World Progression 2022 Period 9

Discussion in 'Progression Events' started by MonMarty, Apr 6, 2022.

  1. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    This Thread will record all submitted Progressions as they are processed. Deadline for Period 9 is 17th of April, Midnight London Time. Submissions will be posted as replies until the Deadline is reached.
     
  2. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    Ellador
    • The troops in Ellador under Revna return home.

    Carrhen

    • The South Markmarshal permits the War Minister to hand out permits to slip past the Blockade on the warring states.
    • Gabrielle, Elkhazel, Brynmor, Viggo (Braggison) and Tanja travel to von Schwarzkrau lands to try and meet with the Carrhen refugees to ask them things. They pay 3 Wealth Tokens for blankets, foods, toys, and medical/hygiene products, which makes their lives somewhat more amicable. The questions have the following responses:
      • The Unionists say they did not see any new races, or sudden surprises. They were well aware of the Wolfpelt and Bearpelt cults for some time, but they were never outwardly violent. They figure that their coup however, and Petrou's attack, resulted in them seeing an opportunity to take the country back, and they did, when the Rutgher army was captured and (what they assumed but had no evidence for) Petrou's sabotage agents disabled their command structure.
      • They did not see anything out of the ordinary, and did not see large donations in Regals being moved around.
      • They have nothing of value really for the Regalians. They speculate that whatever is happening in Carrhen now, happened outside of their view, because they were only familiar with the situation as it was before them, and under them. They do not know what happened to Carrhen society after they all fled, many of them not even being from the south of Carrhen, but from the north, from other countries still loyal to Regalia. The majority of Unionists never made it out of Rutgher since they were all burned alive, so many of the North Carrhen people wouldn't even know where to begin giving advice on the current situation.
    • Elewisa Peirgarten and Haszlal Dari Huallo Admiral fleets command for Sorenvik ships to be permitted to pass. The fleets also attempts to impound ships from ports that have not yet been captured by Regalian troops and encounter stiff resistance from coastal defenses, causing a few ships to take on fire, and a handful to sink. In some of the ports, they also witness a confused defense however, with Rutgher ships firing at their own ships and Rugher-on-Rutgher fighting in the streets, seemingly men covered in wolf-furs attacking the populace. The fleets are becoming too overstretched trying to seize every Rutgher fishing vessel, private vessel, and moored warship, eventually a few of them slip past because of the need to concentrate ships on harbors to shell defenses into submission.
    • The Guentyr army led by Aldane Guentyr, and the State army of the Southmark led by Viviwynne Guentyr march on the Soren capital, which seemingly surrenders. The army marches in peacefully as instructed, many of the soldiers carrying Regalian banners and logistical supply and medical staff up front, ready to offer assistance and aid to the locals. The army marches on its way to the King's Castle, taking a few of the local guards prisoner as they hand off their weapons. Some of the guards seem terrified and plead desperately for the Regalians to turn back, which is mostly being scoffed at as a cowardly enemy who is attempting to take the last recourse to preserve their independence. Eventually however, the army realizes what these local guards meant. When well enough the bulk of the army has moved into the city and started spreading around the streets, Vampires descend on them from all corners of the city, some rabid, others in clinical and military fashion. The sounds of chaos in the city itself result in conflicting orders being send back and forth, some officers calling for a retreat, others for a holding the line. In the front, A raven-humanoid with a long feathered tail dives from the Old Gods temple belltower and started cutting through the Regalian soldiers, blood spewing everywhere and the fountains of death only seemingly causing the red eyes of the Vampires to burn all the brighter. The Marquisse Elector's personal guard form up around her and eventually the official retreat horn is blown, as the city's narrow streets and decrepit housing makes forming proper formations utterly impossible. The bulk of both armies make it out of the city while they lose soldiers in every street and every fight, the raven-monster on their pursuit. Outside however, while the Vampires are behind, in front of them suddenly start forming up battle lines of Vampires. Worse yet, they are all following Regalian tactics, Tenpenny formations, and respond perfectly to every command given by Aldane and Viviwynne as if they understand every single Regalian tactical doctrine and strategic formation. The fighting is fierce, but essentially hopeless as the army is squeezed together by both an army of Vampires that knows the Regalian military doctrines, and an unstoppable killing machine behind them. The Guentyr army decides to not stand and fight, breaking with the flanks. Viviwynne and Aldane hold for as long as possible until Blythe and Alduir and the Marquisse's bodyguard have to tear them away from the fight to prevent their fall to the crimson curse. The Guentyr army manages to escape, but the state army is nearly entirely decimated, with casualties expected to be anywhere between 7 and 12 thousand. The Soren Kingdom immediately following breaks off any alliances and agreements with anyone, declaring that all should vacate the Kingdom or meet their doom. The Soren army stuck in Rutgher now that is still supporting the alliance immediately declares the Soren Kingdom led by traitors and starts marching back west, abandoning the Rutgher positions to attack their own Kingdom instead.
    • Petrou takes up positions in the strait between Soren and Rutgher however, essentially blocking the crossing, so the Soren Army is unable to return to the Soren Kingdom. The Petrou fleet takes a few casualties, sailing up river where neither side of the river are controlled by the Regalian State, and the ships get pelted from all directions by skirmishers, but generally capture the corridor. However Petrou likely didn't know the entire Soren army would be blocked up against the river, in the same trajectory that the Faure armies would march down. The Faure army is completely taken by surprise by the Soren army that used the forests for cover, and is beset upon them outside of range of the Petrou ships. The Faure army is decisively beaten back, but the Soren army is getting worn out, unable to be resupplied. The officers say that one final push can break this army completely, despite their phyrric victories just now.
