GM NOTE: It is 3:30 AM where I am! I am so sorry for the delay! Got caught up with some folks for more than a few hours. Front page updates when I wake up in the morning, so no worries there. Hopefully will have front page totally fixed completely in the 'whenever-I-wake-up-time'
2327 IC Empire Rumor Mill
[Early Year] War For Estalia's Players Seem Set: The greatest issue for Estlian defense against a foe that could truly crush their nation of tiny kingdoms as a whole…is lack of unification. Tacticians have known this since Estalia was founded. However few folk have been that interested in fighting for it while there have been greater issues at home. Like greenskins or Chaos invasions or what have you. That is not to say that there are people who don't wish to tear them apart and take the land for themselves, but the most powerful city in northern Estalia has long been friends with Bretonnia while the southern section of the fractured country often maintains a friendly rival stance with Tilea. Yet no longer. The predations of what may be the greatest concentration of Slaaneshi worshippers outside of the Chaos Wastes have cut at these generational distances. Continual attempts at protracted defiance from single tiny villages who refuse to accept the authority of another city just over a hill have failed again and again. Worse, people are converting to the Dark God of Excess out of fear or simply thinking that by doing so will give them a measure of protection. An estimated fourth of their population has sworn to Slaanesh, another fourth is outright dead or mutated, and the remaining half is…unified for the first time in their history, under a trio of unlikely origin. Lucrezia Vega has proven herself a true adept of Myrmidia, displaying a strong mastery of tactics and a sheer ferocity in the defense of her homeland that has never been seen from an Estalian before – even in the time of the Crusades. Aided by her elder brother, Lorenzo Vega, who has proved himself an amazing front line commander, and her little sister, Juana Vega, who seems to be handling logistics, the Vega siblings are providing what seems to be the only successful resistance against the Decadent Host. Yet Bretonnian knights have massed in even greater numbers at their border, while a full series of Mercenary Armies have marshalled themselves along Estalia's eastern border. To provide a pre-emptive defense, to take advantage of the anarchy…or perhaps just to ride to the aid of their fellow man? No one knows in the Empire at this time. As a dark ending to the year, another massive rain of warpstone meteors came crashing down around the camps of the Decadent Host. Hopes that the deadly substance would harm the Chaos worshippers were unfounded as instead they were harnessed and dragged further into said camps and thus out of the ability of scouts to keep sight of.
[Early Year] Order of the Garden Arrives In Sylvania: The newfound sect of Morr known as the Order of the Garden has not made any particular waves before this year though they have quietly built up their political powers and presence throughout not just the Northern Trident where they were created but in the rest of the Empire as well. That decade of silence has ended. Despite having their origins in the tragic conflict in 2315 against Zacharias the Everliving their ranks are strong and despite a rumored split between them and the more traditional orders based in Tilea they possess protection in the Black Guard and Knights Raven which grants further legitimacy. Led by the previously unremarkable Arthur von Hohenzollern, son of the infamous Elector Count of Ostland, the Order of the Garden arrived in Sylvania with more than enough force, resources, and verifiable favor by Morr in their prayers to allow them a place despite the protests of the Order of the Shroud and Augurs of Morr who hold more political allegiance to the south of the Empire. It is said that Arthur von Hohenzollern is acting in the position of a leader in matters both political and theological, and further led the fight in the cleansing of the cursed haven of Templehof, slaying the vampiric master of that place personally.
[Early Year] Gazgan the Pillager Raids Bretonnia: People of the Empire breathed a sigh of relief as Gazgan the Pillager invaded not another part of the Empire this year but the backwards and strange Bretonnians to the south instead. Rampaging out of the Grey Mountains, the orc Warboss fell upon the Castle Montfort out of Axe Bite Pass. Alas, due to the fact that many knights of Bretonnia had apparently focused on assembling along the border of Estalia in preparations to battle the creatures of Chaos and potentially even absorb a bit of Estalian territory, the opposite side of their country was left comparatively undefended. Castle Montfort has traditionally always protected the foreign side of the valuable trade route of Axe Bite Pass, but it was apparently not ready for the numerous catapults that Gazgan had lashed together out of wood and trash, bombarding the Castle only until there were enough holes in the walls for the orcs to come in. That alongside three giants which had been scrounged up from somewhere within the Grey Mountains throwing massive boulders and battering their way into the walls by brute strength collectively broke even the remarkable defenses of Castle Montfort. The Duke of Montfort was not present, visiting another Duke at the time, or so it is said, leaving his castle and surrounding lands to the rapid moving WAAAGH! that is under Gazgan's command. Or at least this is what is believed based on those who scrounged about the place after the greenskins had left for their next target, finding massive holes in the masonry and the ruins of abandoned siege weapons that were no longer of use possibly due to their lack of speed in keeping up with the WAAAGH!! itself. Armories and equipment were stolen en masse from castles and forts whose lords were busy on the southern border, and the peasantry and inhabitants of both Inner and Outer Monfot by all reports have been slaughtered in great number. While the Bretonnians gave a great accounting of themselves based on the dead goblins and orcs all over the place, they apparently just barely wavered in the face of death and paid for it. The exact details are of course unknown due to the general lack of survivors saved for those who had managed to hide and barricade themselves and ended up…cracking, from the experience of the castle falling as it did. Still, thousands of greenskins as well as the previously mentioned three giant's were found dead at the site of the battle…so hopefully in the future Gazgan will not have the aid of such terrible creatures.
