Its pretty fishy the Arks ducked out RIGHT when Ulthuan's fleet was inbound.
Spies in their courts or just a lucky observer? Arks are mobile, but not anywhere as mobile as a fleet.
It's well known the Druchii are infiltrators par excellance. I'm not surprised if they have someone watching our court, and dozens in ulthuan's various courts. Probably started skating as soon as they realized we met the Everqueen.
 
Its pretty fishy the Arks ducked out RIGHT when Ulthuan's fleet was inbound.
Spies in their courts or just a lucky observer? Arks are mobile, but not anywhere as mobile as a fleet.

No way in hell would a black ark be out here without some sort of early warning system. A spy in port is possible, but they could have just been using magic to keep an eye out for big inbound fleets.
 
No way in hell would a black ark be out here without some sort of early warning system. A spy in port is possible, but they could have just been using magic to keep an eye out for big inbound fleets.
No way in hell would the fleet set out without masking magics either, if they were trying to get the jump on Arks.

And if conventional spotters saw it they'd have been closer than a month gone.
 
No way in hell would the fleet set out without masking magics either, if they were trying to get the jump on Arks.

And if conventional spotters saw it they'd have been closer than a month gone.

We don't know the travel times involved, nor the interplay of the scrying and counter scrying. But each black ark is an irreplaceable strategic asset to Naggaroth, and more pertinently the absolute keystone of its captain's personal power. Just about the one thing that can reliable sink them is a purpose-built high elf task force. Its logical to assume a dreadlord getting adventures with one would take every reasonable measure to know when such a task force is being gathered.

It could be anything from a spy in port, to scrying the future, to trained sea monsters lurking around ulthan. But I doubt they would leave themselves blind to the one thing in the waters they have to watch out for. Elves in Warhammer are bullshit, and have been doing the measure countermeasure dance for a long time, so its kind a coin flip who is ahead in any given thing most of the time.
 
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Simplest and hardest to foil is probably the spy in port. The scrying and counterscrying are too detectable, expensive and blockable(plus, I'm pretty sure the Asur beats the Druchii in noncombat magics).
 
The kind of rapid deployment needed by the Asur probably set off every warning system the Druchii have, and once they knew the general timeframe that the ships hastily assembled would be away from normal duties they could narrow down the where and why if the fleet action. Message goes out before the Asur fleet ever leaves port, and any Black Arks in an self made port make for open waters or home to cash in what they have so far.

The problem the Asur had here is the same as Ostermark would have had if the Northern Trident wasn't a thing. How do you surreptitiously assemble the necessary forces to alpha strike a threat without tipping them off? Otrud had the benefit that the Trident has done this before, or similar enough to not trip any alarm bells, whereas the Asur coming together like that has never or been for the destruction of a major foe.
 
Red Gold: Who hasn't heard of Otto Steinroth, the Red Pirate of Marienburg? Of course, the man himself would insist he is but a privateer, though just who he is a privateer for appears to vary wildly depending on which of the merchant houses are able to hire him at a certain point in the year. Otto Steinroth only further increased his legend this year, sailing back into harbor with an enormous corpse being towed behind his small owned fleet. It was, despite everything, one of those rarely seen and occasionally thought of a mythical creatures known as a behemoth, beings of the deep sea larger even than a three-point baleen whale! This creature apparently came across Steinroth as he visited the New World and was crossing back to the Old, yet failed to anticipate that the half-Norscan Marienburg native had loaded his ships with cannon and harpoon enough to fell it! As it is, on sheer novelty alone, folk of the city flocked to see the corpse, including numerous artists and scholars who wished to study the creature before rot inevitably took it. Of course, most amazing was when the beast's stomach was slit open, unleashing a crushing mound of gold and treasures gathered up there after who knows how long as a plague upon the seas. So much so that it literally killed those who came too close as th stomach was being opened under the weight! There were idols of Lustria, of the Southlands, of Ind and elsewhere, coinage of even far off Cathay! The Red Pirate then immediately turned the cannons of his ships towards the crowds to prevent them from claiming even a single coin of his serendipitous bounty, and soon enough the gold was hauled onto his ships, to the banks within the city under his accounts, and elsewhere! The sheer wealth on display was staggering, and all of it went to Otto and his men! Of course, after those tense hours had passed, Otto elected to use his newfound wealth to throw a party which quickly took up the entire docks of Marienburg in celebration, a party that lasted an entire week! After which he gave an enormous donation to the Temple of Manann and put further funds towards the repair of the docks, gaining him acclaim and approval from all who draw their wealth from the seas in any measure. Even that much apparently did not even make a dent in his blood-stained gold from the behemoth's gullet. Many say that Otto could easily retire now and live like a king for the rest of his days, but only time will tell if he will do so.

