If one be gone we carry on

The Hill Path

As winter settled over the hills of Mournwold, the Empire and the Jotun clashed in bloody warfare that raged back and forth across the territory. In the end the Jotun were forced to choose between retreat or being surrounded thanks to clever Imperial strategy; their armies withdrew to Ashvale, leaving behind Jarl Haakon Gydasson, the former ruler of Mournwold, with a significant force of Jotun champions at Farstrider's Watch.

During the Winter Solstice, with the aid of the eternal realms, Imperial heroes used the Sentinel Gate to launch a pin-point strike aimed at eliminating Haakon. The attack was successful; the Jarl was defeated in honourable battle, his forces scattered and forced back to the protection of the 'Watch standing sentinel over the Greensward.

As spring approaches, most of the forces fighting over the Mournwold have retreated. The exception are the Drakes and of course the Tusks who stay behind to deal with the remaining Jotun bands who refuse to give up their control of the central regions of the Mourn. They move steadily, careful not to waste lives and focused on the ultimate goal of liberating the Mourn. The healders and physicks have their work cut out for them - many of the champions who fight in the name of the defeated Jarl are true veterans, experienced in facing Marcher soldiers, and know the hills well enough to be a challenging foe.

Not only armies fight in Mournwold. A Frozen Citadel is raised in Southmoor to defend Sarcombe, and a ward of Spring magic wreathes the forests of Alderly in thorns and brambles and brings with it unexected assistance. Swift figures with long ears are spotted in the grasses and the hedgerows; servants of the Prince with a Thousand Foes. They have little affection for armies, but they have even less for would-be conquerers. Their aid is subtle, and mostly consists of ensuring the farmers and families caught between the Marcher hammer and the Jotun anvil are spirited to safety. Yet from time to time they, or those they assist, provide valuable information about the movements of this warband or another, ultimately aiding in the Imperial advance through the hills and farms.

Wherever the Marcher armies go, they are met with cheers from the folk of the Mourn. Outsiders often see the Marchers as staid and restrained, but that is not the case here. Hidden supplies of food and drink, kept from the Jotun, are broken open whenever a band of Marcher soldiers liberates a village or a farmstead. Nobody who fights for the Mourn will need to pay for a hot meal, or for a cold room in an inn, in the coming months. The sense of pride in the brave folk of the Tusks and the Drakes is palpable.

The miners of the Ore Hills join the battle to drive the Jotun out, and make their own supplies and hidden tunnels available to the Marchers. Human and orc alike, there are folk who have had enough of the Jotun, and put their lives at risk to help drive them out once and for all. The recruiters of both the Drakes and the Tusks are approached by Marcher orcs who have heard the voice of their ancestors, urging them to take up their blades and forge their path as heroes. There is some uncertainty in the ranks as to how to deal with this. The would-be soldiers are no better or worse than any other green recruits - but they appear sincere in their belief that they are sacrificing their chance to be reborn for their single chance to join their ancestors - who are presumably Jotun - across the Abyss. Recruiter and human soldier alike are a little unclear what to make of this.

For the most part, though, there is hard fighting and victory aplenty in the Mournwold. As the Winter ages and is reborn in Spring, so the Marchers drive the Jotun out of the Ore Hills and push into the Greendowns.

The Mournwold is Imperial, but it is far from secured. The allies of Jarl Haakon remain in full control of the Greensward, and there are still plenty of doughty Jotun warriors in the northern farmlands. The barbarians dominate Ashvale - Liathaven - and at any moment the King or the Queen could send armies streaming out of the trees into Green March, Alderly, or Southmoor. Even a couple of armies would likely be sufficient to provide a major challenge to the Marcher armies, reinforced as they would be by the garrison of Farstrider's Watch. The battle for the Mournwold is far from over.

Causeway O'er the Marsh

While the Tusks and the Drakes clash with Jotun champions in Mournwold, the Strong Reeds keep their vigil over the marshes of Bregasland. Last Summer, the Jotun barbarians invaded Gravenmarch, widely known as “the only dry land in Bregasland.” The Fist of Ulven and the Southern Bear quickly captured Graven Rock and the town of Graven - killing a number of Navarr traders in the process.

During the Solstice itself, the Ice Fishers of Ldansk received the aid of the King-under-the-mountain and secured the return of the Burhfæst - a magical citadel drawn from the Summer realm in ancient times. The Imperial Military Council took the hard decision not to interfere - sending the heroes of the Empire to challenge the Druj and eliminate Governor Rahab. As a consequence, the citadel rose from the “great pebble” providing a powerful bulwark and anchor for the Jotun forces. The godhi Faraldi Blutesson established themselves castellan of the Burhfæst, seucring a supply route back to Liath's Ring in Ashvale and then seemed content to watch what was happening.