    • Because the Soren army retreated and the Rutgher army is in a state of disarray, and the Serman Duchy already retreated to deal with the others, Trajan Novak quickly catches up to the remains of the Rutgher army that has been bleeding desertion all this while. Aleksandra, Kolenko, Miomyr and Tovak assist in the crushing of the Rutgher army. Halfway through the battle, the Rutgher clergy-generals are even killed by wolf-pelt wearing Rutgherites who run off after their assassination, causing the entire army to collapse. The Rutgher Kingdom is essentially in a state of near utter defeat with refugees scattering in all directions, and wolf-pelt wearing men attacking both the clerical and civilian population, and deserting soldiers looting and pillaging what they can before disappearing into the mountains and forests. The bureaucrats expect that Regalia will not really have a civil government worth negotiating with given how much the state has collapsed into a murder-fest, so they should just dictate their demands and then militarily enforce them, but expect heavy civilian resistance from the wolf-pelt cult.
    Finances
    • House von Schwarzkrau pays de Azcoissia 5 Wealth Tokens.
    • Mene'lainn Cassin'tojei sends 3 Wealth Tokens to Narla.
    • House Faure donates 3 Wealth Tokens to the Civics Ministry.
    • House Guentyr sends 5 Wealth Tokens to their own army as supplies in Carrhen.
    • Legal Finance Ministry sends 14 Wealth Tokens to the Development Ministry with the note "please give exactly 4 to Crookback".
    • House Litvinova is issued a 5 Wealth Token fine. Without the Emperor's explicit decree however, the banks don't have to comply, so this is pending Litvinova's approval to pay the fine. The Finance MInister promises repeated fines if House Litvinova continues to produce opiates.
    • 1 Wealth Token is given to Alban Koning.
    • 1 Wealth Token is given to Mene'lainn Cassintojei.
    • 1 Wealth Token from House von Duerr by Joanna to the Civics Ministry.
    • House Varcion 2 Wealth Tokens to Cadwyn
    • House Varcion 2 Wealth Tokens to Kelvenne
    • House Varcion 1 Wealth Tokens to Marie-Jacques Dumonte.
    Hvitskag
    • Mene'lainn assisted by Erynor, Saphine, Lucinnala and Bartolomeo land their troops on the western coast of Hvitskag, aiming to use a shock invasion and take the realm completely.
    • House Varcion attacks Hvitskag with its fleet to help Mac Conall and di Civita establish a beach head. Unfortunately neither army arrives on time, and so the Varcion fleet just kind of chills off the coast of Hvitskag, not finding any Hvitskaggers to bombard. They decide to hold the Varcion army back just in case di Civita and Mac Conall arrive, and thus are mobilized, but don't want to land alone in this frozen hellhole.
    • Mene'lainn's forces land without too many issues on an abandoned stretch of land. They move in, expecting to find a stunned population, only to find empty camping sites and abandoned outposts that have mostly been stripped bare. One of the officers remarks that they should have expected this. The Hvitskaggers have been in a near-constant state of war with Regalia for the last 30 years, and they have gotten very good at expecting when and where to face Regalians. The idea that Regalia could just shock invade them and completely take the realm was folly, reminding Mene'laiin that Hvitskag is the last remnant of the die-hard Skaggers, not the squishy State-teat-suckers in Drixagh, but the actual battle hardened ones who know the terrain and will play games with Regalia that they have perfected for the last 30 years while they held off both the entire Kingdom of Nordskag and the previous Northmark Marshal all on their own. He eventually points to the dense pine forests and the snowy mountain passes adding that the Hvitskaggers will be waiting up there to deal white death on Regalia once more like they have been doing for so long. (I am aware the deadline for orders has not passed yet for di Civita and Mac Conall, but the orders were received in full last Tuesday and yesterday, most generals send their orders in together around the same time or in the same date, and that is how battles are generally generated in the timeline).
    Ithania
    • Imara, Naajy, and Amir travel to the Qadir Hadrityas in the Ithanian Desert.
    • The first thing they notice, is that their usual method of travel, the Desert skiff, is entirely unviable. When attempting to build one and sail it for a while, they realize that the Ithanian desert is in fact not made of sand, but almost like a dried out salt-flat, almost entirely flat with cracked mud on the surface that is parchment dry. The skiff takes some damage trying to sail over the rough terrain, and the wind also dies very rapidly, causing them to have to abandon that mode of travel, instead opting for a carriage across the desert which works surprisingly well.
    • The carriage speeds past the major ruins dotting the desert, vast Baskarr statues, feline heads the size of whole Noble Estates sticking halfway into the ground or with their eyes blasted out, toppled into the sand, the sandstone weathered. Other monuments are large obelists casting massive shadows and even pyramid shaped structures with weathered limestone covers. A few precursory inspections unfortunately returns them all as deeply, deeply looted.
    • Eventually they reach some one of the Hadrityas that is built on the edge of a massive Dewamenet city that lies in ruins. The city has obviously been thoroughly looted, so the Hadritya mostly just stands watch and contains some of the loot inside. The Qadir in the Hadrityas are very unwilling to let them in however. The Hadrityas outside of Al-Alus are not part of the domestic state apparatus and largely operate independently. While they are willing to hear their questions, they make it fairly obvious that the current political climate is satisfactory for them, and that they would cause it to change by talking about what they know. In essence, they imply they know what is going on in the Allorn Empire, but say they wouldn't talk anyway, because the Hadritya inside the Allorn Empire would get in trouble if the Allorn had even the suspicion of them leaking information.
    • The group eventually leaves, sailing past the massive jungle plateau that is at the very south of the Ithanian desert. On the way out, the group observes that it's strange that there is a jungle with so much moisture right next to a desert with so little of it. And that it's also very peculiar that this desert and jungle cliff is essentially entirely straight. And distinctly artificial.
    Regalia
    • House de Azcoissia begins construction of their Unionist teachings strict boarding school for Mages using the Unionist pious methodology. Construction expected completion in a few weeks.
    • Godrun Nordhjem checks up with the Dwarves to see if any help is needed. The Dwarves are well underway building, very industriously even starting to construct the first Dwarven faces in the slopes of the dead volcano, but some of them are concerned, they remark that they might have gotten cheated by the Regalian prospectors, saying they paid good money for the prospects on these islands, but that they seem largely barren, as they are unable to find anything but volcanic rock that isn't even suitable for their underground farms due to its porous nature. They aren't sure what to do yet.
    (More orders to follow on Sunday, bunch of expedition orders I didn't have the energy to process yet, but they aren't super urgent because they are just expedition orders).
     
