SYSX 2016-12-26T13:17:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1145376555558323 Happy Christmas everyone. To celebrate, here's another amazing video from Luca - showing off the beautiful photos of the year from Tom Garnett, Beth Dooner and Oliver Facey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE6K0cxMP9E&feature=youtu.be We'll see you all in 2017! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-12-10T15:03:26+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1132150790214233 All hail the new maths! Today we're going to start putting some rules updates on the wiki. I say updates... but they're not really updates. We've done updates in the past - little tweaks to the rules here and there. In fact in previous years, we've tended to do lots of little tweaks - fixing errors, changing minor bits and pieces - but essentially more of the same. This update is a bit more substantial than that and while it probably affects less actual rules - the implications of the changes are likely to affect more players - at least in some way. We expect of course that some people will love the changes and some people will hate the changes. That is very much the way of LRP. It seems fair to assume that most people who play Empire like the game - so any changes are running against the grain of changing a game that people broadly like. Occasionally you manage a set of changes that are almost universally popular, like the mid-year changes to the religion rules - but the normal result is lots of excitement and lots of passionate disagreement on what is a good change and what is a bad change. That's cool - discussing LRP games is what our hobby does when we're not playing them. But... it's going to take us a couple of days to get all these updates live on the wiki. We've got the ideas all sorted, but a wiki is the best place for us to work collaboratively on the wording of things - that's part of what they're designed for. We did consider taking the wiki down while we made the changes - but that was such an enormous PITA that we decided to just trust our players to understand that we're in the process of overhauling a bunch of pages and that understanding the true implication of stuff that is changing might be difficult while the stuff is in transition. And we won't have any time for discussing the changes - until the process of making them is complete. Once we're done, we'll email all our players to let them know that we've done the major rules update for 2017 - and we'll put a page on the wiki that brings together all the changes and explains the reasoning behind them as we go along - as we've done in previous years. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-12-05T09:27:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1127234540705858 Good morning! If you've got the Monday morning blues, here's something to distract you for a few minutes. It's a short quiz compiled by everyone's favourite space-dragon-angel-whale Leviathan to test obscure knowledge of Imperial trivia. Think of it as a pub quiz with pictures. https://www.playbuzz.com/andyrc10/leviathan-asks If it proves even slightly popular, we might do some more because heaven knows it's not as if we have any *real* work to do ;) (Oh for Feedback - the questions are in random order so if you want to talk about one specifically you'll need to describe it rather than list the number. It was just easier to create the questions in blocks, then randomise them, than to write them in a random order.) #anycrewwhodontgetwikiminerreportforreeducation, #therearenowronganswersonlywrongquestions, #leviathansaysrelaxbutnottoomuch SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-11-30T20:38:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1122689317827047 ===ALL HAIL THE NEW MATHS!=== Evening! Raff here. So this weekend just past saw myself, Graeme, and Matt get together for the annual "State of the Empire" meeting in Preston. We spent a pleasant three days talking about rules, and about where the game was and where we wanted it to be. We got a lot of work done, and are now setting about the slightly less relaxed task of working out how to implement the decisions we made. Mostly this post is to talk about a change you might already have spotted - as I've mentioned several times we're working through all the magic items in the game and double-checking them. We made some decisions at the weekend, and one of them was to just edit the items live - its a big piece of work and it made little sense to mess around working the changes up somewhere else then copying them across when we could just get on with it. We had some basic concepts when we first statted the items and a few of them have not survived contact with the actual game. Some of them are pretty simple (most of the "you can make the same call twice in 10 seconds" items are just becoming "you have some extra calls" for example). But two of them in particular have had pretty big implications that mean a great many items are changing their materials costs. This is probably of interest primarily to people with the artisan skill, mine-and-farm owners, and economists, but I'll quickly sketch out two of the major changes. When we first set up the items we gave a "cost break" for an item that required more than one material. We thought it would be a lot harder than it has turned out to be to find extra materials - given that any mine or forest only produces one kind of material. In practice, it's not made that much difference. So that cost break has been removed. A much more significant change has been our diminishing returns curve. It's no coincidence that at empire it is more "efficient" to give two people a small bonus than to give one person a larger bonus. In practice, though, we'd set the curve for diminishing returns too steep. AS such we spent a chunk of the weekend discussing The New Maths (all hail the new maths), which smoothed that curve out a little. The net result is that all the items that give you 2-or-more chances to use something a day, or that add bonuses of +2 or more to things, have come down in materials cost - in some cases quite dramatically. What this will mean is many items at the lower end of the scale will have had their costs increased by a few ingots because they were getting a flangey cost break. And all the items at the higher end of the scale will have come down in cost thanks to the smoothing out of the curve. In some cases, we've instead tweaked the item - several items that once upon a time gave a smaller bonus have had their number of uses or bonus increased instead of reducing their costs. In other cases we've tweaked functionality a little (such as with the hero point items like Jack in Irons or the Blacksmith's Wage). This first pass is almost complete, and I'm documenting it as best I can on the wiki updates page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates). it's by no means finished yet however! There are a few items that will be changing *radically* due to other rules changes we've decided to make, but obviously I can't change those items until we implement the connected rules change. So for a little while the magic item section of the wiki is going to look a little odd in places. Hopefully you can bear with us. As always, anyone whose skill has just got dramatically worse, or whose ability to make an item no longer works because the item has been deleted, gets the chance to respend character points. I would ask that people wait until all the changes are in before contacting us to do so - there's plenty more to come. We'll let you know when we've made the last changes and the rules are stable again. Hopefully by that time the Boss will have put together a convincing IC explanation for why magic items have changed - I look forward to learning what it is! We'll appraise you of other changes as we make them - we have a very half-formed plan to take the wiki down for a short time at some point and make the bigger changes all in one go but it remains to be seen if that plan gans aglae or not. -------------- The photo is (I think) Iorah Grimvaldsdottir of the Rangers of Nanuk (as portrayed by Emily James). It was taken by the irrepressible Oliver Facey ---------------- #othersideofthehedgeupdate, #rocketsmadeofjam, #nobodypanicuntilyouseetheactualwordsonthepage SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-11-15T19:33:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1107418732687439 This is just a quick update to remind people that the PD website will be live for tent rental at 20:00 tonight. Tents usually book out very quickly, most of the tents for the first event are usually gone within the first half hour or less. If you want an IC tent for the event then please book early to avoid disappointment. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-11-01T00:13:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1090510214378291 ==DOWNTIME: INTERLUDE== Evening! The Boss has opened Downtime (as per the earlier News post), and so I though I'd draw your attention to http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune which has a brief rundown on special effects in play over the coming season. As always these are quick summaries, and it is likely some or all of them will be expended on in detail when we publish Winds of Fortune during the weeks before the next event. Anyone with a Military Unit may want to read http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#Warfare for an explanation of what is going on with the Guerdon. Fleet captains might be particularly interested in http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#Trade_Winds_-_The_Towers_of_Kantor. The Axos port of the Towers of Kantor is now open to player characters (you can learn a bit more about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Axos_ports Finally, some of it is of special interest to people running or attending sanctioned events over the Winter - specifically the Urge to Culture effect (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#An_Empire_of_Culture) and the spreading of the Empty Skies effect (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#And_Finally_..._Where_Have_All_The_Stars_Gone.3F). Good luck with downtime! Don't forget our forums are here -> https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ where you can chat with other Empire players during the fallow months of Winter. -------- The Photo is from Beth Dooner... I have no idea who or what it is but it seemed appropriate given the Cultural Pride enchantment someone has placed on the Empire. (ETA) It is the entry to the Peacocktail Bar in the League I am informed; apparently they do a nice cup of tea. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-10-31T17:09:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1090221514407161 http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/news/News I've put a blog post on the website talking about the key things we'd like to spend your money on - if you book in the next few weeks! The main plans for winter are shaping up to be an overhaul of the toilet block near god and some big improvements to the tents we use to stage plot encounters in. Have a read of the website to find out more. I've also opened up downtime for everyone who attended the last event. If you log on to your account and look at your character details you should now be able to submit your downtime if you were at the last event. It'll be open for a couple of weeks at least - so please submit before 8pm on the 15th November to ensure that we can process your downtime. We're also going to put the tent hires for next year on the website then. Sadly the storm at the start of the year took a heavy toll on our tent stock - so there will be less tents available next year. This probably means they will book out even faster. To make it fairer to everyone - we'll release the tents onto the website at 8pm on the 15th. We'll try to send a second email and post again here shortly before they go line as a final reminder. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-28T14:41:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1058966670865979 We've updated the website with the event dates for next year, so you can now book online for Empire events in 2017. The original Empire dates were inherited from Maelstrom, our previous game, and haven't changed substantially in over a decade. But once we took the decision not to run at Easter going forwards, it made sense to consider all our event dates. Looking at the dates it was clear that every possible choice would a compromise for someone - there is no set of dates that suits everyone. 21st - 23rd April 16th - 18th June 28th - 30th July 15th - 17th Sept We've chosen our first date - the 21st-23rd of April to run as close to the end of April as possible, whilst avoiding the two weekends we publicly said we would not run on - the Easter bank holiday weekend and the first May bank holiday weekend. That weekend is almost a month later than this years date, so the weather and the site will be significantly better by then. Because the May bank holiday is so early, we did consider running in May, but we were concerned that that would put the event too close to the student exam season. We'll assess how well this new date - the weekend before the first May bank holiday - works, but if it's a success then we're likely to make that the new normal for our first event each year from then on. Pushing the first event back in the year - means we had to move the second event also. We need a minimum of six weeks between events to get the next event ready; but the timing is particularly crucial after the first event, as that is the most stressful. Reviewing our booking data over the last decade it is clear that events in the university exam season were difficult for students. As a result we have taken the decision to move the second event to the end of the student exam season in the middle of June. We're going to continue to run the third event on the last weekend in July. This is clearly a popular date, especially with families, and usually enjoys good weather. But we've taken the decision to move the final event of the year back by a week as we've received a lot of feedback that this date is difficult for families as well as for teachers. It tends to fall on the first weekend after the schools go back which is a difficult time. There aren't enough weekends between this event and the previous one to move it forwards a week into the holidays - but moving it back a week may hopefully make it easier for people who work in education and crucially it will give us more time to prepare for the final event of the year to try and make it extra special. These dates are fixed now for 2017, we won't change them but we appreciate that folks will have a view on them. I've run through the thinking involved, so that people can understand some of the reasoning behind the new dates. We're hoping that the new dates will work well, but we'll review them throughout the year looking at the attendance and the feedback when we set the dates for 2018. I'm pleased to announce that we're going to run at Dadford Road campsite again next year. Although the site was exceptionally difficult at our first event, those were exceptional circumstances. We've invested a lot of money over the year to improve it, and by the middle of the year we were receiving a lot of very positive feedback about the site as we began to reap the benefits. Having winter to continue making further improvements to the site means that it will only get better from here. We're still searching for a permanent site for Empire - but moving sites is extraordinarily expensive - both in time and money. Staying at Dadford until we find a great site will let us chanel that investment into improvements in the game. On a final note I'd like to thank everyone who supported Profound Decisions after the exceptionally difficult Easter event and ask everyone for one more favour. If you can book early - please do so. It's been a very difficult year for us, having survived it we're now well positioned to doing everything possible to make Empire the very best game we can. But booking early is essential for us to do that - because it gives us money we can spend *now* when we most need it when we have the time to build and improve stuff. Paying now or paying by standing order are both incredibly useful. Some years we're able to offer a chance to avoid a price rise, but our ticket prices are not changing next year, so we're asking people to book tickets early just to help us to make the game better. We'll release further information about downtime and tent bookings late next week hopefully. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/tickets SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-15T09:10:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1047970225298957 Tom Garnett provides us with a nice picture to end the year on, and a reminder that people on both sides of the hedge help us make a great game. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-08T10:14:43+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1042200762542570 +++COBWEBS+++ "Come and look at this Getti!" "What is it? I'm busy - mum says I've got to get this hauberk stitched by nightfall." Getterson sighed to himself wishing that he didn't have chores to do. It was not fair - Ani never got any chores and she was only four years younger than him. He tried to concentrate on what he was doing, but she kept pestering him and in the end he moved over to the tree stump where her toy rune set were scattered. "Watch this Getti - see this one is Lanny and this one is Hirmuckle. Watch this". His sister scooped the two runes up and cast them on the stump. They rolled round a few times and fell over, face-up next to each other. "Amazing. Well done. That's really good - it's really impressive - why don't you show mum? I think mum will want you to show her." Sometimes it worked - sometimes it didn't. Today it didn't work. "No look - watch." This time she scooped up all the runes, tossed them over in her cupped hands twice and flung the whole set at the tree stump. Runes went everywhere, scattering like a flock of birds taking flight. When the mess had settled it was the same two runes, face up, dead centre, side by side. "I've been doing that every morning - it's always the same Lanny and Humuckle - every time. What do you think it means?" Getterson stared at the stump and pondered. Mum was a runesmith but he'd never had the knack of the things, but mum said Ani might. "You need to show mum" he said finally - and this time he meant it. ------------- GAME INFORMATION Okay ... sorry about the lateness. There was some wrangling. Its a Wind of Magic and its ... pretty profound. Lann and Hirmok are dominating, and the astronomancers say a conjunction of the Web and the Chain are having some pretty meaty effects. You can read about them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Cobwebs The significant effects are: * Mercenary banners will not work during the coming event * You can use the power of a Bondring twice a day, rather than once a day * The ritual Braying Horns of War works on an individual target, not a band. * You can make the rituals Circle of Trust, Traitor's Fate, and Scrivener's Bloodmark permanent for only a *single ring of Ilium* On Saturday the conjunction reaches its height and the effects get even more pronounced: * During time-in on Saturday, you can't cut bonds between bands (Covens, sects, banners) with create bond - you need to use actual ritual magic * Any coven can perform an *extra* coven ritual during this time - and only on Saturday. As always with a Wind of Magic there are some specific roleplaying effects people can experience: Awareness of personal loyalties is greatly enhanced, to the point where you can draw on them as a source of spiritual strength to respond as you like to roleplaying effects that try to get you to betray your band, sect, or banner. Sorry again about the lateness of this WoF. If you've got any questions I can answer them until I head to site, after which we will need to speak to refs and (hopefully) egregores in the field. #didImentionIwassorry, #itsnotwhatyouknowitswhoyouknow, #somethingsomethingsecretknots SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-07T12:41:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1041412465954733 Just a quick note to let most players know that due to factors beyond our control we can't use the fields near the entrance to the site as a quiet camp for this event. If you normally camp there (about 40 players do) then please drive down to the event site, chat to the gate and get further direction from them on where to camp. Please don't camp on one of the four fields next to the site entrance - thanks. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-07T11:25:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1041355965960383 +++LIKE A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL+++ Lucien leaned closer to the impassive sungold faceplate, and waved his hand back and forth before the things "eyes". It did not react. He reached out to touch its mithril-chased breastplate, and a quiver ran through it. He tapped his knuckle on it, and the enchanted soldier shifted its stance, bringing its shield round to apply gentle pressure and push the Sentinel's hand out of the way. He reached out to try and push the shield aside, and the soldier responded by stepping back, crouching, and bringing its sword up. Lucien jumped back sharply, and after a moment the soldier returned to its previous passive stance. He looked around the chamber. Thirty similar soldiers, with different armaments and different masks, but all composed of polished porcelain and carved weirwood. Half of them wrapped in orichaclum alloyed steel, half with weltsilver alloyed steel, and all with mithril traceries weaving around their armour, weapons, and shields. They stood at attention, without moving. "How?" he asked, marveling. "How were they made?" The civil servant shrugged. "We aren't really sure. As near as we can tell, they were given as a gift for Emperor Nicovar and - perhaps predictably - most of the records relating to them were burnt. Lucien shook his head. "Nicovar, Nicovar, Nicovar. Sometimes I can just about understand why he might burn the libraries down, but to destroy the records of how these wonders were built ... that defies comprehension." "Oh no, sorry. You misunderstand. The Grendel burnt the records, when they burnt Ankarien. What we do know is that they used a small fortune of ilium, and another small fortune in mithril and weirwood, and took the artisans something like five years to complete. Their numbers appear to be set - they repair each other. According to Nicovar himself, if you give them mithril and command them, they use the metal to reinforce themselves." "Are they aware?" "As near as we can tell, and as near as anyone else has ever been able to tell... probably not. They are ushabti, and they need an Arbiter to function. There's a medallion, which was recovered from the ruins along with the soldiers. The Grendel collapsed a roof on them trying to destroy them - we found quite a few Grendel remains in the rubble alongside the pieces." "So wonderful," said Lucien. "Just another wonder of Spiral," the civil servant replied calmly. "A beautiful, terrible, deadly, mysterious wonder. Shall I continue with the list, Lucien? Theres quite a lot to get through but I'm afraid there's not many things on here to match the Ankarien Chess Set. It's mostly mana sites