Beastmen of Araby Go Wild: The beastmen of the dunes have gone mad this year, openly exiting the deserts and attacking various settlements of Araby and slaughtering numerous outer settlements. Such was the unexpected ferocity that thousands were killed before any organized resistance could be put together. The worst of these warherds was led by a truly frightening Beastlord who is of the centigor get out of all the various beastmen species. The Sultan of All Araby has thus far been unable to stop the surprisingly unified hordes of a foe that has traditionally been regarded largely as a nuisance in the desert lands. Attempts to offer vast wealth to mercenaries failed for the most part as the greater majority of sellswords in the land of Tilea are busy fighting their way into Estalia. While there were a few here and there, the normally divided armies of soldiers between the cities of Araby are struggling to work together against a foe which raids and destroys with impunity, erecting cursed and disgusting monuments to the Dark Gods.
[Middle Year] Myrmidians To Estalia: Though there have been no official moves by the Empire towards aiding Estalia in any large measure, numerous Knightly Orders that have seen that the fighting in Sylvania is beginning to die down have begun moving southwest to join the next great battle. Among them is rather notably quite a few Knights of the Blazing Sun, with even their Grand Master Avers Berger electing to move out from Carroburg in Middenland to head through the pilgrim paths that his Order has safeguarded for centuries that head to Estalia. Even so, the Knights of the Blazing Sun are dwarfed – as they ever have been – by the premier Order of Myrmidia, the Order of the Righteous Spear. Those of the Spear are assembling from across Araby, from Tilea, and across Estalia as well, rushing to the defense of the twinned lands of their Goddess. At the same time, however, a remarkable number of hedge knights and free soldiers across the southern Empire have been heading to the Aquila Academy of Nuln, while in Bretonnia vast numbers of peasants and even several Knights and lords not already assemebled on the border have gone to the Aquila Academy of Carcassonne. The same can be said of the Aquila Academy of Luccini within Tilea, with tremendous numbers of those mercenary forces not already purchased by the Merchant Princes being assembled forth. It is well known that these military academies take a significant amount of Estalian and more specifically Myrmidian influence but never before have they exercised it in such open quantities. Perhaps they truly do worry for the future of Estalia?
[Middle Year] Vampires Rise In Sylvania, Are Cut Down Immediately: Further news comes from Sylvania this year, and it is both concerning and pleasing to hear. Even now, the great fires scorching the vast mass graves of corpses being unearthed throughout the land continue to burn. By the end of this year, it has been confirmed after a large conference between census-takers, Amethyst Wizards up to and including the Matriarch of the Amethyst College – the Draken and her two odd students rumored to be of noble blood – as well as various Priests of Morr, Taal, Sigmar, Ulric, and Rhya who were
also working with numerous Witch Hunters who viciously interrogated the population for every single scrap of potential truth behind burial areas or places that might hold more undead or vampires that it can
finally be said that Sylvania is actually starting to be cleansed. This is because every single village, every keep, every castle, every holding large and small on public record and those taken from other sources discovered in Sylvania, is now officially slated to have been turned over and examined down to the many crypts beneath though doing so is not going to be the fastest work ever. Where, as was suspected, many vampires remained in hiding or were in that strange deathless state where they are as dust but with blood and a ritual can be revived. Said vampires were likely quite surprised to find such an eclectic force there just as they woke up. As before, all of these vampires, many of whom proudly proclaimed themselves to be Von Carsteins before being rather quickly turned to little dead piles of ash, had their remains disposed of in the secret and anonymous manner of the Order of the Garden in order to prevent brainless fools or more vampires from reviving their brethren. As before, swamps continue to be drained, land forcibly tilled unto exhaustion in the search of any potential mass graves that could be utilized by a necromantic force. Special credit for personally bringing down over a dozen powerful vampires and multiple necromancers in close combat goes to Regina Leitdorf, daughter of the Count of Averland this year.