Oh boy. Marienburg is about to be as stable as a spontaneous Puella Magi Orgy. With all the grief that implies for them and for others.

Shore Purgings: The entire Old World that touches large rivers and the ocean know of Manann and to a lesser extent his foe Stromfels. All pay heed to Manann, and only the greatest of fools would dare weigh anchor without paying their respects. Now, all those who rely upon the deep and wide waters know of the Holders of the Shore thanks to their zealous burnings. And now, the Holders of the Shore are being hunted down. By the Cult of Manann's own special brand of inquisitors, the Foamborne. By the Witch Hunters of the Empire. The Grail Damsels of Bretonnia. Priests and Priestesses of Verena working in unison with representatives of Manann in Tilea. When the shores were burnt, there were lives lost, both then and in greater scope. Entire livelihoods of merchant houses were lost. Captains who had just purchased their boats were out their life savings. The hatred simply cannot be understated for them. On Sartosa, the Holders of the Shore and quite likely a considerable amount of those innocent of those crimes in particular were hung from gibbets while being shot as target practice. In Araby, the zealots were found out by the sorcerers of that desert nation and enslaved, sold to the deep desert dwelling tribes that they might live out the rest of their presumably short lives as far away from their beloved holy waters as possible. But most disconcerting, in the Empire at least, was the brutal slaughter at the hands of the Witch Hunters in the province of Ostland. Historically, the Cult of Sigmar most often shows its friction with the Cult of Ulric, but this has led to new arguments and a practical firestorm of angry unease between the Cult of Sigmar and the Cult of Manann, the two ancient cults exceedingly unhappy with one another now, leading to arguments between priests that are loud enough to wake the dead. There are rumors that this conflict came to be at the hands of the Steel Bull, who pushed the Witch Hunters to their most zealous heights in hunting down the Holders of the Shore. Other Cults are murmuring about the overreach of the Witch Hunters, of the potential for fatal prosecution by any of the Cults by Sigmarites, which resulted in a total breakdown at the annual Grand Conclave of the Cults in Nuln, to the point that even the Emperor could not quell it and was forced to end the session early. One can only hope that the brewing issues between the Cults of the Empire will not flare up too badly, like the wars fought between some of them in the Empire's earlier history.

We need to fix this next turn. I don't want a religious civil war to happen because of some fanatics being better organized than before and this thread having an overreaction to their better organization.

Talabecland Beastmen Troubles: In Talabecland, two warherds fighting amongst each other nearly reached the Green Hills, that luscious place of nature blessed by Taal. The damage to the land was minor, all things considered, but the brutality exhibited by the two warherds was monstrous to see. One group, populated heavily by centigors, quickly surrounded and tore apart the other, slaying the minotaur at the head and then roping up the survivors and disappearing back into the western forests. Despite the army of Talabecland attempting to pursue them, the forests quickly grew too thick for them to pass, the darkest depths of those places never seeing human touch even before Sigmar's time. Patrols have been doubled amongst the southern provinces to watch for the beastmen, but who knows how effective it will be.

Beast-Path next turn is a must. Also anything else that can up the killiness of Ostland's armies. We are at the edge of a Centigor raid into Ostland/Empire.