and mines." Lucien nodded, and the two let the courtyard where the Ankarien Chess Set stood at attention, waiting for someone to give them orders. ----------- The Empire recaptured Spiral during the Summer Solstice, launching an attack through the Sentinel Gate to drive the the Grendel out of the region and flip the territoty to Imperial control. Since then the civil service has been busy searching around the parts of the territory in Imperial control assessing things, making lists, checking them twice, and so on. Their findings are desribed here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Like_a_wheel_within_a_wheel For those who are interested primarily in the loot, you can skip straight to the Spoils of War list for Spiral here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spiral_Spoils_of_War although you should remember that the Military Council is the ultimate authority on how they are divvied up; taking control of one means moving to Spiral; and if you are not an Urizen you'll suffer all the usual penalties for trying to control one. The majority of these spoils were created by Liam Spinage, who is currently lurking around in Urizen doing whatever it is Urizen egregores do, so you might go ask him questions about the stories of these spoils of war just to see what he says. Anyroadup, I think we have one possibly two more WoF to go depending on final discussion. Either way we should be done by tea time. The picture is from flickr by Anne Dirsk. #spidersandgoatfootedmenohmy, #arobotarmynothingcangowrong, #nosecondarmyforyoumyrobewearingfriends, #inthedragonsgraveyardyourweaponsaremorepowerfulthantheGrendel SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-07T10:05:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1041308245965155 +++THOUGHTS ARE FREE+++ "The enslavement of sapient beings is contrary to the defining principles of the Empire, our Constitution and the Way of Virtue. Proposed by Sermersuaq, seconded by Weirwater. You see the problem ..." "I don't see a problem at all." "Well, the enslavement of sapient beings is a very vague term, what does it even mean?" "It means people owning other people. I think it's pretty straightforward." "Yes, but even allowing for that, you can't really point at one nation or another and say 'they're slavers' can you?" "Are you being thick on purpose? Of course you can. Nations that don't allow slavery - the Empire, the Commonwealth, the Sumaah, the Sarcophan probably. Nations that have practiced slavery for so long they're pretty damn good at it - Faraden, Iron Confederacy, Asavea, Jarm. You'll note two of them are the Empire's current primary trade partners. Oh and then there's Axos which kind of allows slavery while treating anyone who does it like they're idiots, but can't be bothered to actually make it illegal." "Well, yes, but didn't Soratio point out that banning trade with slavers would damage the economy to no clear benefit?" "Sure, but the Prosperity assembly didn't agree! I don't know what you point is!" "My point is that the slavery issue is complex! What does it help us if a bunch of foreigners are emancipated, but the Empire gets burnt to the foundations by barbarians because some well-meaning idealist says we can't buy white granite from Asavea!" "Oh for.... why do you always say idealist like it's an insult? And for that matter... look, I am nowhere near drunk enough for this. It's your round." "Fair. Same again?" -------------- A short update concerning the general international situation. The primary developments of interest covered in this little Wind of Fortune include: * Developments in Sumaah - you won't BELIEVE what they are saying about the IMPERIAL CROWN! * "The enslavement of sapient beings is contrary to the defining principles of the Empire" - the International Community REACTS! * Why the Asaveans are NOT HAPPY with what this one PRIEST said * Black sailed ships are coming - what this means for YOU and your ships' crew! You can find the update here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Thoughts_are_free_(Trade_Winds) The picture is a relief from Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) depicting a Roman soldier leading captives in chains, currently on display in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (apparently). By Jun (Flickr: Roman collared slaves) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons #Asonedoorclosesanotheroneopens, #Icouldntfindagoodquotefroma20thcenturydictatorsadly, #Stillchancefortheempiretomakethesituationworse SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-06T21:28:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040945006001479 +++EMPTY SKIES+++ "My love for you endures like the mountains, is as bottomless as the sea, is as unquenchable as the fires of the sun, is as eternal as the stars themselves and ..." "Is that meant to be funny? Are you doing this" "Sorry, my love, doing what?" "The stars. Are you ... oh Paragons, where are the stars going!" ---------------- As the Autumn Equinox approaches, the night skies over Skarsind, Holberg, Necropolis, Bregasland, and Segura remain starless. In addition, within a few days of the end of the Summer Solstice the effect has also spread to the Barrens, Sermersuaq, Volodmartz, Karsk, and Miekarova. You can learn a bit more about the mysterious phenomenon here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Empty_skies_(winds_of_magic) The wind of fortune also includes some interesting developents with the weird fog on the Bay of Catazaar, and one of the constellations, but you'll have to click the link to find out what they are. #nearlydone, #wheredothestarsgointhedaytime, #thenthestarsoftheskyfelltotheearthlikegreenfigsfallingfromatreeshakenbyastrongwind SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-06T21:14:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040937382668908 +++STARFALL+++ The Soverign Lord of the City of Bridges calmly withdraws a key from his pocket, and uses it to open an unassuming door beside an extravagent tapestry woven from metallic threads. Beyond is a steep staircase, winding round and around itself. He does not hurry, nor does he bother to create any light. At the bottom there is a second door, also locked. He draws a different key from a different pocket, and unlocks the portal. He counts lowly under his breath, and twists the handle when his count reaches a certain number. The portal opens with a wheezing, groaning sound. He is forced to bow his head slightly to pass through the low door, angling his head slightly to prevent the horns he wears from catching on the doorframe. Beyond is a thing that defies easy explanation. A machine whose only moving parts are uncountable numbers of threads, of all the colours of the rainbow. It is in constant slow motion, with threads winding around each other and uncoiling; changing colour; crossing and uncrossing; snapping and twisting together to form new threads. One could spend a lifetime studying its radiant complexity and never learn more than a fraction of it. Scuttling through and around the loom of the stars are a dozen little creatures that are somewhat like arachnids, and somewhat like entirely different creatures. It is hard to look at them closely. As the golden prince enters, they cease their movement for a heartbeat to watch him enter, and each bobs its body just so in a manner reminiscent of a courtier greeting their lord. Prospero acknowledges them, and examines the loom for a moment. He moves through it in a certain way, in a direction that is difficult to put into words, and comes to a certain part of it. He reaches out his hand and lays a metallic talon on a single thick cord woven of dark purple and crimson strands. He taps it once, turns his head, and from a different angle the strand and the loom and the room are gone and he is watching a great ball of crimson fire that