[Middle Year] Miragliano Advances Into Estalia: The most powerful Merchant Prince of Miragliano, Umberto 'Axeblood' Acciai, apparently grew tired of the hemming and hawing of his allies. A stalwart Myrmidian, he sees the assault of the Decadent Host upon Estalia as a strike against Myrmidia herself despite the usual differences between the two nations who claim the Goddess for their own. Having spent a king's ransom multiple times over, he spent the last year purchasing numerous mercenary armies wholesale, bribing other Princes to follow him, or outright browbeating his peers into giving him their aid. A hundred thousand strong army marched across the mountains and into eastern Estalia. They were confronted in this by a nascent WAAAGH! which had begun forming, likely in an attempt for the green savages to get into the fighting. There, the legendary elven mercenary Asarnil the Dragonlord under Prince Acciai struck atop his mighty beast, scorching the plains from the skies and allowing the massive force to find victory with ease. In the wake of the battle the Prince and his fellows immediately began to advance west, striking against the Decadent Host again and again wherever they find them.
[Middle Year] Sylvania, A Never Ending Well Of Evil: Despite everything, Sylvania seems not yet done. Despite everything, there are still dark things rising in that forsaken land. For a city of evil has been discovered deep within, hidden by the bogs and marshes that are still being dredged and destroyed. A city of ghouls. A city of undead. While Castle Drakenhof was a citadel on its own of the Von Carsteins it was never the equal of for instance Altdorf, Nuln, or Talabheim. But there are yet places in the world that we cannot know are there until we find them. Even throughout the Empire there are citadels of evil that dot the land and many an undiscovered fastness of the Long Night which we cannot always be aware of. Within the apparently even more unplumbed depths of Sylvania came a marching army not unlike was faced during the Vampire Wars of yore – and the latest Vampire War against Zacharias the Everliving. With the land being far too boggy for cavalry to be effective it falls to the slogging of foot soldiers to try and combat the slavering hordes of ghouls which have come forth to defend their apparent home. Disturbingly trained and armored in rusted iron they have proved a defiant bulwark of Sylvania's dark legacy yet despite the slow encirclement of their city. It is only by the works of the Battle Wizards that advance has been possible at all, the Jade College shifting aside earth and brackish waters to make way, forces of the Bright College to burn what remains and what charges out from the shadows, Light Wizards to illuminate said darkness and further purify through their powers, and the sheer power of those of the Amethyst College to obliterate the ghoul columns, wolf charges, and swarms of fell bats. The mundane earthworks of the forces assembled would otherwise be simply inadequate to a deadly extent – something that even the Grand Theogonist and Ar-Ulric cannot help but admit after losing many of their forces trying to prove otherwise.
Sea of Claws Report – 2327: The Romanov's takeover of Erengrad over the Merchant Princes that had ruled there for so many generations was long questioned in its legality by the Bohkha family. However, the one thing that many supported was an actual unifying effect amongst the disparate Merchant Prince Navies that had existed previously. Battle amongst Kislevite ships used to be common as competing lords made power plays both nonviolent and otherwise but underneath the icy hand of the Romanovs such policies have been put to rest. Nothing exemplifies this more than the sudden surge of naval power emanating from the cold north. The Grand Navy of Kislev, now boasting as many ships as all other Fleets of the Empire combined, exploded across the Sea of Claws this year and tore apart many a Norscan Longship as well – it is said – as slim black sailed vessels which appeared to come in even greater number this year. It is said that it is 'Dark' Elves, but how many of those really exist? Do they exist at all? The common folk are uncertain…but more learned ears know the truth for what it is. Were it not for Kislev, the coasts of the Old World would have suffered greatly this year on volume.
Kislev Naval Strength now High+ due to multiple Actions of Kattarin The Bloody completing successfully, one critically successful. Overall Naval Victory, Ostland Coastal Victory, Achieved. Drucchi Raiding Pressure now at Average+ but effects nullified by Kislev Navy. Previous -250 Trade Income Malus reduced to 0, thus, +250 into coffers this year.
[Middle Year] Estalian Beastmen Rising?: Of the Host's leader, Sigvald, there had been no sign for many months. As it turns out, he was in the southwest, where he had apparently been on the other side of his nominal territory…apparently endlessly circling a large lake bordering a now long dead king's estate. Surely a dark and terrifying ritual was being done there before the surprisingly well equipped beastmen arrived. This occurred just as an Estalian force which had been watching for the right moment to try and ambush the leader of the Decadent Host, and under the orders of Lady Vega they allowed the battle to ensue without them. Watching from far away, it is said that Juana Vega vomited from the ensuing carnage while her brother Lorenzo seemed upset that he himself was not bringing the one known as Sigvald to justice personally. Observers state that Sigvald slew over a thousand of the beastmen personally in a wild rage that the beastmen had deigned to attack him. In the end it does not matter, the Decadent Host realigned itself and in the end they only lost ten percent of their territory and forces to the seemingly endless beastmen. Conflicts between those same rat beastmen and the more traditional goat headed kind have also begun.
