Ongoing wars Tyrannian Invasion of Vlissinghelm - Tyrannian (Attacker) - Harhold (Defender) - de Letoirneau (Defender) Sorenvik Naval Conflict with Peirgarten - Sorenvik (Attacker) - Peirgarten (Defender)Viduggla punitive war on Norrvakt - Viduggla (Attacker) - Sorenvik (Attacker) - Norrvakt (Defender) Current Alliances Delmotte - Ravenstad (offensive) Harhold - de Letoirneau (offensive) Ravenstad - du Brierüst (defensive) Sorenvik - Viduggla (offensive) Von Duerr started the movements of the week by committing to the truce with Viduggla, removing their ships from blockade and sending two Wealth Bales to Viduggla as war reparations, bringing an end to their war. Norrvakt secured their coast with a ship and put all their troops on the defensive, sending additional troops to the Kathar war by 15,000. Viduggla paid one Wealth Bale to von Rahm in exchange for the Krupp-held lands, returning them and fulfilling half the agreement with the Krupp manors, increasing his local support. Viduggla also spent another 2 Wealth Bales to buy two new ships, and declared his intention of warring on Norrvakt over a proclamation which Norrvakt supposedly was to make about becoming the Warden of the North and the Raakhr of the Velheim people. Sorenvik confirmed an alliance with Viduggla and also committed to attacking Norrvakt, mobilizing soldiers in response. While von Rahm's ships retreated from Viduggla's lands, one of Viduggla's ships sailed out and opened fire on the von Rahm ships as they sailed away, technically violating the truce between the two states. When reprimanded after the event, the captain said he received a large sum of money and explicit orders from Viduggla to attack the retreating ships, with Viduggla commanders quickly stating they issued no such order. The presence of money in the hands of the captain, made it obvious it concerned a bribe. House von Rahm then retreated these ships back to their homeland, after which they loaded two Wealth Bales and sailed for Sorenvik's lands to deliver the finances safely. Upon arriving at port, the ships were moored, the sailors fed drunk, until the Sorenvik sprung a trap and captured the ships, seizing von Rahm's fleet and manning it with sailors of their own, while also capturing the money von Rahm had sent to Sorenvik. As a result of losing their entire fleet and three quarters of their wealth with nothing to show for, von Rahm was humiliated and lost a considerable chunk of support from their Manors. Sorenvik also spent two Wealth Bales to buy 20,000 mercenaries, placing 17,000 in Viduggla's Skarvaland for defensive purposes, and sending 3,000 soldiers along with Viggo Kinsley along with von Rahm's ships to specific orders to "sail to the Peirgarten fleet". The Peirgarten fleet was however still moored in the Hinterlands on account of the Grand Duchess receiving "ill news of grave insult from Baron Norrvakt to the Grand Duchess" and had not committed her fleet to his defense. As Sorenvik ships sailed into the Hinterlands bay, Peirgarten ships sallied out in much greater numbers, outnumbering them two to one). Viggo Kinsley was not even able to try and board any of the Peirgarten ships, the von Rahm stolen-now-Sorenvik ships suffered heavy losses in the encounter on account of being southron ships which the Velheimers could not properly rig and steer. Two of the three ships sank, and the last one legged away in defeat back to Sorenvik's lands. Viduggla and Sorenvik's mobilization saw a grand call of arms against Norrvakt and his supposed scheme to have himself proclaimed King of Drixagh. All kinds of proclamations were made, but none of the predictions came true. It was true that Sorenvik had captured von Rahm sailors, but the Manors knew quite well that it was the Duchess's betrayal of their good faith that led to their capture. The manors also saw no evidence of Peirgarten ships on Norrvakt's coast, in fact Norrvakt had a pittance of a fighting force left standing that was not even capable of invading anyone. Furthermore, the cited clause against Typhonus was quickly denounced as he was clearly mobilizing for Viduggla's aggressive claim on now occupied Krupp lands. As a result, the mobilization didn't result in much. Furthermore, proclamations of this yet unproven Warden of the North theory on Norrvakt's case resulted in the wrong message being sent to the eastern Velheimers. Zastorzy, the Kerwolf Barons and