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  3. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    Regalia
    • House di Civita has invited a Vultragon speaker to the Capital to host a Symposium. Event date will be published when Marty has reduced his turbo depression.
    • All over Osteiermark, pampflets are spread with perturbing imagery and text. They showcase a depiction of Lorraine du Peirgarten surrounded by Kathar and Silven in the Vuhnreniirn Estate. Underneath it the text:

      IF THE MASTER OF THE HALLS IS SO UPSET OVER A PARTY HOSTED AT THE SAME TIME AS HIS OWN, SURELY HE SHOULD KEEP HIS OWN TWIN SISTER FROM ATTENDING IT? ONE WONDERS OF THE STRENGTH OF THE FAITH IN THE DU PONCAIRE HOUSEHOLD IF THEY ASSOCIATE WITH SUCH UNDESIRABLES.

      This does not seem to cause any issue in Osteirmark in particular, because Lorraine isn't stellarly popular (and adopted) among the locals anyway, however the pamplets are picked up at the Imperial Court, where many an eyebrow is waggled at the Master of the Halls letting his own sister undermine him to support a freak event designed to upstage the Court.
    • Cordenia travels to Draackenrust to meet with the Isldar refugees and more notably her parents to try and talk post cleansing and getting most of her memories wiped. It's really awkward. Her parents just kind of stare at her and go like "ok. Well nice meeting u again". Her sister meanwhile is absolutely not okay with it, yelling something animated to the effect of "Your obsession with this <expletive> dragon has gotten you killed, you are literally a stranger", and refuses to see Cordenia again. Her parents eventually relay that her sister has had trouble adapting to the local area, and there are still some of the refugees who cling to the belief of Frisit, and are anxiously watching the news from Ellador. They say that, without firm belief in the other Dragons here, it is possible some of them might want to return to Ellador, including her sister.
    Ithania
    • Markus, Elewisa and Alesia travel to the Brother Kingdoms of Pharah to meet with the elites in Luxxakhor, however they are barred from traveling inland further than the Moon Ports, as the Ashal States ban entry of non-Asha into the inland, forcing them to stay on the coast cities. Since this is the only real way to deal with the local aristocrats, the diplomat mission attempts to build rapport locally with Delmotte finances. The mission however is largely a failure. While Delmotte's name does become known, Moon Ports are hubs of financial activity, trade, and more general coin rubbing between the Asha and non Asha. As such, Delmotte's diplomatic effort falls short of establishing good rapport, but at least the name is known.
    Finances
    • House Delmotte spends 10 Wealth Tokens on diplomacy.
    • House Abbansadi spends 2 Wealth Tokens on gifts to Staat Kezzeret Artamon.
    • House di Civita spends 1 Wealth Token on Gabrielle von Schwarzkrau.
    • House Mac Conall spends 5 Wealth Tokens on funding its army.
    • House Viduggla pays 2 Wealth Tokens to Civics Ministry.
    • House Viduggla pays 2 Wealth Tokens to Tryllejag.
    • Housse Viduggla pays 2 Wealth Tokens on army supplies for themselves.
    • Emilienne di Civita spends 1 Wealth Token to the Civics Ministry
    • House Petrou pays 10 Wealth Tokens to the Civics Ministry.
    • House Sorenvik pays 5 Wealth Tokens on refugee supplies.
    • Development Ministry pays 4 Wealth tokens to Crookback.
    Eronidas States
    • Akurgal, Enheduanna, Aaro and Skylock travel to Staat Kezzeret Artamon to meet with the Staat King. The King indicates that the Eronidas states are probably not in a state of actively going to war with the Allorn Empire, the Allorn Empire's resurgence was too quick and too unexpected, and they weren't able to adapt to the radical change of geo politics, needing to be united to actually fight, but many of the Polon refuse to actually unite for a fight, and some even do trade with the Allorn. The King and Lyceums have no information on Guldar, stating they never really went further west. While they like the ideas of folk tales, the continent is most likely poisoned, and nothing but death awaits in the west. The Lyceum regionally seems to be discussing investing in Dwarven tech to reproduce some lost prototypes used during the Songaskian War, the conversations are not wholly interesting, and the Lyceum seems to be disinterested in talking about the city ships because the art of ship building was long lost to the Eronidas.
    Silverwind
    • Drulailmon, Feyrinth, Iris, Vaeri and Narla assault the forward checkpoint in Silverwind, manned with guards. These guards seem entirely to not expect an attack, and are by the looks of it also not heavily armed or well trained, they are easily dispatched and in fact many of them even flee outright as the outpost seems to mostly have been treated as a faraway station that not many of them enjoyed being "promoted" to. The Officers stand their ground firmer, but are eventually no match for the group's all-round strategy. The group cuts away more vines that seem to shriek and recoil after the first few are cut. By the time the group reaches the inner sanctum, a group of Yanar come out of nowhere and scream for the group to stop the killing and beg them not to hurt the Vasil any further. Exasperated, they explain to the group that they never expected anyone would find them because the Vasil mostly scares off the locals with its ghostly trickery in the