is also a churning cloud and a coiling mist which gives a great sensation of motion without moving. He watches it in his mind's eye. At first it is single-natured, but then without warning it becomes almost impossible to perceive, splintering into hundreds of ghostly images. Yet each image ends the same way - with an explosive impact - but in each case the location of the impact varies. He turns his head again, observes the loom once more, traces his finger along the star's thread in a different direction. he barely seems interested in the thread itself, but in all the myriad strands and cords that weave around it. He taps one of his other fingers against his lips as he studies the loom, brow furrowed. "The red star," he says out loud. One of the little spider-things scuttles up his leg and onto his shoulder, It caresses his ear with its little forelegs. He leans slightly forward, examining other strands. Here a green and blue cord made up of five smaller cords that coil and uncoil around each other crosses the star's thread. There a six-fold rope made up of hundreds of tiny hairs wraps around and around it. He follows along the star thread to where it abruptly ends. No, not ends. Bursts, uncoils, frays and snaps. At a certain point the red and purple strands break apart and spread out in all directions, coiling around other threads. Almost too many to count, but the Lord of the Loom tracks them all. More or less. He smiles, clearly pleased with what he has seen. "Let me know if anything significant changes," he whispers to the little spiderling on his shoulder. "If nothing else happens, let me know the moment that it becomes immanent - once it is too late to change where it will fall. I want to take a proper look at the implications of the location and see what opportunities present themselves." The spiderling chitters, and scuttles down Prospero's shoulder. He stands for another timeless moment examining certain other threads of interest and then, satisfied, he left the chamber by a different door, a circular portal that opened with a whirr and closed with a peculiar chuffing, leaving the spiderlings to their work observing the loom, and the loom to its enigmatic business. ---------------- The big red star is going to hit the Empire. It's likely to be quite messy - especially if you live in Miekarova where it is due to hit. There are ways to change where the comet strikes, but they need to be carefully considered. The damn thing has to go *somewhere* after all. You can learn more about what this all means here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Starfall The good bit sof the text are by Gerwyn Walters. Any weird bits are by me. #tinkletinklelittlestar #thereatlast, #whatisthemeltingpointofiliumanyway SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T23:33:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040161006079879 +++WHEN ALL THIS WAS TREES+++ The orcs and the humans stood a little distance apart, facing each other. The Navarr woman had her arms crossed, her face blank. At her side, the armoured brand held herself ready, the butt of her spear resting on the ground - but none of her weight on it. She was ready to fight. Tension was evident in the posture, and in the faces, of both the orcs who faced them. Both orcs bore the marks of the shaman, a pale contrast to the red paint on the women who stood opposite them. "This is out second meeting," said the elder orc, after a few moments of silence. The Navarr brand inclined her head but said nothing. Her thorn companion peered past the two shaman to the group a few dozen yards away, narrowed her eyes, touched the brand's arm. "There are humans among you already," said the brand, her tone neutral. "Are they slaves?" The younger orc shaman snorted. "We keep no slaves." he said. "The Druj keep slaves. We are not Druj." It was the older orc's turn to reach out to his companion, touch his arm, without taking his eyes off the brand before him. "They are our companions. It is something we can discuss later." The elder shaman leaned a little heavily on his staff, favouring one leg. "You're injured." said the brand. The orc shifted his head slightly, closed his eyes for a moment and opened them. "Yes. An arrow." "An Imperial arrow." said the younger orc. He kept his voice steady, mimicking the elder, but a quiver ran through his body at the effort. His eyes became a little distant. The Navarr brand tensed, ready to strike at the first sign of hostile movement from the orc across from him, buying time for the brand to escape at the cost of her own life. "I'm sorry to hear that." said the brand. "I was sorry to feel it," said the shaman. He barked a laugh suddenly. "But I am thankful that the arrow was clean, and the metal neither barbed nor hooked, and the wood not cursed. The wound festered, but that is the cost of war beneath the aegis of the Sick Ones. Your Senate is untrustworthy, but the Ancestors know, you are the lesser evil." A little of the tension drained out of the brand, and the orcs. The thorn remained at the ready. "We should find a place to sit," said the brand, decisively. "How many are you?" The two orcs exchanged a wordless look, and then the younger one said cautiously "There are eight-score score of us here. There are more back at our camp." The brand did a quick calculation and if she was surprised she did not show it. So, a little over three thousand orcs of the Peytaht tribe then?" The younger orc nodded, but the older one shook his head. "No, we will not use that name here. Peytaht is the heart of that which was. We have left our hearts behind, with it, with the spirits. For now, we are the tribe of the Great Forest, in memory of that time when all the lands were covered by tree and leaf from one edge of the world to the other." As he spoke, his eyes were distant and there was ... a resonance? A suggestion of something else speaking alongside him, or through him, perhaps. He shook himself, sending droplets of water and sweat from his fur mantle in all directions. "For now, I thank you. Let us find somewhere to sit. My son will make a brew of herbs and we will discuss the invitation that has brought us here. There is news that your people ... well, it is not good news but you must hear it." "We will hear your news," said the brand. "And then we must discuss what we are to do with you." The younger shaman opened his mouth, but before he could speak the older shaman, with an enigmatic smile, spoke first. "Ah, perhaps that would be an interesting conversation. But let us have a different conversation instead. Let us talk about what we are to do with each other." ---------------- The Orcs of the Great Forest tribe are in northern Therunin. There is an army with them. The Senate is going to be put on the spot, deciding what to do next. You can learn about what is going on with this here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/When_all_this_was_trees That's the last WoF for the evening - there's a few more tidying up and making good (whatever that is) to come tomorrow and then we're done, literally *hours* ahead of time in! #Thisisfeelingabitfamiliarmaybeitwillgobetterthistime, #Considerablymoremysticalthanthou, #Filthybhujgobackwhereyoucamefrom SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T23:18:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040154806080499 +++DISLOYAL, UNPROSPEROUS, UNVIGILANT, UNWISE+++ “...and that is why, brothers and sisters, we must not send our heirlooms to Anvil. The Synod have judged honest, prosperous citizens of the Empire to be, and I quote, 'disloyal, unprosperous, unvigilant and unwise' in their actions.” A mutter ran through the crowd at that; the freeborn of Siroc had heard the judgements of the Synod from the Spring summit, and it had touched a nerve with all of them. The friar had chosen his audience well, this near the docks, it was almost