[Middle Year] WAAAGH! Gazgan Confronts Bretonnia: Whatever plans Bretonnia might have had towards Estalia have evidently been cancelled. Traders bring tales that the mass of assembled knights that make up the mainstay of Bretonnian military efforts have been turned around, led personally by the absolutely furious Duke Montfort. Despite the rapid pace of the army much of the Montfort Dukedom has been ravaged beyond belief as Gazgan pillaged as many viable resources as he could with a terrifyingly brutal joy, cracking open castles again and again with his giants and then throwing a great mass of troops in the resulting entrances. All that could not be used was burnt to the ground or broken including three Grail Chapels within the Dukedom. It is said that Gazgan now bears a huge wicked blade which has been crudely forged together from the weapons of three Grail Knights and parts of their armors – each brought down with truly extreme cost from his hordes. Towards the last two months of the year open conflict has begun between the Duke Montfort and over ten thousand mounted knights, yeomen, and men-at-arms against the greenskin forces of Gazgan. By all accounts the battles have been quite bloody indeed. Knights Errant across the various Dukedoms of Bretonnia are apparently heading towards the battle. In truth, we of the Empire wish Bretonnia luck, for so long as they keep Gazgan distracted he won't be attacking
us. Maybe they will even kill him and rid the world of such a problematic orc. Duke Montfort is a great champion in both tourney and actual battle, so some more unscrupulous gamblers are already betting on his success or failure. The issue, it seems, is that the enormous boar that Gazgan had previously made his personal mount has been replaced after the Warboss began absorbing into his forces the seemingly impossible to remove greenskins that have long inhabited the area known as the Massif Orcal – a place that is well known even to the Empire due to how long the Bretonnians have failed at actually doing something about it and yet often complaining about it to passing Imperial traders. The boar has been replaced with one of the deadliest fixtures of the Orcal, a massive snarling wyvern which has given the already disturbingly tactical orc the ability to scout and maneuver through the skies.
[Late Year] Exiles Return!: It has been said that the legendary Knights of Magritta are long dead. This is apparently not true. Over the course of this year and apparently the last few in secret, they assembled themselves. Finally, as the year comes to a close, they openly declared themselves upon the docks of Luccini where they then embarked with a massive fleet of ships from all over the Old World and with an army of volunteers and mercenaries that together matches the army matching that of Prince Acciai. West, they sailed until they came back to the place that their ancient order is named for. For those who are unaware, the Knights of Magritta were a powerful society of knights who were dedicated to the protection of Estalia, it's unification, and a continuation of the Crusades against Araby. However their zealousness in this regard saw them exiled long ago, and it was assumed they died in obscurity. Apparently this is not so. Revealing hitherto unknown connections amongst the mercenaries of the world and rather astonishing amounts of resources, they bring a full hundred Nulner cannon and thousands of Nulner handguns with them to Estalia were they shall, as they publically shouted from the docks, "Fight for Estalia until our dying breath."
[Late Year] Morr's Vengeance: As the conflict in Sylvania grew even more intense with the surging arrival of a powerful ghoul king from within its seemingly endless dark corners, the servants of Morr rose to even greater heights in order to match them. Led by the fiery zealots of the Order of the Garden, joined with the Augurs and Doomsayers, High Priest Arthur von Hohenzollern carved a bloody path through the undead in the closing months of the year. Taking a vast amount of knights and troops, the Cult of Morr's priests drove out from the encirclement of the ghoulish armies facing the Emperor, and struck three of the last bastions of undead remaining in Sylvania. One, the Red Abbey, a place full of languid and inhumanely decadent mistress vampires who had taken it for refuge during the conflict, another, the Wolf Crag, filled with monstrous vargulfs and other vampires who had become beasts on the outside as they were on the inside, and finally the eldritch cave home of Helgrid, an infamous elder vampire sorcerer. All three of these places were supporting the ghoul king with undead troops, beasts, or magical support. All three were destroyed. Only once this was done did the Cult of Morr came down from the foothills and low mountains, and only then did they crash into the back of the undead army facing the Emperor and many great champions of the Empire. With their aid, the Emperor himself forged forth, and slew the ghoul king in one mighty blow, its terrorghiest mount slain at the hands of the Grand Theogonist's champion, Regina Leitdorf. The Wailing Way River will, hopefully, be the last major battle needing to be fought in Sylvania, with more vampires and necromancers slain in recent ages alone than since the time of the Vampire Wars of the Von Carstein.
[Late Year] Vegas Defiant, Estalian Conflict Intensifies: Lorenzo Vega, guided by the tactics of his sister, actually managed to burn down multiple Decadent Host outposts in the closing months of the year before retreating. This allowed them to draw various portions of the Decadent Host's more mobile troops upon daemonic mounts into an ambush and trapped avalanche. In one fell swoop the Vega Siblings managed to crush massive portions of the Slaaneshi cavalry and chariot elements leaving the remainder of the Decadent Host far less mobile than before. What followed next is hard to track, but by the rumors of refugees fleeing into Bretonnia and western Tilea, the Lady Vega apparently made contact with the massive mercenary army of Prince Acciai of Miragliano, joining their two forces together. Some of the most renowned mercenary bands in the world are joined by those infamous, unknown, or entirely brand new, all looking to get a taste of the wealth that the Prince has offered them. At the same time, the enormous force of the Knights of Magritta have apparently met with Juana Vega, the youngest of the trio of Vega siblings, and according to those captains who were at the docks of the merchant city, the Knights seem perfectly willing to work alongside Lucrezia Vega though there are rumors of friction over who retains overall command.