forest. They explain that this is the last known Vasil in the whole world, born from a single seed that a dying Vasil rooted deep underground in Ithania that survived the Night of the Weeping Stars gave to a group of explorers in 301 AC. They recount how it was Emperor Alexander, who at the time was still Senator Alexander, who was part of that expedition with his Nelfin and Yanar researchers, and personally brought the Vasil to Silverwind to hide it from the world, then afterwards when he became Emperor declared the territory off-limits, stationed the garrison and kept the Yanar researchers around to tend to it. Indeed, the group verifies that it is indeed a Vasil, but still very young and small, barely the size of an oak, though it had grown this large in nine years, there was no telling how large it could become. And indeed, the Vasil's projection appearance was also a present, what looked like a roughly 6 year-old looking Yanar with a very skittish and shy personality, tending to her wounds on her fingers, mimicking the cut vines outside the inner sanctum. The group eventually turned home having learned this. The group will be able to have exclusive progression order rights to re-enter the area during the Cycle 10, but at Cycle 11, the Emperor is likely to send new reinforcements and toughen up security. The Yanar will not reveal the identity of the attackers.
    Nordskag
    • House di Civita mobilizes and lands its army on Hvitskag's western coast. Same story as the other attackers: nothing but empty camping sites and villages.
    • House Mac Conall also mobilizes and dumps its troops on the Hvitskag western coast to join the camping party. House Varcion's troops also automatically unload as there are now allies present. Though House Mac Conall's troops are very well fed as they spend more (any) money on supplies.
    • Allestane Delmotte supported by Yshfa, Milsi, Allynna and Jade Kehn-Renter land part of the Westmark's army on Hvitskag's north. With the intent to "blitzkrieg", the army moves at breakneck speed to try and capture half the landmass. They pass through village and village though find nothing, as the Hvitskaggers live in the true fashion of the Skaggers of old, as nomads who do not settle for long. The army encounters a few old Regalian/Nordskag outposts from the previous long trenchwars fought between these states. Before long, the casualties start mounting between frotsbite, lack of supplies, bad visibility in weather and the excellent fog and snowy forest ambushes that the Hvitskaggers deploy, using guerrilla tactics to their advantage that they have honed on their lands for decades fighting off failed Regalian invasions and Nordskag pacifications. The army suffers heavy losses and can barely count the killed Hvitskaggers in the dozens, with any land they claim immediately being made unsafe by Hvitskaggers who simply pass by the army's incoherent frontlines as a single army tries to capture a whole country.
    • There are now five armies parked in a frozen hellhole with no options for pillage or foraging. Expect ramping upkeep costs in future periods.
    • House Sorenvik moves its army to the Hvitskag adjecent Nordskag region, but does not move its army to Nordskag.
    Ellador
    • Godrun, Milsi and Natharia travel to Ostermanh to survey the land. Milsi is used to investigate the skeletons, finding several of them with vampiric teeth, and others with normal dentures. The running theory is that the Ostermanh kingdom was entirely eradicated decades ago by Vampires, or suffered some catastrophic societal collapse from Vampiric infection and critical mass of blood feeding, that is to say, the non-Vampire population being unable to sustain the feral Vampire population and being entirely killed out with the Vampires dying soon after from lack of sustenance, or moving north to Dorkarth. The land itself seemed arable enough, but poor, on account of it being so close to Ellador, and how the cold wind made most of the ground still very tundra like. Sturdy fauna could likely settle though, as the tundra moss and grass grew in abundance. The mineral wealth of the region seemed relatively poor. It bears noting that the Hedryll Kingdom was already sending people into the area, some outposts had already been established. No official declaration was made, but it seemed like Hedryll had caught on, and was planning on just annexing Ostermanh to add the territory to their Kingdom.
    • Rumors circulated that the Loyalist Isldar had made some sort of breakthrough re-contacting Frisit, or re-constituting her somehow. The exact details are hazy, however the Kade army parked in Ellador made a very hasty retreat, traveling all the way back to the Regalian Archipelago. Worryingly so, a large number of Url are coming with them. Houses Guentyr, Abbansadi, Bancroft and van Hal should expect large numbers of Url immigrants soon. While these will not be helpless refugees, Those who were (or are) originally Baal-Url may present some problems in Anglia.