exclusively corsairs. “The only disloyal action here is in dragging down the Printer's Guild. It is said that even the wicked can be loyal when times are prosperous, but that the truly virtuous are loyal even through hardship and misfortune. Why then, when the difficulties began, did the Synod turn on the Printer's Guild? This is the guild who have, with the blessing of the Imperial Senate, constructed a museum of such wonder as to make even a Highborn archivist salivate. "The only unprosperous activity I see, is in the denying of the Printer's Guild the rewards of their labour. Is it not the right of any virtuous, prosperous individual to enjoy the fruits of their labour? Why should any of us contact the Bourse agents with our treasures to sell, if it will result in our being investigated by the Synod? Are we not taught, as good, virtuous citizens, to strive, toil and claim the just rewards of our labour?” The friar paused, as a stir went through the crowd. A number of them had suffered after the Senate assigned civil servants to watch the fleets. “To me, the only truly unvigilant deed here is the punishing of citizens of the Empire, for the actions of an Eternal. It is not right, it is not virtuous that the Synod have taken such a hand in their actions against the Bourse, against the ordinary folk who discover the items which go to sale at the private auction. It is time for us all to be vigilant in our actions. We must not send our artefacts to Anvil, for they may result in yet another citizen being outcast.” A few people were clapping now, more were taking copies of the pamphlet that had been placed on a table near the friar, throwing their coins into the pot at his feet. “I spent my childhood studying the virtues, as I'm sure you all did too, and wisdom was the one I always struggled with. I think I understand it now, or at least I will go forward thinking I do, because to do otherwise and wait would be unwise. I say, here and now, that the only unwise act here is the Synod deciding that it was unwise for a citizen to provoke an outcome they didn't want. "I have spoken throughout the Empire on this matter. I have spoken to the seneschals of Astolat. I have spoken to the benefactors of Bastion. I have spoken to the bonesetters of Skarsind and the stewards of Meade. I have spoken with the people of the Empire, and they agree with me. We must not sell our heirlooms, our treasures, our artefacts to the bourse agents. We must keep them, and sell them ourselves for our own Prosperity.” A roar of approval came from the crowd and there was a flurry of movement as the last of the pamphlets were snatched up by the corsairs. The pot at the friar's feet was overflowing with rings. The friar gave a short bow and stepped down from their small box, pocketing the few coins that had spilled onto the dusty path, before carefully picking up the bowl and moving off. The road to Cerevado was a long one, but it was only noon, and there was plenty of walking time. --------------------- Friar Alyn of Hay has begun traveling the Marches, extolling the virtue of Prosperity and the lack thereof in relation to the Imperial Bourse Private Auction. The friar is actively encouraging citizens not to sell their treasure to the agents of the Imperial Bourse, and instead to try and sell them personally, or to keep them. You can learn more about the reasons presented for this shift here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Disloyal,_unprosperous,_unvigilant,_unwise The text is by Stephen Kirkbride. #moneymoneymoney, #timeforarefinancing, #riseofthepamphleteer SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T23:07:17+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040149659414347 +++PEACE SONG+++ "But they are so very delightful," sighed Geoffery. "I was hoping I might be able to convince one of them into letting me take a few stray feathers..." "Delightful or not," replied Gwendolyn, "they're a disruptive influence to the yeofolk. Just the other day, Martin Smith was asking me whether the forge he was tending really had to make weapons, or whether we could make ploughs and shears instead!" "They do have a point, though." Geoffery looked out of the grand window wistfully. "If our Juliette hadn't gone off to the Barrens, caught up in the grand crusade..." "Don't you dare use her name against me like that!" cried Gwendolyn. "It is our duty to the Empire - our Pride and our Glory - to forever push outwards - and they were going to overrun Drycastle if we did nothing." "Would that have been so bad?" asked Geoffery. "They just wanted to secure their own lands, take the castle - they didn't mean to unhouse anyone, they would all have been allowed to stay. Or so the birds tell me, anyhow." "Well, we can't stop now," insisted Gwnedolyn. "Or do you think the Druj will mercifully leave us in peace?" "They're offering to split the land," Geoffery reminded her. "We'll have more than we started with. And maybe Angelina won't get it into her head to follow her sister's path." "Or so the birds tell you, anyhow," Gwendolyn mocked. ----------- The heralds of Lashonar are out and about in Dawn, especially in the Barrens. They are singing sad, bittersweet songs of loss and sorrow, which are having a significant impact on the ability of Dawn to pepetrate a war in the Barrens. You can learn about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Peace_song The picture is a Madrid Magpie (Luis García [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 es (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/es/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons) The text is from Michelle Taylor, as are the hashtags. #wavingmytoldyousoflag, #thatshowyougetdruj, #weallsaidstopthewar? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T22:14:07+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040121482750498 +++SONG OF THE LAKEFOLK+++ Inga stared from atop the rocky outcrop, fishing spear held in hand, clutching her fur hood tight to her head. Though the skies were clear, a chill wind still blew and she shivered as it passed by. Behind her, her two dogs pulled the sled on which she planned to carry the day's catch. Even now, in the dying days of summer and here in the far north, the Atkonaroq had not quite begun to freeze - and there was still good catching in the water. The stocks of fish were still high, and on a good day, you could expect to fill the sled's panniers and carriers to busting. It did not look like it was going to be a good day. Some quarter of a mile away, on the northern shores of Atkonaroq, dark figures gathered in their hundreds. They looked liked people, clad in large, thick cloaks made of the skin kind of animal. They looked a little like Suaq... but Suaq would wear more than just a thick skin - and as she watched the skins shifted and she saw bare flesh below, muscular and strong. Their hands tightly held sharp spears. Where had they come from? She gasped as four more surfaced from the lake, the skins they wore wet and shiny from the deeps, dripping as they marched forward. Were they... were they swimming from the lake? As she watched, she saw that they surrounded one central figure. Unlike the rest, he wore no skin - instead, he sat, shivering, naked in the open wind. He stood, arms folded across his chest, looking wistfully at the figures which surrounded him. The wind changed, and the sound of the beach was carried towards Inga - and she realised that he was singing. He sung of theft in the night, of thieving hands who hunt and hurt. It was a song of fear and his pain, beautiful and terrible. He sung of his lost lover - and here he gestured out across the lake - of his depths in which he could no longer swim. And then his song began to turn to raiding, and war, and righting wrongs: and the figures around him raised a mighty cry. The dogs began to bark, and some of the figures