[Late Year] Duke Down!: From the mouths of terrified merchants and fleeing yeomen comes grave news. The Duke of Montfort, a well-respected trading partner – even for a Bretonnian – has died this year to the monstrous Gazgan the Pillager. It is said that the massive force that had been assembled presumably to intervene in the ongoing Estalian conflict was instead turned against the WAAAGH! that had so devastated the Dukedom of Montfort in one of the greatest cavalry clashes in the history of that backwards gun eschewing nation. Bretonnian warhorse crashed into the utterly massive boar hordes of Gazgan, with flanking support from forest goblin spider riders. Of the warboss himself there was no sign until from the skies came one of those dreadful flying monstrosities, a wyvern. Riding atop the beast Gazgan flew down and completely ignored the idea of an honorable duel against the Duke, clutching the man and his horse in the wyverns talons, flying hundreds of feet in the air, and dropping both man and rider to the ground below to die upon impact. Following this, a force of orcs appeared from the woods and cliffs in the upper areas of the mountainous valley near Axe Bite Pass where the battle would occur. The Bretonnian force was almost entirely annihilated, with only a handful of noblemen escaping on their horses. Forlorn hopes that his momentum would be blunted by the sheer carnage were dashed within weeks. Greenskins from all over Bretonnia have begun streaming towards Gazgan who – after shredding the already heavily weakened Montfort further – began marching west through Bastonne. All is not lost, however. The various other Dukes of Bretonnia have begun assembling brand new warhosts to come under the singular authority of King Gaston de Beau Geste. The only issue with this is the total lack of state troops that Imperials visiting Bretonnia have long observed. Instead their usual process of having a single knight being a lord calling out to other lords who are knights who then hopefully –
hopefully – summon other knights together and barely manage to scrabble together a viable force within any kind of appreciable time. The lack of any large singular armed forces has struck against them quite badly even as they struggle to assemble a host capable of defeating Gazgan – with numerous groups of Knights Errant apparently making doomed attacks 'for honor and glory' at the sides of the massive train of green destruction and getting killed for their trouble.
[Late Year] The Death Of Diego: There has been much spoken of the young and infamously rich Diego Estragon, one of the wealthiest of Merchant Princes of the Old World. Possessor of one of the largest merchant fleets from Kislev to Tilea, plier of the trade routes from Araby to as far as Cathay itself, he was a in possession of one of the most magnificent of mansions in his home city of Margritta. Now, it seems, that great manse will have to be given to another. In an ill-advised assault, resisting the orders and leadership of the Vega siblings, Diego Estragon instead made the usage of his entire fleet and a mercenary army to try and come about and assault the docked and banked ships of the Decadent Host. What occurred is the stuff of nightmares, for Sigvald himself had danced his way to the site of the invasion force's greatest thrust, and blunted it. Chaos Warriors battered apart Diego's soldiers, while daemonic cannons and flying creatures tore his ships asunder, while the man himself was cut down by Sigvald himself. It is said that Sigvald now bears a new cloak, woven from the faces of the wealthiest men and women of Estalia who he has killed, while the shattered mercenary army of Diego suffers from the attentions of the Decadent Host. A great storm with unnaturally colored clouds is the reason for the failed naval assault, with the thunder which pealed out of it heard for miles and miles enough not as actual normal booms but instead hellish daemonic laughter. Given such plentiful sacrifices to their God, the Decadent Host seems to have swollen their ranks, either daemonically or by way of those who bear desecrated marks of Estragon's army, their minds clearly crushed and warped by Chaos.
Nordland Earthquake: At the very ending of winter and beginning of spring in the Old World did a great and terrible rumbling echo out across the still recovering province of Nordland. Numerous structures were worried over to collapse at the immense crushing and grinding of stone and rock only for not a single building known to have actually done so. Rumors have spread from frightened peasants that windmills and distant lonely watchtowers were actually covered in a bright and fresh growth of vines and moss that seemed more to support the buildings rather than choke them out as one might suspect. None are sure what this may mean, though the more fantastical and wild drunken tales are that the Wood Elves of Laurelorn have done something to result in such a blooming of nature and life. On that point, most of the farmers and lumberjacks of Nordland are far more focused on the fact that their harvests this year were much more bountiful than before for whatever reason. Count Kessel was strangely quiet on this matter, though he strongly cautioned any and all that should they forgo the treaty he possesses with those eldritch beings in their forest then he will spare not a thought towards them. In any case, after a thorough checking over by the wizards of Altdorf and even a small cadre of Witch Hunters as best as can be told nothing truly…
negative happened to Nordland as a result of this 'event'. Wild-eyed reports that the forest of Laurelorn is 'bigger' somehow are to be disregarded as the natterings of madmen. Forests do not simple
grow spontaneously, after all.