    • House Viduggla jams two armies, including the Tryllejag army to attack the Ogres and Thylans, who are now completely overwhelmed by the three armies being stacked against them. The longer the armies fight, the less the resistance seems to be comprised of actual soldiers and more of what appears like desperate civilians clinging onto makeshift weapons like tree branches turned into spears. Some of the armies break purely by seeing the Regalian troops and scatter in all wind directions, with reports coming from across the Tryllejag Kingdom of Thylans stealing poultry and emaciated Ogres carrying off cattle. Whatever pushed them south from Ellador made them desperate enough to flee into Regalian weapons. Eventually the Viduggla ships report that no further rafts are being launched, and all the coastal settlements seem empty. They can't find a single Ogre or Thylan left on the mainland, leading some to assume that the only remaining population of distinct Elladorian Thylans is now on Tryllejag, or rather, soon to be extinct along with their culture if the current campaign continues (which the King seems very intent on doing).
    • Tuija, Lily and Viggo (Braggison) travel to Ellador, only to immediately turn around and sail back to Regalia along Prince Raymond. Prince Raymond states that he is effectively abandoning the Isldar rebels because the war was becoming untenable. Dark forces are on the move beyond simple peasant armies of Anglia and Url to compete with. Prince Raymond remarks that "Enough Regalians have died for a chunk of ice and dead Dwarven dreams, it's time to go home".
    • Medea's army returns home and Medea apologizes to the Hedryll King for their misstep.
    • Ark'ai cancels the Northmark blockade between Ellador and Marna and returns to Regalia.
    • Medea, Cordenia and Arahael Bancroft travel to Ellador to the Isldar rebel holds. The Rebel holds are obviously not interested in talking to them under the auspices of the Regalian State because Regalia (Kade) just pulled out their troops and left them out hanging. Cordenia shares her information from Junction Central and Medea requests permission to set up a beach head, but the Isldar say they have more important things to deal with right now with the "Death Beast" that the Loyalists seem to be in the possession of.
    Carrhen
    • Xalla, Anathema, Aldair and Azrael travel to Carrhen, bypassing the blockade with a visa to investigate the Handrin Gate in the Rutgher Theocracy. Xaella cannot distinguish any death rituals or mass-death in the area, it seemed like the worship site was simply abandoned a while back. The two mages confirm that the gateway is a very large and sophisticated Elemental Gateway, which are large Gates that lead to somewhere, usually powered by Void Magics since Elemental Gateways were developed in the Allorn Empire a very long time ago. Xaella manages to summon a dead worker who helped build the gate, purely by stupid happenstance of stumbling into a worn graffiti of stone etching saying "Farfjad Bergenful var her". Interrogating this dead person was difficult would it not be for the stupid amount of linguistic investment of Anathema, capable of deciphering Proto-Velheim, eventually revealing that each Handrin Gate comes with its own key, but that each key is a weapon that also applies to all Gates in turn. For example, Andlár is one such key, the Artifact held by House Sorenvik, but there are over a dozen more, each with their own enchantments and appearances, given to them by the Old Gods to grant them entry to Vaarda, or so the ghost said before dissipating.
    • House Sorenvik's fleet lands in Carrhen with supplies to aid refugees. They load up refugees willing to re-settle in Drixagh. The refugee boardings are frequently interrupted by the wolf-pelt wearing men who just immediately start cutting down the people trying to board the transports, however Sorenvik Guards make quick work of them. House Sorenvik manages to resettle a few thousand refugees in various villages across the region, mostly in half-abandoned houses from the ""burning of the north"", which were actually just houses abandoned by migrants seeking better employment in the capital of Regalia. Within weeks of their arrival, several of the villages across the region are reporting troubling news: finding several of the villagers in strange group suicide rituals. More troubling so is that within these circles, only one of the members is only ever one of the immigrants, all others are just Drixagh nationals. Whatever was causing the strange behavior in Carrhen among the locals seems to have been Trojan Horsed to Drixagh and is now affecting Sorenvik lands, mostly taking place among some of the most economically disaffected, and nationalist sentiment-ed Velheim who resent how much influence the Empire has gained in the area over the years, as well as very old Skaggers who have become too infirm to fight anymore. House Sorenvik also requested allowance from the Nordskag King to settle several Carrhen refugees there also. The phenomena ocuring in Drixagh also appears in Nordskag, with groups of people committing group suicide in ritualistic fashion, thus spreading it further to Nordskag also. Houses Viduggla, Nordhjem and Dragic beg their leaders to shut the borders with Sorenvik to prevent whatever madness has been brought to Regalia from infecting their populations and let the economic damage be damned.
    Jorrhildr
    • Tuija, Eric, Anathema, Elmyra and Revna travel to Jorrhildr to try and prod at the Seraph Magic shields again. Elmyra and Anathema try whatever they can, but both eventually conclude that whoever made these spells, or any part of this Magic, was so immensely powerful that it would likely require some deity tier entity to break through them. More uncomfortably so, the Magic shield seemed to be perceiving them in their own words, like there was a malevolent consciousness behind it that was reacting to their every spell weaving and interfered with them. The group returns home.
     