the Freehold barons saw all these claims and dismissed them out of hand, seeing instead Sorenvik and Viduggla prepping to destroy sovereignty of the North, starting with Norrvakt, and ending with them. They formally united into a loose coalition and landed an ultimatum on the doorstep of Norrvakt and Sorenvik: "Back off from Norrvakt or it's war. Do with Typhonus as you please, but your expansion has gone on for long enough in Drixagh and will not come at our expense". Krupp tried to send 1,000 soldiers to the war front, but the remainder of Krupp's men mutineer-ed against him when they considered that this was a lackluster last attempt at gathering any sort of sympathy, seeing Krupp as the fallen last echo it had become. The Emperor terminated Krupp's noble lineage soon after, demoting them to Commoners. Typhonus, as a result to the increasing struggle in the north however, was able to summon a sizable force in the defense of Calemberg, gaining 60% mobilization force. Delmotte paid 2 Wealth Bales for the entirety of Eliopolous's colonies, including a buy offer for 2 new warships for another 2 Wealth Bales. With the sale of Eliopolous's final colonies that they had been working on for so long, the Manors spoke scandal against the Baroness for sending off Eliopolous's assets so quickly and without a fight, dropping Manor Support by half, and making it dangerously low. Frisque went on a large diplomatic effort to speak to the Varran Corsair lords and administrators of the City states, all of whom responded lackluster. While it was true that in Regalia Frisque remained the most prominent Varran, in terms of power comparison with the other Corsair Lords he was a small fish, and also didn't offer anything to any of these meetings, merely words. The Varrans as such responded lackluster, often ignoring or just sending Frisque away when he came showing. Dei Olzolli sent some orders but needs to re-examine how orders are sent, and examine the Statistic Spreadsheet, because dei Olzolli seems to not be fully aware how mobilization works or troop assignment. As such no Olzolli orders were processed. Von Drachenburg dedicated one ship to the Kathar war, and sent a colonial effort to Jorrhildr, while Peirgarten did the same, and spent 1 Wealth Bale on trying to bribe her manors to support her, with little to no success. of Brilonde sent troops into von Rahm's Essalonian colony, stalling colonial growth, and trying the same with Kraus colonies, however Kraus outnumbered of Brilonde 5,000 to 1,000, and as such of Brilonde's troops were forced to retreat. Of Brilonde also bought an additional ship for one Wealth Bale, while Kraus also sent another 5,000 soldiers to the Kathar War. House de Letoirneau sent 10,000 mercenaries to the Van de Veer occupied Harhold lands, along with 20,000 that were just bought by Harhold for reinforcing the lands. The 30,000 mercenaries dug in to defend against the inevitable Tyrannian invasion, which would have normally put them in a better position to deflect a Tyrannian attack. Tyrannian however didn't come alone, offering vast political concessions to the Manors of van de Veer's lands, which essentially turned on Harhold and rallied troops all around their Mercenaries while Tyrannian fought them head on. Obviously, the Mercenaries evaporated when attacked from all sides, and Tyrannian was able to convince the Manors to simply accept annexation, which they did, with the additional Liberum Veto powers promised. Tyrannian was now in control of the entire Veer, for the first time in forever, but had taken considerable manpower losses doing so, while Harhold actually managed to summon a larger amount of troops in his homeland due to the pocket lining of the Gaekraan Bankers. House de Letoirneau also proposed a financial union with the Pays Sud Viceroyalties, however this was rejected. The Pays Sud Viceroyalties indicated that they had no desire to talk to a Countess, when their previous Duchess had a much higher political standing, essentially saying that de Letoirneau wasn't prestigious enough to talk to them. du Brierüst sent 2 Wealth Bales to Delmotte as a loan, while Rote sent 30,000 soldiers to the Kathar war, along with a proclamation of "General Neutrality" in all conflicts. House Black bought another Warship, while Ravenstad also bought a Warship. Ravenstad also sent emissaries to the Ivrae lands to scope out their defenses and offer a "defense on loan deal". The Ivrae responded that they had no intention of accepting troops in their lands, as such vulgar military means were far beneath them, and that they would presume no-one would attack them anyway since they weren't a viable military target. House Idomeneus sent 10,000 troops to the warfront while also colonizing a part of Essalonia, though without any troops, as the manors refused to mobilize troops for a simple colonization. House Blackjaw finally also announced an end to a season of hostilities, sending 20,000 troops to the Kathar War front. The biggest kicker of this turn however came from House Lampero in the Vultarin Hegemony. After the Iron Duke's general mobilization, 150,000 soldiers stood ready to enforce the Vultarin decree as it was spread to all the nobles in all the realms of the land. The proclamation read a general "Council's Iron Peace", a form of military enforced truce across the Empire's internal realms for the period of several weeks. The Iron Duke essentially promised to invade any feudal lord with his force and fleet, if they violated the Council's Iron Peace, which was then quickly ratified by the Emperor. As a result, all conflicts were forcibly put on hold, and the Manors of the individual realms all retired for their spring recess, while all armies retired and commanders stood down. Mobilized forces would remain where they were, but no-one would dare to offend the Council's Iron Peace or the Emperor and make a move, so everyone went about their leisure business, ready to pick up whatever conflict their leaders had thrown them into in a few weeks time. ((Henceforth, Nobility is in a "Spring Break" of sorts where the system will no longer accept order submissions for a few weeks, enforced by the Council's Iron Peace. We as Noble Managers recommend that the characters take this time to work on character development, relationship building, and roleplay as a result of the many events that have occurred over the past few weeks. We would like to remind everyone that the noble system exists to provide content for IG roleplay, not as a perpetual game to engage in discord politics and send in gamey orders while avoiding roleplay on the server as much as possible, which has been fairly dead among the nobles for the last few weeks. Orders will resume with an announcement in Noble Announcements when the time comes. Expect at least 4 weeks break from Orders. ))
Gallus Tyrannian scratched his jaw, looking plainly at Enzo. "For the first time, I'm not entirely sure."
The Norrvakt General stood with his meager defense of troops. He was expecting to lose the battle, recieving news of the formal war declarations and all the other events in the North. He was proud of his strategy, even if it would mean another defeat to his name, noting a theme to himself of clean strategy in the face of sure defeat. When the Iron Peace was called, he couldn't help but smile to himself as many of the levies shed tears of joy, ugly, horrid sobbing of frightened men realizing they were not going to die after all.
The Corsair Lord caught word of the Iron Duke's proclamation, an anxious rusty brown Rakrran reading it off to the Pirate Baron aboard one of his flagships as the Lord himself kicked back in a chair at his desk. "Huh, I knew I would like that one. And it couldn't have come in a better time." The Varran smirked to himself, continuing to puff away on a sigg.
Deo stood idly on a tall balcony overlooking the open Ports of the Viduggla Homelands. He clasped his hands behind his back and exhaled briefly, "Well. That ol' Iron Duke has done it again. Touching." And soon after he said that he threw a collection of papers into a nearby fire and exhaled. Wandering back inside to prepare his returning vessel. Corjah waited silently in the Bailey, odd looking Dressolini Sailors carrying boxes here and there throughout their building as he watched the rolling tides of the Canal and the ocean beyond, "Perhaps we shall be able to feel ease now."
Damian Black finally smiled for once at this week's news, seeing what the Iron Duke had just put out. "Finally, now there can be less chit-chat about who has the most land and more of the true sight at hand.. the Kathar. Thank you Spirit, for letting the Iron Duke go through with this. He has saved many lives with this, now allowing all of us to be able to step forward to fight the demons once and for all."