Todbringers Take Carroburg By Storm: Few in Middenland care to regard their former Graf particularly well. The Graf Todbringer was weak, spineless, and showed nowhere near the earnest devotion and strength of the new Graf Gunthar von Bildhofen. To be somewhat fair, few could likely match the power of the younger brother of the Emperor who reunited the Empire after centuries of anarchy. However now the man has been abandoned by the rest of his family. While his daughter has married Gunthar, the rest of his family has departed for the city of Carroburg, arriving in a flurry of martial wealth being thrown about as dozens of architects and masons have been hired to begin building up brand new estates. Not even normal estates, these, taking within themselves the renewed martial spirit of Ulric which has become widespread across the whole of the South of the Empire, these estates cleave towards the defensible nature of Middenheim itself in miniature. This, as well as noble patronage to its citizens, has led Carroburg to eagerly welcome its newest residents, who have already begun being invited to most high society gatherings in that stories location. Fears of a fissure between the Bildhofen family and the Todbringers are unfounded, considering regular correspondence and consistent travel between Sieglinde von Bildhofen – once Maria Todbringer – to and fro her family's new main location. Always with a heavily armed party, of course.
Kislev Rumor Mill
No Kurgans, No Norscans, Big Problem?: All of Kislev has undergone an entirely unique experience this year. Though the greenskins of the eastern forests remain a problem as ever, there have been zero reports of Kurgan or Norscan raiders, either from through the Troll Country or by sea at all. This is obviously just a sign of a build-up from both of these notorious and eternal foes of Kislev but the end result is that there was a larger than average successful birth rate and crop harvest this year. Various interested parties have begun requesting that a party be sent to through the High Pass to investigate though many are content to simply try and build up defenses instead on the Kislev-held portion of the ways leading towards the lands of Chaos. For those more worried about homeward issues is the fact that without the outside pressure of our noble people's eternal foes the friction between Romanov and Bohkha is growing ever more fierce. While the Royal Family may hold a significant amount of power in the cities, the Bohka have steadily garnered support amongst the rural folk.
Ungol Troubles: In the grand and storied history of Kislev, society has almost always been split between the Gospodar and the Ungol. Yet, according to rumors on the winds by the hags and the traders who travel between the north and south of Kislev the Ungol tribes have been dealing with some difficulties lately. An entire year without any Kurgan or Norscan sightings has allowed a higher than normal number of successful births and crop harvests yet perhaps may not entirely be a good thing. Without the pressure of said foes, arguments have begun amongst the Ungol whether or not to support the Romanovs or Bohkha's. Both are Gospodars, but now rumors have started of agents from both families approaching various Ungol tribes about supporting one or the other. Support in the form of
what, of course, remains to be seen. What supplies they have are being somewhat stretched by the births which have gone beyond their usual predicted level of success which has only worsened matters.
Grand Army Shifted To East: The campaign of southern Kislev concluded most successfully. However, threats still remain within your lands. The Tzarina in her brilliance has moved the Grand Army of Kislev to the eastern forests – the last great population of greenskins in all of the land. Destruction rained down on the greenskins early on with a heavy usage of siege weapons upon their primitive hovels and camps while the traditional Kossar troops begin to march their way through. Unfortunate news is that the cavalry of the Grand Army is of very little use due to the thickness of the forests but overall the news is successful. The forest goblins have clearly never fought such a large and concentrated force, having long grown used to the much smaller pulks of ambitious nobles looking to make a name for themselves. This has turned public support in eastern Kislev in a more Romanov friendly state largely because the smaller and more traditional pulks that the Bohkha champion have been of no help against the creatures in any long term sense.
Non-Romanov Supporter Ice Mages Go Missing: Accusations are flying back and forth this year over the disappearance of multiple Ice Mages of the northwestern territories due to their known lack of regard for the Tzarina. Numerous Bohka-aligned Ice Mages have disappeared entirely as well as their retinues in the northwestern oblast to the outrage of the Bohkha and the faithful of the Ancient Widow and just as in the past many are looking most suspiciously towards the Tzarina – many saying that she has resorted to blatant assassination in order to remove the support structure of those who would oppose her. Those who support the Romanovs are quite adamant that there is no way that such a thing would occur, for the Tzarina is the one who heralded the religious revolution in Kislev – a major part of which was the declaration of holiness for all Ice Mages as they are truly the priests of The Land. Nevertheless, rumors continue to fly and with it outsiders watch as support for the Tzarina continues to erode, her powerbase slowly being reduced. If such things continue, Kislev shall truly be split down the middle and no one wishes to see what shall occur
then.