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  4. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    Regalia
    • Haeddi leads Laurent, Harlow, Alban and Ymir to Aaker and Riest to research more on the Sarlann. Unfortunately, there is nothing of relevant interest in this area, as Lorenthaus is largely urbanized. Riest and Aaker once had forests that have largely been cleared, and any ruins that might have been left behind were torn down for bricks. The locals say the only other place that might still have untouched locations might be Tirgunn, but "Good luck getting your hotchpot of freaks in there".
    • Aleksandra Dragic has closed the borders to Sorenvik lands, preventing any migration across them.
    • Most Scandalous! On the evening of the 28, a large group of Asha mercenaries approach the Valloaan estate and polt it with eggs, boiled, rotten and raw, dozens and hundreds of eggs rapidly pelted at the Valloaan estate one by one until it reeked of rotten egg and was covered in uncooked and cooked egg whites, as seagulls eagerly picking at the leftovers. The Asha made away before the slow Clockwork guards at the entrance of the district were able to intervene.
    • Nefer Morathes inquires with the Scholar's Court, asking if they need more funding, and if they would research opioid alternatives. The Scholar's Court declines on both, but recommends that if they want to do alchemical research they should approach the Allar, though to take note that the opioid ban exists for a reason, it is to prevent the citizens from wasting hours being high and unproductive, and synthetic drugs would do the same thing and probably get banned also.
    Finances
    • Narla sends 1 Wealth Token to Alban.
    • House Morathes 13 Wealth Tokens to the Finance Ministry (Cannot donate directly to Crookback, the Finance Ministry has to approve it to the Development Ministry, which has to approve it to Crookback).
    • House Morathes 4 Wealth tokens to Yshfa
    • House Morathes 2 Wealth tokens to Baskoro Yuwonibu
    • House Morathes 1 Wealth tokens to Eko Baktayah
    Farah'deen
    • Cadwyn, Carmen, Maiyusa, Wilvamair and Traoré travel to Farahdeen with the intent to track down the Maalthar. Using Traoré as a translator, the group is eventually pointed to a specific patch of desert though large it is, with many cliffs and winding chasms. The group attempts to use the eagles provided by Wilvamair to travel high above ground, however Traoré indicates that this is probably not a good idea, since they didn't exactly get legal permission to do on this expedition from the government, and the aerial patrols might see this as a provocation in their airspace, coupled with the fact that the region they are going into has a lot of cliff overhang, and as such aerial scouting would cause them to miss a lot of space underneath these overhanging rocks.
    • The group continues thus on foot, entering the Massarat chasms, a massive set of dried up underground riverbeds that cracked open and became half filled with sand. Passing by the entrance, the group witnesses a massive broken down Clockwork digging machine. The back part of the machine, presumably its legs were stuck in the ground, long sand blasted to nothing. Its right arm was detached and on the floor, but its left arm was still digging, the whole machine moving up every minute or so to make a very slow dragging motion with its arm against the stone wall, its fingers having completely eroded and just being a stump left that it kept digging into the sandstone wall with, where it seemed obvious this machine had been digging for a really really long time, but also with no clear purpose, because it just deposited the dug rocks and sand behind itself, which would inevitably slide back into the digging hole it had made, thus creating a never ending loop. Traoré commented that these kind of machines were not unusual, not all Sariyd machines perished during the Great Storm, some of them just kept on doing their work, even if their masters had long since perished as they could go on forever, cycling Soul Essence from the Rivers. Traoré climbed on the back of the machine and with one quick punch into the backplate's corroded control panels, he ripped out a piece of gearwork, causing the light in the machine's eyes to fade, and its arm to collapse, eventually telling them to move on.
    • In a long winding chasm, the wind howled from one direction to the other, like a wind funnel. The others were seemingly distracted, Maiyusa looking at some of the cliffside dwellings that were built high up an incline, covered by the shade of the overhang. Her curiosity was directly opposed to Traoré alertness however, for he knew what those dwellings meant. The Rishiq had made their homes in the hidden hard to reach places of the desert for hundreds of years, often using old work camp dwellings made by the Sariyd and long abandoned and left to decay. Urging caution, his concerns were proven right when the wind was temporarily interrupted by a single shrill bird-cry, the human voice mimicking the mating call of the Qasrat vulture. Traoré immediately shouted to cover, with a projectile only barely brazing Carmen's cheek as small puffs of smoke erupted from the cliffsides above, loud gunpowder shots echoing through the cliffs sides. High above the group could only just barely make out the Rishiqs, more than Traoré had ever even seen, bound in ragged cloth and with sun parched and darkened skin from living in the desert for decades. They had long gunpowder rifles, equally bound in ragged cloths. Some were crouched against the cliffsides, others were sitting on their Clockwork hovering boards, taking potshots at the group below hiding by an outcrop of stone. Wilvamair unfurled his wings with intent to strike, but Traoré told him to back down, remarking that "if they wanted to kill us we would already be dead, they are just playing with us". Indeed, when adrenaline no longer took hold, Cadwyn could confirm that they were just casually talking with one another and even cackling when a shot ricocheted off a rock near Carmen and covered her in splinter sandstone and sand. The Rishiq weren't shooting to kill, they were shooting to practice with their new weapons which Maiyusa reasoned had been stolen from Regalia some time ago while the Muskete still hadn't reached the common market. The Rishiq's suddenly all jumped up on their hoverpads after a series of yells from above the cliffsides, speeding off along the cliffside, only to be followed by a large Masaya patrol vessel that shot Ordial green fire down at them, they returning fire with their rifles while speeding away from it. The group waited until the gunpowder eruptions no longer echoed through the tunnels before they moved on.
    • The group traveled for days, witnessing more fallen Clockwork giants half-buried in the sand, and distant Ordial Mage patrols during the night, with green lights dancing on the horizon. Traoré created a Shambala circle around the camp each time, remarking that his people had always done this to ward off the Sadeir. Indeed, during one night, sand wraiths approached the camp, and just as they seemed to breach beyond the circle Traoré had drawn in the sand, the circle lit up simultaneously as Traoré's Tawhroon did, and the Sadeir were stopped as if smashed into a solid wall, shrieking that they could not cross the line. The group held their weapons out and stood back to back until the sun rose, and the Sadeir's whirling sand bodies collapsed at the touch of sunlight.
    • The group eventually was unable to find the Maalthar. The Maalthar seemed very much in their element, and did not want to be found, and so searching the desert for a group of people who would actively avoid being found, proved too difficult without clearer directions, or the Maalthar wanting to speak.
    • Farah'deen cool. But don't expect all expedition writing to be this long.
    Ithania
    • Saren, Nefer, Amir, Amir(Actually her name is Imara carl), and Masuki travel to Ithania's desert-jungle wall to investigate its origins. Wow this jungle really sucks to move through, there probably is a reason why it is called an impassable obstacle to any southern invaders by the Ithanian armies, Nefer sagely observes. The group travels around in circles, swatting away mosquitos, wading through knee-deep water covered in algae and slithering tentacle things that occasionally flick against their ankles. The trees are dense, the vines even denser, and the group can find nothing, eventually realizing their pace is so slow they can't even cross a mile into the jungle without spending hours just cutting through. The group ends up finding nothing, with Amir eventually observing they probably should have brought a Mage with them, because only Magic could have made this jungle as it was, if it is artificial at all for that matter, because he reasons that the desert may actually also be artificial. In fact they don't really know what is and isn't artificial because none of them are geologists, so eventually they go home with a bad rash and itch from insect bites and Saren suffering several heat strokes from his fur.
     