A Wondrous Act, Praise Isha: You would not know the tragic tale of once-noble Gholnaros, as it is a story only those of Ulthuan would know and one they would share rarely. A star dragon, one of the eldest of their kind, tainted by the darkness long ago. Yet the dragon princes could not bear to slay him, only to imprison him, for to slay such once kind and noble creature would be as much a sin no matter what release it could bring, especially since there were chambers enough to imprison him. Thus, Gholnaros was condemned to an eternity of darkness and corruption. Yet, no longer! After recovering from the events in Laurelorn, Her Serenity spent all of this year recovering within the Isle of Rebirth. All the while, her consort and champion in Tyrion of Cothique journeyed south to Caledor, and it is there with some aid of a single young dragon mage, Malinar Sunspear, that he and his noble squire Eldyra managed to subdue the beast nonlethally. Once that was done, before the Caledorians could learn of the vault being opened nor protest it, the dragon was secreted away to Avelorn, escorted to the Isle of Rebirth itself by the Handmaidens of the Everqueen. The Isle is normally forbidden to all men, and so it was the squire Eldyra's task to follow the beast over the sea onto the Isle. None know what rites were undertaken within the Gaean Vale, but the result is known. Gholnaros the Freed soared through the skies to the joyous celebrations of all! This has no doubt gained Avelorn the gratitude of the scions of Caledor, which is quite a prick to their inescapable pride, for though they could not save Gholnaros themselves, they cannot help but give celebration at his return. For now, Gholnaros refuses to rest, instead choosing to explore Ulthuan as he has not been able to do so for far too long. It is too easy to forget that not all great deeds are purchased with death, and that some of the most difficult but worthy acts are ones of mercy. The restoration of an active star dragon? Is an incredible thing indeed.

Thank you for this. Not for it succeeding, just for it existing as an option somewhere in this quest.


o_O :evil: Oshiete! Elf-chan. :V:lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::p

*Jake From State Farm Still Image*

Well, they're dead, so...

I don't know that meme. Can anyone explain what it means?
 
Grand Tournament of Aquitaine Announced: In an effort to buoy the spirits of the people of Bretonnia and to distract them from the ongoing troubles with the plagues of Mousillon and the disastrous actions of Parravon last year, King Gaston has announced a grand tournament to take place next year outside of his own castle within the dukedom of Aquitaine. It shall feature not only jousting, but the melee, and even an archery contest so that those lesser and ignoble creatures who must rely on such things might find some worth with their skills. There will be a variety of games and other minor contests of skill aplenty, and large stores of wine from Bordeleaux. Alms shall be given out, or so it is said, along with a grand relief on taxation for many in order for much of the year to strengthen the peasantry and nobility alike. King Gaston has opened the tournament not only to the folk of Bretonnia but even to foreign warriors, that they might be stunned by the incredible abilities of the land of chivalry! Already, the tournament grounds are taking shape, a massive construction to allow multiple jousts and melees to take place at the same time. The top winners of the more major contests will be richly rewarded, the purses being purportedly quite large indeed, even for the archery contest!
All three are very busy with other stuff at the moment, so I doubt it.

Anyhow, Rumor Mill was quite good for the most part. We need to get to locating those beastpaths ASAP, however.
It's more of a matter of Urgdug being in his armor and standing there as the takes a charge from a mounted knight, looks down at the shattered lance, laughs, "That tickles. Is it my turn now?", Swat. Rinse repeat. "Huh dis isn't even my heavy armor, my sugarplum hits harder than you." Britonnia swears vengeance for the insult of having better knights than them (ogre knights). Then Urgdug has to deal with idiots showing up at his door every morning to challenge him to a duel.

Do you really want to do that to him?
This sounds like defeatist talk. Let's take the time to just show up, Freddy and Urgdug, and see if they can try and say he's not a knight to our faces.
 
Hmm I'm thinking in a turn or two it may be time for our boy Freddy to retire into 'just' being an adventurer with Nat. Maybe they could even visit Kislev?

Not this argument again. :confused: Look Elector Counts don't retire usually. It just mean that we can send Frederick around the Old World while Magnus governs Ostland. Like say this tournament next turn:

Grand Tournament of Aquitaine Announced: In an effort to buoy the spirits of the people of Bretonnia and to distract them from the ongoing troubles with the plagues of Mousillon and the disastrous actions of Parravon last year, King Gaston has announced a grand tournament to take place next year outside of his own castle within the dukedom of Aquitaine. It shall feature not only jousting, but the melee, and even an archery contest so that those lesser and ignoble creatures who must rely on such things might find some worth with their skills. There will be a variety of games and other minor contests of skill aplenty, and large stores of wine from Bordeleaux. Alms shall be given out, or so it is said, along with a grand relief on taxation for many in order for much of the year to strengthen the peasantry and nobility alike. King Gaston has opened the tournament not only to the folk of Bretonnia but even to foreign warriors, that they might be stunned by the incredible abilities of the land of chivalry! Already, the tournament grounds are taking shape, a massive construction to allow multiple jousts and melees to take place at the same time. The top winners of the more major contests will be richly rewarded, the purses being purportedly quite large indeed, even for the archery contest!

