Trouble was brewing in Dragenthal, as it always ends up being somehow. This time, trouble would not immediately arise in Dragenthal itself, but rather from the warm and pristine Ithanian lands to the far west. For months, numerous Ithanian and non-Ithanian groups of interest had attempted to court the political support of the Ithanian Sovereign to form some sort of political union against House Harhold. Every single time however, the Sovereign of Ithania had declined, stating that making an enemy out of the State Council was not advantageous to the survival of Ithania in the current war climate of Daendroc, especially since the likes of du Polignac and d'Ortonnaise failed to gather a large amount of political momentum under their wings. The situation seemed different this time however. This time, a massive Kade army was guarding the southern Ithanian border and denying any Elves from marching north. This time, the Avanthar were utterly destroyed and no longer threatened the Ithanian border. This time, it was a State Councilman, Wulffram Kehlen, who approached the Ithanian Sovereign with an attempt to convince her to agree to a political coalition against Harhold, and not particularly just a coalition, but an actual stated intent to have Harhold's titles revoked and removed from political office. Soon afer the intial deliberations were made, the Ithanian Sovereign still showed restraint, given that Kehlen was a Knight and thus likely in league with the conservative clique, but she was willing enough to call forth the Principalities of Andois and Visois in the south, as well as various governors of the l'Elvellen lands, and some minor Ithanian nobles from the Archipelago to form a greater league of denunciation against House Harhold. This league was tacitly joined by House Barlowe, who was independently approached by House Kehlen with the intention of calling upon blood ties to unite against Harhold. Barlowe was far less willing than the Ithanian Sovereign, but had a clear political alignment against Harhold growth, seeing as House Barlowe was squeezed in between House Harhold and House Kehlen. With a multiparty alliance now formed, all members looked to House Kehlen to understand what the next objective or step was. There was no clear path that the alliance could undertake to try and undermine House Harhold, and the sovereign states of the Regalian Empire Federation (thus states that the State Council did not directly lead over) did not start undermining their obligations to the Regalian Empire to put pressure on House Harhold, but all parties were eager to get started, taking their ques from House Kehlen. House Kehlen was not the only political player in the region however. House Black, despite having been ousted from Narlas their homeland, were still a political player with influence. In fact, House Black employed the same tactics used by House Kehlen when they were once small, by organizing a coalition of Barons and Counts who all felt the increasing pressure of Kehlen and Harhold, fearing their expansion. For the second time since Kehlen united the lower barons to pressure the major title holders, Barons once again flocked to a banner to produce a new Baron's Coalition, this time against Harhold and Kehlen both, many of the Barons who had previously supported Kehlen against Drache and Harhold now turning on him. It was thus that Dragenthal, the hotbed of recent regalian civil strife, was now again brimming with hostility towards the major powers, and noises were even coming from the Anglian Veer, where the pagans still living in von Hauger lands were eager to get their revenge on House Harhold and the Anglian Unionist Zealots who had burned their lands and killed their relatives. Even as far north as Sorenvik lands did the locals start forming volunteer bands with the intention of petitioning their leader, Kaya Sorenvik, to strike some sort of agreement with either the Baron's Coalition or the Ithanian-Kehlen agreement against Harhold. Suddenly the walls that the Kades were building, as much as they were in the way of many Harhold farms and roads, some of which had to walk for miles to get to the other side of the wall to access their lands, didn't feel as much of an obstacle anymore.
Local lords, landowners and guildmasters from all over the Vlissinghelm heartland gather in the capital of Vlissingburg, leaving several hours later among runners, riders and carrier pigeons. Meanwhile in Regalia, the Kellhof Estate begins to fill up on supplies straight from their Anglian holdings.