The Strong Reeds, who were already in the marshes, kept a watch of their own. In accordance with the solemn oath sworn by their general to protect the Bregas people, they swiftly deployed their unique strategic ability to lay low to stay among their fellows no matter what the Jotun might try next.

And the Jotun tried... nothing. A handful of raids into the western fens and across the border into Mitwold, but nothing more serious. The Ice Fishers took residence in the magical fortress that emerged around Graven Rock and seemed content to simply command Gravenmarch. Or so it seemed.

Tame Your Fears

A fortnight after the Winter Solstice, the Jotun invade Bregasland through Gravenmarch. Out of Ashvale come somewhere in the region of forty or fifty thousand Jotun. The gates of the Burhfæst open wide, and the garrison joins the battle - orcs from the Ice Fishers, and mighty armoured warriors drawn from the realm of the Stone-crowned Monarch. Several thousand more warriors of the Summer realm - red-and-scarlet armoured knights - fight with them for the glory of their mistress, the Lady of Pennants. The town of Sallow, and most of the Rushes fall beneath their banners almost before anyone realises what is going on. They then push west and north, to West Fens and North Fens.

For all their force, the orcs of the western jarldoms have come cautiously into Bregasland - not as a rampaging storm as they did when they took Mournwold. Some of the defenders are able to use clever ruses to play on the orc superstitions about the wetlands, and a well-timed ghost story turns out to be nearly as useful as an armed raid against a poorly-positioned supply dump.

The exception to this careful strategy is the Corazón - the Lasambrian army seems to have little fear of the marshes and indeed seems mostly enthused about the idea of seizing the Winter supplies from Bregas barns, and looting their storehouses. A major raid is launched against Eel's Landing, but between the Strong Reeds and the Greywaters and a lot of carefully positioned lanterns, most of the warband is lost in the fens for the better part of a week, and when they reach the “market town” they find it mostly deserted and its wealth spirited away to who knows where.

Thwarted and frustrated the Lasambrians go in search of easier meat and soon turn their attention on the Breadbasket, the network of granaries and storehouses that cross the territory. This time even the Courage of the Reeds and the tricks of the Greywaters are not enough to stop them. The grain they pillage is precious even if it isn't the wealth they hoped to claim from Eel's Landing and it's loss is a bitter blow that will be felt by every farmers in Bregasland in the coming season.

As is their wont, though, the Jotun do not touch places tied to faith, or the spirits of the fallen. Some ghodi make a point of visiting Sabbey's Mound where they engage in a cermony of some kind apparently intended to honour the spirits of those who fell during the invasion of 383YE. Others make a pilgrimage of a sort of Fisher's Rock, although their ceremonies there are much more somber. The legacy of Mathilda Fisher is complicated, it seems, even for the Jotun.

The last time they came the barbarians put a false-queen on a shaky throne. This time, they are here simply to conquer, for themselves and for their ancestors. They offer the Choice as always, even to those who have been given the chance to take it once before. Some seem eager to see the Jotun return - the Clakes of Beandown actually welcome the barbarians. There's a rumour that the outlaw head of the family, Sammy Clake, met with Stephen of Sarcombe and pledged his entire household to the aid of the Jotun as long as they were prepared to promise them vengeance against their neighbours. By all accounts the traitor Stephen was more than happy to welcome the Clakes to his side.

Marching ever forward

The Clakes are very much in the minority, however. For all their problems with the Empire these are Marcher people - and they do not accept conquest easily. There is only so much that individuals can do against such an overwhelming host of the Jotun - but the Strong Reeds are also here. Bound to the people of Bregasland by oaths and magic alike, they provide hope to those who will not accept the barbarian yoke. If the 'Reeds were not here, the entire territory would have fallen to the Jotun in one fell swoop. As it is, they fight tirelessly not only to slow the barbarian advance but to offer whatever aid they can to those who would fight for their homes. Over the course of weeks, with the help of the 'Reeds, those who would resist the western barbarians gather at Ottery, in eastern Ottermire.

It is a mixed bunch, this resistance. There are Greywaters here, and even a few Droverbills, as well as Elvers, Selwyns, and Wheelwrights. And almost immediately, they fall to arguing about the best way to deal with the Jotun and whose fault it is that the orcs have returned. There are some who argue that the Bregas need to negotiate with the invaders, because the Empire has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted. There are some who ask what Bushel Sykes would do (leading to the unhelpful answer “steal someone else's eels” which provokes a fist-fight). There are those prepared to lay down their lives rather than submit to the Jotun again, and the whole thing looks set to dissolve into a sullen, resentful, rebellious mess eve as the Jotun storm across the marshes and close on Ottermire.