Crushing Naval – And Romanov – Victory!: Hail to the mighty Romanov fleet! One of the larger Bohkha raised issues seems to have been quite violently put to rest. The disparate fleets of the now extinct Merchant Princes of Kislev were traditionally far more used against each other, against Imperial ships, against lots of ships, but continually seemed to fail at battling the Norscan ships. Not so the Grand Navy of Kislev. With a single concerted push it struck against the longships of the Chaos worshipping filth and against the black hulled dagger-like ships of the Drucchi in the Sea of Claws this year. Multiple reported victories flowed back to Erengrad and into the rest of the realm as the fully upgraded and reworked Grand Navy of Kislev works. The Bohkha had largely decried the fact that Imperial shipwrights and naval experts being hired to help train and create this Grand Navy…but few can deny the Navy now. One victory is one thing. Multiple victories throughout the year is entirely another. Hail the Tzarina!
Glory Of The Past?: It is known that many of the earliest Khan-Queens of Kislev were some of the most brutal and powerful leaders in Kislevite history, especially when one considers the devastating powers of their icy sorcery. Yet, curiously, the actual details of their burial sites have been lost to time more than once. The powers of Chaos which have swallowed up much of Kislev before in the past have only worsened this, shifting the landscape and leaving behind ruins that are at the same time ancient and new from unknown peoples and civilizations. This only means that the lost tombs of the Khan-Queens remain one of the greatest draws of glory-seekers and treasure hunters in the world, for the lost wealth of those mistresses of war and ice could conceivably allow anyone to live luxuriously for a long, long life. For others, the fact that they may hold ancient ancestral artifacts of power has driven thousands to their death searching the icy wastes since the Tomb of Shoika was first lost centuries ago. The race is on, however, from both Romanov and Bohka families to search for these ancestral heirlooms, though whether it is to be able to claim better legitimacy from the bloodlines of the past or simply to possess these treasures as weapons in a potential conflict is unknown.
Karaz Ankor Rumor Mill
Large Migration Of Mining Clans To Karak Ungor: The majority of Karak Ungor's mineral wealth is still largely untapped due to the grim and undeniable fact that those have re-settled it simply do not have enough dwarves to full take advantage of them. However, this problem may soon be at least somewhat mitigated by the fact that several mining clans who claim lineage to Karak Ungor have returned to their ancestral haunts. Wandering clans that have made their way across the dwarf realms for centuries have also begun heading towards the Delving Hold in order to claim a new place for themselves. This series of settling down groups can only do good things for our people – casualties are always higher on those who do not have a hold to truly call home. But with the Underway so completely and fully closed off through liberal application of molten earth and Kragg the Grim himself working to reinforce the defenses, they are remarkably safe in comparison to Holds in the south that are under more constant assault from the skaven. One of the greatest clan movements however is the famous Clan Barruk, the Goldshields, who have successfully petitioned King Stonehammer to allow the whole of their clan to settle in Karak Ungor. With their good mining experience and stout warriors at hand the newly reclaimed hold is likely to benefit from their presence – and the Goldshields in turn may finally have won a true home that they have fought so long for.
The Umgal Insult: On the one hand, the Throng of Ostland were of great use and utility in the already legendary reclamation of Karak Ungor from the grips of the greenskins and skaven. On the other, it cannot be denied that no umgi cannons are as the ones they were using – only for it to later be revealed that it was at the hand of the manlings that secrets of the Engineering Guild were used illegally to improve their own weaponry! Stolen! Abused! This has set a fire amongst the dawi for how could they act so honorably one moment and so treacherously the next?! It is an insult and puts into doubt their very honor and existence – the Engineer's Guild already censuring their clearly false caricatures of even the umgi of Nuln. Ostland cannot be trusted – no matter what the Brewers Guilds may say! This is a grave insult to all dwarf traditional values! A Grudge has been set by the Engineer's Guild for this! We do not even wish to speak of those disgusting monstrosities of so-called-engineering that they call 'Deathspheres' or 'Doomspinners' or whatever it is the umgi spew from their thieving mouths! The Toolmaker's Guild has also closed relations with Ostland in order to ensure that their own secrets are not stolen by their grubby hands.
-200 Dwarf Trade. -1 Realmwide Dwarf Relations.