Also @torroar?:

If another topic could be chosen to discuss, I wouldn't be opposed.

You have another topic. You just haven't been answering the question of can one of the Hohenzollerns go to the Bretonnian tournament.

It's more of a matter of Urgdug being in his armor and standing there as the takes a charge from a mounted knight, looks down at the shattered lance, laughs, "That tickles. Is it my turn now?", Swat. Rinse repeat. "Huh dis isn't even my heavy armor, my sugarplum hits harder than you." Britonnia swears vengeance for the insult of having better knights than them (ogre knights). Then Urgdug has to deal with idiots showing up at his door every morning to challenge him to a duel.

Do you really want to do that to him?

Yes. that sounds like a diplomatic coup for Ostland to have such connections to Bretonnia.
 
On another note, those beastmen herds in Tababecland? Yeah no bueno, centigors en masse this close? We need to scout the beast paths outyesterday, doubly so given that it's a 50-50 chance the skaven heading west went there or to our area. The Centi's can only be here to persecute their blood grudge on us and ours after all, although I am fairly certain Malagor is aware of this and going to use them as a distraction to keep the trident out of play while he explodes of our the Drachenfels forest like a chaotic bomb.
We would need that beast path checkup pronto to see what we missed and whats going on in our backyard if the centigors are operating and seen closer now.
Talabecland Beastmen: Killed the leader? Rounded up the rest? This sounds like forced press ganging beastmen style. We need to find those paths, and/or start a river navy to guard our southern border.
Set up isolated forts and garrisons in the middle of nowhere, spreading our forces more thinly to keep stuff from sneaking in when we're expecting our opponent to forgo subtlety in favour of brute force?
I doubt it'll be more than a minor roadbump against the Centigor Crusade, but fine.

River navy sounds good though. Not sure how Talabecland/Hochland/Middenland would take it, but it could help us scout, harass and deploy against things trying to enter Ostland from our Southern/Southeastern direction.
How bout we talk about how the beastmen are absolutely positively definitely soon gonna erupt into a empire-threatening war force and head straight for Ostland, but for some reason we keep pushing the prep for that eventuality lowest on the list of priorities? Reminds me of how again and again and again voters chose not to investigate Zacharias resulting in a near dynasty wipe when he finally came our way.
One of the possible Zacharias Prep options involved putting (vampire-weakening) holy symbols everywhere.

The equivalent of that would be putting more(or better) cannons on the walls of our settlements(especially those inhabited by Hohenzollern, such as Wulfenburg and Vogelsang). Or to somehow fortify the roads and farmlands.
Especially with the knowledge that Frostlords and arctic beastmen are now on the continent proper. With the Omen in charge. That's gonna be a dust up.
Felfang seems to have been from the Northern Wastes, as he was wearing metal armour(looted from Chaos Warriors) and knew about the Gods of Chaos.

Granted, there were other portals...
Also, now that such tensions have been brought out to the open, the Empire may as well address the position of the Cult of Sigmar, and the powers of the Witch Hunters right now, while Magnus is alive. Save everyone future grief.
Basically, we're all running on a hell of a lot of ifs. While the religious tension does indeed suck, there does lie a chance of dialogue in actually formalizing the powers and limitations of the Witch Hunters and other Cults, like how Big Mag institutionalized the Magic Colleges.
Point.

Letting the Witch Hunters and/or the Cult of Sigmar take the fall might lead to something getting done to curb the excesses of religious extremism(or limit the electoral power of the Cult of Sigmar), with all the pros and cons that entails.
Oh dear, I think it got higher.
Holders of the Shore did that one.

Corrections made, all successfully I hope. Sometimes, I just get it wrong. Seriously though, I never feel like I can thank you enough for helping me keep up with this sort of stuff. It truly is much appreciated.
@torroar did the Black Arks' departure change the Raider Pressure(s)?
 