In the end, the soldiers of the Strong Reed take charge, convince the most contentious to put their arguments back in their pockets until after the meal is done (as the saying goes), and remind the angry Bregas that if they do not all hang together they will certainly hang seperately. They must put their bitterness aside, for a time at least, and have faith that there is help coming. The causeway into Mitwold represents the best route to escape should it become necessary - but it is also the obvious route for Imperial allies, for the other Marcher armies, to come to the aid of Bregasland.

There is skepticism, but in the end nobody wants to make things easy for the Jotun. Barricades are erected, weapons and armour distributed, levies called and yeofolk from one end of Bregasland to the other rally to the cause. There are even a few defenders from Mitwold who come marching along the causeway - recruited by those Strong Reeds who only recently were billeted in Oddmire and Meade March (and their presence leads to more arguments, as the most hidebound Bregas insist they don't need the help of their kind of course).

While the defences of Otterly are being made ready, the Strong Reeds fight to delay the Jotun. They target supply lines and scouts for the most part, using their superior knowledge of the marshes and their skill with hit-and-run tactics to their best advantage. In every region, even in the Rushes where the folk have heard the resentful whispers of the Clakes, they are welcomed and sheltered from the barbarians. In turn, they help those who need to escape to find sanctuary at Ottery, or to pass along Odd's Way to Oddmire.

The Defence of Ottery

There is only so much the Strong Reeds and their allies can do, however. They are massively outnumbered, and even when working together the disparate factions of Bregasland cannot defeat the might of the Jotun. Yet they do their best, and sometimes one's best is enough. Barely.

As the Spring draws near, the Jotun close on Ottery. The town and its environs, and Odd's Way, are the only part of Bregasland not under the control of the invading orcs. The future looks grim for the defenders, but it is clear they do not intend to give ground before the barbarian host. With the Strong Reeds to support them, they will fight - and die if need be - to deny the orcs complete control of their homeland. They have set aside their Pride for the moment - and bound their Loyalty to great things around them like armour.

Yet for all their outward cooperation the defenders of Bregasland are still divided. The fracture-lines run deep here, following the fallout around the reign of Mathilda Fisher and the Jotun occupation. It remains to be seen whether those cracks can be glued, or whether this invasion will see the fragile unity of the marshes shatter irrevocably into a thousand pieces.

Game Information

Mournwold

The Marcher armies have liberated Ore Hills They are a little shy of two-fifths of the way toward liberating the Chalkdowns

The two Marcher armies have made significant headway in the Mournwold, driving the Jotun out of the Ore Hills and then turning their attention north toward the Chalkdowns. They are a little less than two-fifths of the way towards retaking that region as well. The Jotun still control the Chalkdowns, and both the Greensward and Farstrider's Watch are dominated by veteran champions and their warbands - there had been no Jotun armies active in the territory this season.

Bregasland

The Jotun have conquered Grey Fens, North Fens, and the Rushes They are eight-tenths of the way towards taking Ottermire

The presence of the Strong Reeds is the only thing that has stood between the Jotun host and complete control of Bregasland. As it is, the territory has been almost entirely conquered, and is no longer Imperial. This means that the Senator has lost their seat, and the territory cannot be targetted by rituals from the Imperial regio.

Being Bound by Common Cause, and oathsworn to protect Bregasland, has significantly helped the Strong Reeds to encourage the people of the territory to put aside their differences and resist the Jotun. It seems unlikely that they will be able to prevent the orcs conquering the whole of the territory by themselves, however, unless something unexpected happens. There are more opportunities for the Strong Reeds to exploit their unique position in the TBC wind of war.

One effect of the hard work done by the Strong Reeds, and their close work with the people of the territory, is that they have helped the Bregas conceal much of their wealth from the invading orcs. For the moment personal resources in the territory do not suffer the conquered territory penalty - and as long as the Strong Reeds remain in Bregasland they won't suffer that penalty even if the Jotun take Ottermire.

Sadly thanks to the persistence of the Lasambrians, the Bregasland Breadbasket has been utterly looted. No Marcher farm in the territory will gain any benefits from the breadbasket in the coming season.

Patricipation - Bregas

Any character whose personal resource is in Bregasland is encouraged to consider how the invasion effects themselves Characters from Bregasland are encouraged to think about what the invasion means for them and how their household is faring. The presence of the Strong Reeds has ensured that anyone who wants to do so could have become part of the resistance against the Jotun invasion, perhaps even joining the desperate defenders at Otterly.

Battle Opportunity - To Glory at the End

The Imperial prognosticators have identified a major conjunction of the Sentinel Gate that will allow the heroes of the Empire to intercede in Brrgasland. The conjunction leads to the vicinity of Otterly, and it is believed it will provide an opportunity to help defend the town from the Jotun advance.