Karak Ungor Reclaimed!: To hell with what some foolish longbeards may grumble, all hail Frederick von Hohenzollern, and that of the throngs of Ostland and Ostermark! The tales are worth more than their weight in gold, of daemons and colossal squigs, thrones and Kings! The legendary knowledge reclaimed by Kragg the Grim as well as one of the last gronti-duraz, and an Anvil of Doom besides! By the end of this year alone, all will know of the great deeds of those who fought within the depths of the Delving Hold, first to fall to the greenskins during the Goblin Wars and Time of Woes, and first major hold to be returned to dawi hands in this Age of Reclamation! Oaths have been sworn, and oaths will be fulfilled if need be, of aid and friendship between those who fought regardless of origin. Of these, Frederick von Hohenzollern, a human who has touched the Underearth and returned with the taste of Gazul's own brew on his lips, is amongst the highest honored. That of his daughter and son, almost as much for their own brave and glorious contributions! Any who would speak ill of the savior of the High King himself, holder and aider in the reclamation of the hammer of Grungni, witness to the Final Doom of the Slayer Kings and participant in the defeat of Skulltaker itself, destroyer of traitors and cursed ones, and more, shall taste not just the Axe of Grimnir, but the Hammer of Grungni itself! So says the High King of the dwarfs, Thorgrim Grudgebearer, King Ranulf the Red of Karak Hirn, King Baragor Blackskull of Karak Kadrin, Princess Fenna of Zhufbar, Kragg the Grim of Karaz-a-Karak, Lord Belegar Ironhammer of Clan Angrund, and more…
+300 Dwarf Trade, +3 Realmwide Dwarf Relations
Skaven Fleet Destroyed At Open Sea: Far faster than anyone anticipated, the vessels of Barak Varr found themselves tested in battle against one of our people's most hated enemies – the skaven. At open sea, several dozen leagues west of the pirate held Sartosa, a series of indeterminate vessels appeared in the middle of a nightly patrol and assaulted a series of Ironclads. Flying no known manling flag, it was not until the ships got nearly close enough to board was their nature revealed. Though the battle was won, casualties were not low, and more than that the fact that the skaven managed to sail out a fleet that looked – at reasonable distance – to appear as a manling fleet before they fully revealed themselves is disconcerting. How many ships could the skaven move about the oceans like this without anyone noticing until it was too late? Efforts are ongoing as to what to do about this, though no one has any specific solutions as of yet. As to where this disguised skaven fleet was
going or
why, even less is known. At the least some heart can be taken in that the whole of said fleet was brought low.
Death Pass Watch Report 2327: The Throng of Karak Azul has returned home, and just in time. It is highly unlikely that they would have made it past the migrating greenskins pouring through Death Pass this year. In contrast to the silent orcs of before whose skin was so dark green as to appear almost black, these hordes are wild and rambunctious. Made up of orcs and goblins, they nevertheless poured through in horrifying numbers. A census of the greenskins living the world is impossible as ever, but more importantly is the impossibility of tracking such things in the Dark Lands where there are essentially no dwarf outposts whatsoever. At the least overall discipline in these continual streams was less than piss poor, with more than two thirds of those present instead streaming towards Black Crag and Karak Eight Peaks after getting bored with the length of the march. The remainder streamed into the Bonelands and then out of our ability to track. Overall, it is estimated that more than fifty thousand greenskins came from the Dark Lands this year. Defenses in Barak Varr, Karak Azul, and Karak Azgal are being built up as much as possible but tensions are growing high.
- Military
- Castles And Nobles Action Chosen [More defenses in Ostland's borders, noble appointees for stewardship of defensive fortifications]
- Middle Mountain Defenses Action Chosen [More defenses built up in Ostland's Middle Mountains, outposts, etc.
- Fleet Decisions
- Cannons Added To Ostland Imperial Fleet Completed
- More Ships Action Chosen For Imperial Fleet Action [Due to Regency turns, a second Fleet action was selected as the +1 to options by Natasha. More ships are being built for Ostland]
- Diplomacy
- Those Who Work Metal Completed [Check previous turn for explanations of option.]
- Acclimation Chosen [Diplomatic works, parties, social events organized to welcome the new immigrants to Ostland, or more specifically, Wulfenburg.
- Stewardship
- We're A Province of Drinkers Completed. +350 Alcohol Sales Income, +150 Trade Income
- Clearing Forests In Progress
- New Roads In Progress
- Research
- Pressure Go Boom Completed Successfully (Will Be Added To Front Page)
- Anna von Hohenzollern's Swiveling Miniaturized Death Dealing Cannon Completed Successfully (Will Be Added To Front Page)
- Piety
- Thank…you? Completed. New Sigmarite Temple, Sigmarite Shrines Across Province
- In The Name Of Agriculture Chosen/Completed, Critical Success On Food Income Production. (Taal/Rhya Worship Increases/Shrines In Place for Taal and Rhya across the province's agrarian sections.]
- Intrigue
- Expand and Control begun. [More depth to to intrigue network, in complexity and strength. In-progress]
- Personal
- Catharticism begun and completed. [Natasha did things that helped her relax, as her pregnancy increased in pain and difficulty over time]
- A Visit With Kattarin begun and completed. +250 Alcohol Trade Income. Kvas Added To Ostland Alcohol Stores In Significant Numbers. [Natasha vistited Kattarin earlier in her pregnancy, to spend some time with at least one family member. Alexandra happened to be there as well, before your daughter headed out to the Ungol territories.
- Training Oskana begun and completed. [Discussed in-thread. Trained like intelligent flying Ice Bear.]