broke off from the main group and began to head up the hill towards the rocks behind which Inga stood. Swearing, cursing, she hooked the dogs back up, and jumped up onto the sledge. "Ride! Ride!": the dogs barked and ran, fast and swift, across the snow. Inga glanced back. The dark figures watched from the hill, standing still, silhouetted against the clear blue sky. No fish today, it seemed. ------------- Unexpectedly, a small armed force of strangely-dressed hunters has started gathering on the northern shores of Atkonaroq, in the far reaches of Semmersuaq. From their camp on the northern shores, they have begun launching peculiar raids on nearby settlements - raids in which almost nobody is harmed and nothing of note is taken. They are by all reports quite determined, but refuse to discuss what is going on or who they are - and their numbers appear to be growing. You can learn what little the Empire knows about these mysterious individuals here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Song_of_the_lakefolk The picture is by Becks (Sunset over Cold Lake) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The text and hashtags are from Wren Robson. #bitnippyout #putafuckingcoaton #whoarethesefolkalldressedinskins #whatsanaethelingwhenitsathome SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T21:11:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040084119420901 +++GOATFOOT+++ Tuk suddenly pulled sharply on the reins and raised himself up slightly from his seat, frowning, head turning left and right. One of the oxen made a disapproving noise but they both ground to a halt. The orc drover shook the lump of fur and leather on the seat next to him. "Did you hear that?" he hissed loudly. Grawit opened one bleary eye and glared at the drover. "No." he said grumpily. "I'm asleep. Why are we stopped" "Stow it," said Tuk, still alert, scanning the rock walls around him as best he could. He hated this part of the road, where the sun only shone for a short time around noon and the rest of the time was shrouded in gloomy twilight. "I definitely heard something. I think it might be wolves." "What's the commotion?" A third orc appeared at Tuk's elbow, alert and worried. She shaded her eyes and joined Tuk in looking for danger. "Tuk heard something," said Grawit yawning. "Again." Rosslin favoured the drover with a suspicious stare. "Again? What was it this time?" Tuk sounded defensive as he replied. "It was a wolf I'm sure of it. Or someone pretending to be a wolf." Rosslin and Grawit exchanged a long suffering glance. "You shouldn't have let him go see that mystic before we left Runegrott," said Rosslin. "He's been like this for days." Grawit shrugged as if to say "what can you do" and sat up properly on the narrow bench, yawning and stretching. Tuk bridled. "She told me she saw it clear as day." he said, a little sulkily. "I'd meet a bloody stranger on the road, and that he - uh - he carried something on his back that she could not see and..." "And in one hand he had chance and in the other fate," finished Grawit in a sing-song voice, sliding an affectionate arm around the drover's waist. "You said. A few dozen times. In between complaining that we were being watched, and hearing odd noises, and this is the third time we've stopped today. Much longer and salt or not these fish are going to be able to walk all the way to Ironberg by themselves." Still, for all the gentle mockery in his voice, with his free hand he pulled a javelin out of the quiver strapped on his side of the wagon and his gaze was not on his husband but on the road ahead. There had been talk of renewed activity by bandits since the orcs had set about revitalising the northern trade routes. Army deserters mostly, along with a few disgruntled Winterfolk who refused to leave Skarsind but also refused to accept the presence of their new neighbours. "What are we looking for?" asked an unfamiliar voice from Grawit's side of the wagon. He snapped his head round and could not contain a cry of fear and surprise, his javelin falling from fingers suddenly, inexplicably numb. As Tuk fumbled for his handaxe, Rosslin shouted an oath and tried to roll under the covered wagon. Unfortunately, as Tuk tried to stand and draw at the same time he fumbled, stumbled, stood on his own cloak and nearly fell head first into the arses of the oxen. At the same time, Rosslin mistimed her agile roll and instead managed to smack her head on the underside of the wagon with an echoing thump, and a groan, and then silence. A great shaggy shape loomed over Grawit - but was it looming though? Afterward Grawit and Tuk could not quite agree on quite how tall the thing had been. They wrangled about it for the rest of the journey often long into the night - Grawit swearing it was as tall as the top of the covered wagon, Tuk disagreeing and claiming it was shorter than he was, and neither of them prepared to agree even on how many eyes it had, never mind what colour they were. Either way, the great shaggy shape had managed to get within arm's reach of Grawit and Tuk without arousing the slightest suspicion. It was clearly neither orc nor human, but some unnatural patchwork creature of horns and fur and claws and hooves, its pelt matted with fresh blood. It took a large bite out of something Grawit realised was a wet, bloody heart the size of an ox head and treated the two orcs to a wide, terrifying, gory grin as it leant against the side of the wagon. Though its voice rasped and growled, its tone was jocular - gleeful even. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." it said taking another bite out of the dripping offal in its other hand. "I just want to be friends." And then, in the confusion, as Rosslin pulled herself out from under the wagon, and Agga and Nattak came running up from the other wagon shouting, and Tak tried to get his footing, the beast chuckled. And that dreadful, unnatural sound - even more than the insane, impossibly wide grin - made all the blood in Grawit's veins turn to icewater, and all the hair on his back stand on end. ----------- Weird shaggy beast! Dismantling mammoths and terrorizing the pass between Skarsind and Hahnmark with cryptic messages and antics! Appearing in the background of blurry home movies where it is clear it is someone in a suit! You can learn all about the Krampus (for a given value of "all about") and its odd behaviour here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Goatfoot The picture is of Harry Morris and was taken by some guy but only I know what his name is. #itknowsifyouaresleeping, #thebestleatherisfreeleather, #theproblemwithorcflavourtextisthesheernumberofcharactersyouneedtostickintokeepitonbrief, #Ironberg4Lyfe SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T20:59:09+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040077659421547 +++PILGRIMAGE+++ "Who's there? Show yourself! I warn you I have a loaded crossbow - if you're a bandit, you've picked the wrong woman to rob!" Baerdolli clutched the billy club in both hands - it was a poor weapon for deterring a thief, but in the dark the bluff might be enough to persuade this ruffian to hunt elsewhere. "Be at peace good merchant, I have no interest in your goods - I am merely a traveller on this road like yourself." It was a man's voice, she could just make him out now in the gloom darkness of the starless night - he didn't look like a bandit but he was walking with the aid of a stout staff that could easily be dangerous. "It's late for a traveller - what's your business?" she shouted back - hoping the man was telling the truth but not willing to let her guard down for a second. Seek out falsehood and expose the truth he reminded himself. "I am pilgrim - travelling to Reikos. To see the First Empress reborn." Baerdolli sniffed - she'd heard some tale in Holberg of this First Empress - a fellow preaching in the street