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  5. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    Hadar
    • Siralli, Pipa Pipa (why is she here????), Baskoro, Mirabel, Ymir, Eko, Masuki, Harlow and Alban travel to Batara Guru's lands to convince Batara Guru, Cro-Zzhin and Croq to stage a Juara match with Kabau's champion, assuring them they will do whatever they could to ensure a positive outcome to the match. The plan is discussed with the Cro's and they all eventually agree, with Cro-Zzhin having some concern and trepedation, Cro-Droq being utterly dismissive of any threat to his life, and Batara Guru seeming apprehensive of the group's trustworthiness, but Cro-Zzhin's vouching eventually wins out.
    • On the way out, Cro-Zzhin extends a small vial to Siralli, remarking to only use this by delivery of a small blown-dart if things go really bad. Before Siralli leaves, Cro-Zzhin snatches their tail and reminds them fairly gutturally that they will be held responsible if Cro-Droq dies, before releasing them and letting the group fully go.
    • The group splits into two on arrival in Kabau's city. Eko and Masuki act as guards to Cro-Droq which he seems not too pleased about, especially since, even though Masuki is Ksat, Cro-Droq is still shorter than them, and feels unimposing in comparison to his two guards. There seems to be no foul play before the actual fight, the rooms are clean and well taken care of, and nobody seems to be concerned about letting them go anywhere they please, creating the impression that it is probably safe. The personal guard group eventually takes up position outside the arena, Kabau has set a rule that none but his personal entourage may watch the battle, though Ymir, Alban and Harlow eventually find a spot high up on a roof of a nearby building that allows them to see inside the arena while not actually being inside.
    • Mirabel, Pipa, Baskoro and Siralli are unable to find any indicators of magical foul play in Kabau's palace or the arena. They are even let in to inspect the arena beforehand by Kabau who feels very secure about the safely of his arena and the fact that he is not cheating. The group eventually agrees to join the others near the rooftop to watch the fight from outside the arena. Siralli however does mix the alchemy before the fight as told by Cro-Zzhin just to be sure. Observing that the arena is too far away for accurate deployment however, they find a little side box of the arena just large enough to fit Pipa Pipa if she were to crawl into it. When they reach the rooftop, they tell Pipa Pipa to use the tunnels under the arena to reach this side box, and sit there with the blowing pipe to deploy a small prick dart to Cro-Droq is things go bad.
    • The match begins, and as instructed, the entire arena is empty save for Kabau sitting on his throne in the sun-covered viewing dais, surrounded by what looks like Nelfin advisors. The battle begins as one would expect with both Cro-Droq and his opponent Ksat-Allar exchanging growls and raptor-like calls to establish dominance before they assail each other. Cro-Droq deploys his very unique combat posture, dropping on all fours with his tail held higher in the air as a distraction, moving unusually fast for a Cro to respond to the Ksat who is almost equal in size to him.
    • Pipa Pipa meanwhile is waddling through the tunnels under the arena, getting hopelessly lost. The thudding and growling in the arena above keeps pulling her back to attention, but she eventually gets terribly distracted by a pretty mold on the wall that has grown in such a way it resembles a tree canopy, and she just sits next to it and looks at it with wonder.
    • The fight goes on and on, until the group notices something odd. Each time the Ksat scrapes or stabs Cro-Droq with his tail blade, Droq becomes slower and slower, until at some point he even collapses on one knee. The group reason, in that moment, that the rigging was in fact the weapon used by Kabau's champion, not any of the other circumstances, but that it was also an extremely subtle poison, because it didn't work instantly and seemed to act like a believable wear and tear of the fight. The group had hoped that by now Pipa Pipa would deploy the alchemy, but see no sight of Pipa's face in the small box to the side. Baskoro decides not to wait and sprints down to the arena halls, dashing past the guards who try to stop them to find Pipa Pipa.
    • The fight meanwhile goes worse and worse for Cro-Droq who spits up blood and eventually collapses on the ground, with the other Ksat taunting him. Kabau seems enthused, but who seems more enthused are the advisors in the background, who all whisper and mutter to one another. It is there that Masuki reasons that Kabau may actually not even be aware of the cheating. He may be entirely in the blind and the actual culprit may be his advisors behind him who seem to know a lot more than he does.
    • Baskoro eventually finds Pipa, grabbing her and just running with her to the entry to the side box and tossing Pipa into it. In that moment, Pipa is reminded of her duty, takes aim, and shoots the tiny little pin-prick projectile in Cro-Droq's butt from behind, who at this point is in a near state of complete collapse on the ground.
    • The moment Cro-Droq is hit however, he slowly climbs back up as if regaining the strength to fight, the opponent taunting him all the while, until it is too late. Cro-Droq's body suddenly convulses, he drops back down on one knee, before his whole body starts expanding to twice the size, becoming larger and bulkier. Even more so, his arms split into two separate pairs of arms with elongated claws both extending from his torso, and his head grows horns while his tail gains large spikes. Cro-Droq roars, while the opponent has a "What the fuck" expression on his face, and Kabau has meanwhile stood up in shock, the shit eating grins on the advisors being gone as well. The group on the rooftop is equally surprised with Eko passively asking Siralli if anything of that substance was left that Cro-Zzhin gave, which Siralli immediately shook their head to.
    • Cro-Droq, now towering much larger over the opponent rapidly slammed his tail into the opponent, impaling him on the tail spikes before grabbing the Ksat and ripping him in half while throwing the dead torso to the other side of the arena. Kabau started yelling protests, and then something unexpected happened: The advisors behind Kabau shifted out of their Glamour, revealing their Crimson Witch identity and Ides of March'd Kabau, stabbing him over and over until he dropped to the ground. The Crimson Witches shrieked in displeasure at Cro-Droq who roared in return as they jumped down into the arena, weapons brandished in large numbers.
    • The group on the roof decided not to wait, brandishing their own weapons and using a set of grappling hooks to attach to the arena and slide down into it, just as a melee broke out between Cro-Droq and the Crimson Witches.
    • The group ends up taking positions around Cro-Droq, fighting the Crimson Witches in a fierce melee as they seem intent on destroying any evidence of Cro-Droq winning. The fight seems to be going in their favor, using Cro-Droq's fierce fighting capability to take them out one by one and rip them to shreds while the others hold them down with their weapons. One that fights Eko is grabbed from behind by Cro-Droq, ripping its arms off and throwing the limbs to the side, letting the body slump on the ground. Cro-Droq then leans forward and lets out a bestial roar in Eko's face as he seems entirely coked-up on adrenaline and whatever the alchemy was that was injected in him. Eko just does a little blush, and then Cro-Droq collapses from exhaustion, his body returning to normal with the effects of the alchemy wearing off.
    • The Crimson Witches flee, seeing their odds still turned against them with some having been killed, allowing the group to safely evacuate Cro-Droq. The people outside however already seem aware of the situation. They however cheer them on, as the realization sinks in that the Crimson Witch puppet has been defeated, and that they are now ruled by Batara Guru. Indeed, Batara Guru's Slizzar allies already move in, with the iridescent Slizzar at the head, entering Kabau's palace and presumably declaring it annexed into Batara Guru's realm, thus shifting the balance of power strongly into Batara's direction.
     
