities. Our orc masks will only be used once at this event and then washed, ready for the next event. We are continuing the provision of battle opportunities with non-orc enemies until such a time as we have sufficient masks to run two fully orc-masked battles.

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 combat, 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 appropriate to take overall responsibility for ensuring that a response is organised. Whilst the individual has been named 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 Sentinel Gate to provide further information to any citizens wanting to learn more. They can provide updates on the barbarians' goals, guidance on how to engage the enemy troops or advice on how to avoid casualties and return back to Anvil in safety.

Sometimes it is necessary for us to make small adjustments to the timing or size of encounters at the time of this publication and when an encounter runs at an event. Details for the conjunctions on Friday will be finalised on Friday afternoon of the event before time-in (18:00) whilst details for the conjunctions on Saturday will be finalised on Saturday before time-in (10:00). Please check the details of any conjunction you are interested in as soon as possible to ensure that you have the full and up-to-date information; it might also be sensible to check again shortly before the planned time of the encounter. You can check the details of a conjunction by casting Detect Magic (Discover Conjunction) on the Sentinel Gate in the presence of a referee.

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.

Friday

Saturday

Make an Anchor Weep (Ayereed)

Varushkan wagon raiders who sell their wares at the Iron Roundtower, have been exploring the coasts of Mareave and Ayereed, with an eye towards what will eventually be Imperial land. In their search for the isle of Dunreagh, they have been run aground by Grendel and are being pursued. They have managed to send a missive to Mother Varushka, who has sent the plea for help along to Anvil.

The wagon raiders are outmatched by the guards on the island, attempts to escape will see them either taken or killed. If the guards can be killed, then the wagon raiders will be able to escape the island and return to Varushka, where they belong. As these are wagon raiders who indirectly work for the Bargainer of the Iron Tower, it is the responsibility of Vladimir Sasha Volkov, to organise the strike at the Grendel. If successful, the wagon raiders will send a small cache of Grendel luxuries they have been able to acquire after the Winter Solstice. If unsuccessful, then the Bargainer will lose the top rank of their ministry as sellers look elsewhere.

Military Considerations

Several territory pages now contain details of strategic obstacles presented or advantages provided by movement through or fighting in those lands. There are also several fortifications that follow different rules. Several armies or nations have special rules or opportunities related to the orders they can issue, which should be borne in mind when discussing military strategies during the Winter Solstice.

Click Expand to see military considerations that are less relevant at the current time but are still active.

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