Daedalus nodded contently at the news that his troops were travelling to the Kathar front, then smiling widely, he looked over the Palace Gardens and uttered to himself in Etosian, "With troops on the front, I'd best offer up some Field Commanders and such." - He looked to his younger brother then and gave but a small nod to recieve his thoughts on the matter. @Testl
Commander Rodrigo Peirgarten, in the company of a major group of guardsmen all adorning the plate Peirgarten armor, quickly stepped towards a balcony on the walls of Lorhauser, leaning against the stone railings. After being pointed into the distance, Rodrigo was quick to notice the approaching ships, his eyes narrowing. "Give me that," he pointed towards the spyglass of his nearest man, taking it in his single hand and putting it against his eyes, taking a close look ahead. He observed the ships with a thoughtful mumble. "Three ships... and lots of men in them. They're coming for our fleet. With such great numbers, it's probably an intent of thievery... Or a naval invasion. But why does von Rahm do this?" he put away the spyglass, staring to the man to his side. The guard shook his head and gestured for him to look again. With confusion clear in his eyes, Rodrigo brought back the spyglass and took a more observant look. After some moments of staring, he quietly pulled the spyglass down with a gloomy gaze. "It's not von Rahm at the helm. They are northerners." Having realized by now that Sorenvik deceived both Norrvakt and himself, his single hand squirmed into a balled fist. "Engage them, don't let them succeed," he ordered to his Captain, who quickly took off to assume Admiralty over the idle Peirgarten fleet. The naval battle ensued. On the defending side were six Peirgarten warships, fighting against the opposition of three von Rahm ships, commandeered by the people of Sorenvik. Cannons were blasted across the seas, sounds of gunpowder and fire echoing across the narrow oceans. Rodrigo allowed his Captain to do most of the work, watching over the battle with a visible strain in his expression. He was not angry at Sorenvik. No, he was not filled with hatred, nor any desire to see her crushed. The man only wore a somber frown in his features. "You did not need to do that," he whispered to himself, shaking his head slightly. "We could have been friends." The battle was no strain on Peirgarten's side, for, after all, they wielded naval superiority against the opposition, easily sinking two of their ships and leaving them on a single ship, which was already damaged by the cannon fire. The Peirgarten warships raised their cannons, prepared to blast the final enemy warship to hell and murder them all. At that moment, Rodrigo picked up the spyglass again, then direction his visage towards the remaining enemy ship. In his visage were panicking Northmen, trying to turn their ship around while screaming out orders and yelling amongst each other over their crewmates who had perished in the seas. The sights of hundreds of men fighting for their lives and doing everything they can to save themselves from the Peirgarten fleet... It all reminded Rodrigo of the massacre in the Viduggla colonies, the murders, and killings that he ordered, the sights of men, women and even children being put to the sword, all the cruelties that had been dished out by his hands. It almost appeared like it was about to happen all over again. But Rodrigo ceased the fire. "Don't sink them," he ordered. "Let them leave." He did not like the idea of being renowned as a northern killer again. The notion of being the murderer of thousands of men yet once again simply did not sit right with him. You all already despise me, he thought. All these men don't need to lose their lives over the poor decision of a warmongerer. The Peirgarten warships retreated to their coast, allowing the single enemy warship to safely leave Hinterlands. The tired forty-year-old man couldn't help but feel a smile spark on his lips, not a victorious or a cocky one, but one that showed a glimmer of hope in the mans face. Is this what William Howlester would have done? he thought to himself, the man whom he idolized since he was young and inexperienced, but also the man who viewed him with nothing but displeasure and hatred. Rodrigo turned on his heel, leaving the balcony and walking through the hordes of armored Peirgarten manforces. His head hung in deep thought, his plated arms swinging back and forth as he made the strut back into the Manor of Lorhauser, allowing a deep sigh to leave his lips while his mind worked up in contemplation. The next few weeks would be quiet due to the recently announced military enforced truce, but it did give him enough time to calm his mind, and devote himself to his beloved wife.
As warfare and intrigue in other parts of the Archipelago raged on, a new edition was being welcomed to the House Black, amidst a celebration of cigars and sparkling wine. The Odyssea, a brand spanking new Calemberg Third Line, was skilfully being manoeuvred into her new Narlas home port. "You're beautiful, Odyssea, don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!" shouted Christopher to this newest member of the Black family. No doubt to the silent face-palming of Dianne, and the grins of Damian. @darkarely @MrFluff1
Ernesta fell back onto a plush carpeted sofa, expelling a soft sigh. Rubbing her forehead momentarily before looking to her left. Flashing a warm smile to her hazelnut haired companion, uttering various mumbles before raising her wine glass upwards, tipping it to the sky momentarily before drinking a mouthful. "Time for a well-deserved break, Hmm?" She spoke with a soft hum.