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  6. MonMarty

    MonMarty Thotdodger Staff Member Server Owner

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    Regalia
    • Gesang, Suijin, Atum and Gaiserik attempt to meet with the Krainivayan Celacy to speak about the Oprichnyy. Most of the clerics seem a tad confused or frightened at the inclusion of people with animal body parts and a whole scaled Url, and scurry off as if this is their first time ever seeing a non Ailor (it is). Gaiserik cannot find any local Viridian Chapters (Viridians don't like going near poor areas apparantly), and the local populace gains much the same response. Even if it wasn't for the quasi furries in the group, the locals are incredibly tight lipped against outsiders. The Krainivaya in general are part of the Empire, but to a degree still feel like they are from Essalonia, and have a gap in the way they interpret the world and themselves in terms of what is from Essalonia, and what is from the west, and as such, they are unlikely to talk to outsiders.
     
  7. bwmwags3

    bwmwags3 Refugee

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    “Fantastic work in Hadar, shame we botched that Krainvyka job but ah well. Less of those blightful demon worshippers in the world the better especially if they’re trying to corrupt Hadar,” the celate cheers drinking more Kaffe.
     
  8. Vegemiite

    Vegemiite monty appreciator Supremium

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    Initially disappointed in the lack of any leftover serum that could replicate what was given to Droq, Eko would waste no time in leaping into the fray just as everyone else in the party had done. Maybe it was for the best they didn't invite another Crimson Witch to aid them as was possibly considered back in Regalia. Taking up position around the Rama and snarling out at the approach of any of the Witches on his side with all his might, his fangs had remained bared the entire fight, keeping back the encroaching numbers best he could until Droq was there to finish the job and when he did, it was glorious, practically frozen in place as blood splattered all over the crimson and raven scales, in direct opposite positioning as Droq's own scales. Blanking completely as he was finally in direct sight of the monstrous transformation he had undertaken, he was at a loss of words, merely stuck admiring the new additions to the body that he craved to have in ample measure on his own body. Then the roar came and his feathers shot up into a ruffled state, tail swaying behind just as a hound would whenever excited. If it was possible to blush they would've, tongue coming out to pant to help cool down while their mind bond with Mirabel was racing with certain thoughts. It wasn't until she plucked a feather or five that he finally came back to reality, offering some awkward and raspy chuckles and apologies to his mate, signalling with the others it was time for them to leave.

    They had done it. One Digmaan down, three more to go. @Ailethi
     
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  9. Winterless

    Winterless The MVP of Romance RP

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    An Aelriggan Knight stood on a dusty precipice overlooking the network of canyons and cliffs that wound through Farahdeen. Late afternoon meant time to make camp. And time to smoke. A gust of wind from two giant silver wings rewarded his efforts to light the sigg, and he repeated the process all over again.

    "You want some?" he commented sardonically over his shoulder to the creature, turning his head to face it. Though it was a magical bird, it behaved like any other, enjoying the wind in its feathers, and cocking its head to the side in silent question. And mild lack of amusement.

    "Didn't think so. It's not my fault you didn't get to fly, if that is what you are angry about. Miscommunication about the terrain." he replied to the silence of the bird, as if it would reply. He doubted it was that magical, and blew out a long breath of the smoke. The eagle continued to stare, giant black eye unimpressed with his explanation.

    "The silent treatment? From you? That's cold, Bird." he mused, half to himself, as he flicked the sigg over the ledge and turned back to the campsite. The bird of prey watched it tumble from the cliffside, before releasing what Wilvamair could have sworn was an irritated huff, shaking out its wings and drifting off into a Faraddi sunset, fading into the air with silver wisps.

    "I think I am going to need to name that eagle something that isn't 'Bird'. Any ideas?" he asked the grouping in front of him.

    @OkaDoka @falcvns @DolittleGuy @HeyItzAPotato
     
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  10. joglak

    joglak Refugee

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    House Valloaan, as a response to this ghastly vandalism offers bale ((1 WT)) rewards to any and all who have information regarding the perpetrators and funders of the mercenaries in question. Furthermore, the Fin'ullen house declares any and all Asha who approach or enter Valloaan property as trespassers. Visitors beware!
     
  11. DolittleGuy

    DolittleGuy Scrungo Enthusiast Premium

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    Cadwyn sat against a rock under an overhang not too far from Wilvamair, where a shrug accompanied his response. "Maybe Grum. That's always a good one, I think." Thereafter he produced his own smoking pipe and filled it. Once it was set in the corner of his mouth, metallic fingers snapped and so a small cyan light ignited the contents.
    "Maybe think of a funny thing that bird does. Go with that."
     
    #11 DolittleGuy, Apr 29, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2022
  12. canaaa

    canaaa tea gremlin Staff Member PR2

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    Kelvenne sits quietly in the cave, poring over the reports as they came in. She opens her mouth to speak to her Goddess, "It is odd that they would resort to such poisons, when the head of it seems to be so .. ah," as something catches her eye. She purses her lips, her head tilts to the side, and some glimmer comes to her golden eyes before she rises to her feet, the corner of her lips pulling upwards as she calls for Rennyn, Lau, and Velkhorr in the depths of the caverns, curling her fingers tighter. What an interesting happening. Perhaps now they had work to do, for their Goddess.
    @Ebrima @Hierophant_ @SorryNari
     
  13. Ailethi

    Ailethi neighborhood milf lover Supremium

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    Lost in both the thrill and fear of the first real fight she'd ever partaken in, Mirabel found herself at a loss for words whenever it was finally quiet -- outwardly, at least. There were no more screams of Witches being torn to shreds by her Allar companions, no more unexpected splatters of gore and blood flung on her previously pristine clothing. Ew. Ew. Ew. That was absolutely disgusting. Not that the clean-up would take long, in fact, she was clean in a snap of her fingers. Thanks, magic. How do people fight like this on a daily basis in Regalia? What kind of sadistic satisfaction... Grumbling to herself, the Fin'ullen placed her attention on a tug of thoughts in the back of her mind that she had since grown accustomed to with her bonding with Eko, slowly turning towards the violet feathers Ksat with sudden murderous intent. Extending a bloodied palm upwards, she collected a solid handful of his feathers and proceeded to crank backward, breaking a couple free from their previous hold from the scales and skin beneath in order to tug him like a giant puppy who wanted to take a little nibble. There were murmurs of disbelief along with a few, "No. You can't have his drugs. Or him."

    On the way out of the Palace, there was a sudden obsession with the iridescent Slizzar as it moved inside. Odd. How so very odd.

    @Vegemiite
     
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    #13 Ailethi, Apr 29, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2022

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