Does anyone actually think the Black Arc's are gone for good? I do not, I think that they will be back at some point so its probably a good idea to keep building up our Greatship ship numbers.

Given what the Pirate just did with his donations to the church we are going to have to think of something else to appease the cult. Money will help but maybe building some Temples for them will help as well, But we should also look for other avenues to appease the Cult of Manaan with.

The Centigor's are going to come after the Hohenzollern family at some point. So it may behoove us to send a couple members into hiding within the other Provinces should the worst come to happen. Or even with Aunt Alexandria. With her I doubt she is ever going to come home permentantely again and Kislev has become her home. Logan is with the Ulricians, and that is two members that are else where but their locations are known for the most part.

I am also of the idea that we should focus on the beast paths next turn. but I also want to use a Double Down as well to increase our chances of finding one or two of them.

Honestly speaking the armies of Ostland have changed massively in the last 40 years ever since Freddie took up the position of Elector count. Sakaltan is all but impregnably, Wulfenburg has expanded and has better defenses now than it did before. truly speaking the Centigor's are probably not going to have as easy a time of it as they might be thinking. but the true problem lies with the smaller villages and towns that are not as defensible as the big cities are/. they are the ones at the most risk so, If there is a way to beef up their defenses we should probably look into doing that as well.

Hell the next turn could very well be the turn of us just doing nothing but defenses and other things to both prepare for the shit that is about to fall and to appease the Cult of Manaan like i have mentioned previously in the post. So that means no Gold Wizards or any of the others for that matter that do not have anything to do with the stuff that is really important.

Oh one last thing. We should definitely get started on the Lighthouse plan of Morgan's. Its an excellent way to appease the cult and it will give Sakaltan its very own unique landmark that can both be useful and memorable.
 
One things, we need more Jade wizards. Their healing is just too damn usefull
Jade Wizards are included with the rest of the people and stuff we probably do not need right now. I would rather we focus all of our efforts and money on just beefing up defenses around the province and working on appeasing the Cult of Manaan, and building the Lighthouse will help with appeasing them even if its going to be a multi turn project. I know the Jade Wizards are useful but right now I would rather have better defenses in place.
 
Set up isolated forts and garrisons in the middle of nowhere, spreading our forces more thinly to keep stuff from sneaking in when we're expecting our opponent to forgo subtlety in favour of brute force?
I doubt it'll be more than a minor roadbump against the Centigor Crusade, but fine.

River navy sounds good though. Not sure how Talabecland/Hochland/Middenland would take it, but it could help us scout, harass and deploy against things trying to enter Ostland from our Southern/Southeastern direction.

One of the possible Zacharias Prep options involved putting (vampire-weakening) holy symbols everywhere.

The equivalent of that would be putting more(or better) cannons on the walls of our settlements(especially those inhabited by Hohenzollern, such as Wulfenburg and Vogelsang). Or to somehow fortify the roads and farmlands.

Felfang seems to have been from the Northern Wastes, as he was wearing metal armour(looted from Chaos Warriors) and knew about the Gods of Chaos.

Granted, there were other portals...


Point.

Letting the Witch Hunters and/or the Cult of Sigmar take the fall might lead to something getting done to curb the excesses of religious extremism(or limit the electoral power of the Cult of Sigmar), with all the pros and cons that entails.

Holders of the Shore did that one.


@torroar did the Black Arks' departure change the Raider Pressure(s)?

Knowing where, when, and most of all, buy time to marshal a proper defense against rampaging centigors is very valueble.

Callois as it is, the whole point of our defense system had always been to spot where the enemy are and then bring the hammer down on them which are what the forts and garrison are for. They are expendable, well-defended and spread out as a net intended for being road bumps so we can pin point the bulk of the enemy.

That is also partly shown during the middle mountain kerfuffle where the beastmen kept running into entrenched position, face stiff resistance while sending out message so the actual army can come to together and crush them.

Most of all, beast path also removes the amount of beastmen in our land alongside whatever encampment and stone herd in the process. Removing local reinforcements and safe zones the centigor would have used in the future.
 
Jade Wizards are included with the rest of the people and stuff we probably do not need right now. I would rather we focus all of our efforts and money on just beefing up defenses around the province and working on appeasing the Cult of Manaan, and building the Lighthouse will help with appeasing them even if its going to be a multi turn project. I know the Jade Wizards are useful but right now I would rather have better defenses in place.
I understand why you want more defence but like someone smarter than me once said : "Magic is bullshit"
We know the bestmen are going to have a LOTS of magic-support ( from the followers of Malagor and from the crazy ones who lived in the Chaos Wastes). Stone and wood will do nothing against a Bray-shaman who serve the Omen
between having more magical firepower ( Damage and support) and having more defence... well honestly i need to see what are our options for reinforcing Ostland before anything else
 
Some Things:
1. Urgdug would not be accepted as a knight in the tournament.
2. Raider Pressure will change for next turn, but not this one, which is why I haven't adjusted it yet.
3. The Druchii have infiltrated the courts of the Asur on Ulthuan before.
4. It is canon that Nehekhara will sail as far as Norsca and beyond if desired. It was literally Settra, too. They whacked him, took his crown, sailed back to Norsca. Settra got pissed, rallied up an enormous army, and razed a good chunk to get his shit back.
5. Finally,
I don't know that meme. Can anyone explain what it means?



Generally the last still image is of the last portion of that, the flat delivery coupled with the expression of the man.
 
Set up isolated forts and garrisons in the middle of nowhere, spreading our forces more thinly to keep stuff from sneaking in when we're expecting our opponent to forgo subtlety in favour of brute force?
I doubt it'll be more than a minor roadbump against the Centigor Crusade, but fine.
A picket of tripwire forts probably would be wasteful. Signal towers and forester patrols would help a lot though.
 
Or integrating wing-suit scouts into the Army of Ostland, therefore making them more standardized and common leading to potentially ensuring that some or at least one or two is stationed at most watch towers and outlying forts/guard posts once they've proven able members of the military.

Or something, I guess. I dunno.

Also, WHOOPS, forgot to fiddle with the Jade Wizard stuff on front page. Because Karl, Carlotta, Ernst, Jurgen, and Ilse returned to the colleges, their fees are no longer a thing. So JWR costs go down. Small bit, from 150 to 40, meaning a 110 movement up and down the board.
 
Or integrating wing-suit scouts into the Army of Ostland, therefore making them more standardized and common leading to potentially ensuring that some or at least one or two is stationed at most watch towers and outlying forts/guard posts once they've proven able members of the military.

Or something, I guess. I dunno.

Also, WHOOPS, forgot to fiddle with the Jade Wizard stuff on front page. Because Karl, Carlotta, Ernst, Jurgen, and Ilse returned to the colleges, their fees are no longer a thing. So JWR costs go down. Small bit, from 150 to 40, meaning a 110 movement up and down the board.
I honestly forgot about them. welp looks like we are going to have to do Jade Wizards next turn if we don't have any left now that the old ones left.
 
3. The Druchii have infiltrated the courts of the Asur on Ulthuan before.

I want to picture this as an Edgy McEdge Elf in black spikes and everything, but instead of a perpetual scowl has a pair of really thin wires coming from his helmet visor to pull up his lips in a perpetual slasher grin.

And his most common greeting is...

"How do you do my fellow non-murdery Asur."

Somehow, it works. Mostly because the guy portrays himself as a comedian.
 
I want to picture this as an Edgy McEdge Elf in black spikes and everything, but instead of a perpetual scowl has a pair of really thin wires coming from his helmet visor to pull up his lips in a perpetual slasher grin.

And his most common greeting is...

"How do you do my fellow non-murdery Asur."

Somehow, it works. Mostly because the guy portrays himself as a comedian.

I mean, if he occasionally goes "Power to the Phoenix King, fuck the Druchii" how could the court tell him apart from someone from Nagarythe?
 
Urgdug would not be accepted as a knight in the tournament.
Well that's just racist!
I want to picture this as an Edgy McEdge Elf in black spikes and everything, but instead of a perpetual scowl has a pair of really thin wires coming from his helmet visor to pull up his lips in a perpetual slasher grin.

And his most common greeting is...

"How do you do my fellow non-murdery Asur."

Somehow, it works. Mostly because the guy portrays himself as a comedian.

Asur: "Seems legit."

Should we offer our newest elf friend a permeant room they can use whenever they pass through Ostland for the next couple decades at least?
 
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