near the tavern where she had been staying while the food she had brought to market was sold. It was a peculiar tale and she had paid it no heed. She was not a woman given to crying at the worst of times - and with peace in the East, times were pretty good right now. He had caught up with her wagon now - the pair of old oxen that pulled it were slow at the best of times and could clearly see that Baerdolli's "crossbow" was just a crude wooden stick. Nervously she eyed the pommel of her knife just visible where it poked out of the top of her tall boot. If he was going to attack her now was the moment to do it. The newcomer smiled, it was a pleasant smile, warm and genuine. "Let me tell you about the Land Without Tears..." ---------------- The Congregation of the First Empress continues to grow in size and influence, spreading the message of the Living Paragon Yael of Felix's Watch. The message of the Land Without Tears and the return of the First Empress has spread throughout the entire Empire by the Synod, and converts from all ten nations are traveling to Highguard to learn more - creating problems and opportunities of particular interest to the priests of the Empire. You can learn more about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Pilgrimage You can also read an account of the powerful vision experienced by Yael that inspires the Congregation of the First Empress in the recent volume of Echoes of the Labyrinth, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Seer_of_the_Gateway#Publication The picture is one by Oliver Facey that I ruthlessly cut up to remove an extraneous cambion. You can learn more about his work here -> https://www.facebook.com/oliver.facey/media_set?set=a.10156959882400291.1073741971.624060290&type=3 #ItsallaboutwhenyougetthejamIunderstand, #Thepoweroffaithcanmovealargepileofwhitegranite, #Knightsofthemagicallight SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T20:02:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040044719424841 +++TURBULENCE+++ "Are you sure we're not going to get into trouble?" Anna whispered to Toby for the third time. "It will be fine," said her eldest brother, a little terse. Toby was losing patience with her continued skepticism. "I came here with Leo lots of times." Anna felt a stab of loss, then. She missed Leo very much indeed. When the news had come back from the west that he had been killed by the orcs, she had wept for two days. Now, tonight, Toby had taken on Leo's role and she had come as his companion. Assistant. Something. Toby said that the rite required two of them, and though she had been skeptical he had reminded her that family tradition was important. Something to be proud of. Papa had taken Leo, and then when he passed away, Leo had brought Toby. It was dusk, and the narrow path through the woods was treacherous even during broad daylight. "Wait ... lots of times? I thought we only had to come out here at midsummer?" Toby favoured her with a sharp look, and didn't answer, but she was intrigued to see that he was blushing. Well, well, well. She stored the information for proper consideration later as they walked along in silence for a few minutes. Then she tried again. "It's just that Mladenovich said ...." Toby tried to interrupt her with a growled "I don't think you should be talking to that boy" but Anna ignored him and kept going. "... Mladenovich said that the Semmerlak is dangerous because of the Dho'uala, and that he'd heard that people had gone missing. Are you sure we should be poking around the 'Lak? It's getting dark ..." Toby launched into a speech about family traditions, which Anna stopped listening to after the first few sentences. She had heard it before. She loved her brother, but sometimes he acted like a tedious blowhard. She spent his speech remembering Mladenovich's quick smile and long dark hair, and let her fingers graze the little charm he had given her after their last "chance meeting" at the market. She had kept it under her pillow but tonight, on a whim, she had slipped it into the pocket of her skirt for no particular reason. After another half-a-mile or so, the path seemed to peter out in a strand of wild apple trees, old and chaotic, branches woven together to create a wall of wood and white flowers. Toby took a moment to look at the ground, then with a triumphant noise pulled aside a low hanging branch heavy with blossom, and ducked through the gap it created. Anna followed, and they emerged onto the shores of the 'Lak, next to a low, flat rock that extended out a short distance into the shallow waters. "We're here now," her brother said brightly. "Anyway I told you. We're not having anything to do with Varushkan goblins, we're here to talk to the Golden Kingfisher. We'll give him the gift we've brought, and we'll swear friendship, and he'll give us four balls of golden thread, and then we'll use them on the nets and the sails to get another year of fine catches. We've done it every year since granny's day and nothing has ever gone wrong before." Anna was still not convinced, but she could not argue with family tradition. Toby set her to gathering apple blossom, while he made his own preparations. As the sun inched over the horizon in the west, a cold wind tugged at their hair and set their cloaks fluttering. Toby ignored it. Anna looked out across the lake and frowned to see the heavy clouds gathering over the dark water. A storm was brewing. She hoped they would be finished and home before the rain hit - they were dressed for a warm midsummer night, after all. Her basket full, Anna handed the apple blossom over to Toby. He told her to stay quiet until he called for her - then she was to step forward, address the Golden Kingfisher as "my good lord", and give him the six bottles of wine she had in her satchel. She was not to answer any questions, and under no circumstances to allow him to kiss her. She frowned at Toby and started to explain in clear language him how little she needed to be told to resist the advances of strange aquatic men but he shushed her. "You say that," he said. "But Leo told me the first time he was here he let himself get enchanted and pa had to throw in four sheep to buy him back from the Kingfisher. If Leo fell for the creatures charms ... well we're all in danger. I've got pa's medal, but you're just going to have to rely on your wits." She bit back a rude word, and let her chilly silence do all the talking for her. Toby ignored her, stepped up onto the rock and began to sing. Her brother was an arse, but she had to admit he had a beautiful voice. She did not recognise the song, but it had a haunting cadence that was almost bewitching. As he sang, he scattered handfuls of blossom onto the waters of the lake until they were all gone. He threw the basket behind him and continued to sing. After a few more minutes, the water where the apple blossoms floated began to churn and boil as Toby raised his arms, and sang the chorus again at the top of his lungs. As the water continued to churn, he leaned forward suddenly, peering over the edge of the rock into the lakewater and his song suddenly faltered. He barely had time to say "Wait a moment this isn't -" before he was gone. Anna felt a scream trapped in her throat. She found herself staring at the white blossom in the lake, now dappled red. The water around the rock had turned dark, rising suddenly to swamp the place her brother had just been standing, grabbing the empty blanket and sweeping it down into the water.. She could hear her own voice shouting at her, telling her to move, but she could not make her limbs move. Something flopped out of the still-churning lake water. Part of it was like a human man or an orc perhaps, but with great green eyes and an inhumanly wide mouth full of snaggle teeth. Long, filthy hair matted with pond weed framed its monstrous face and cascaded over its shoulders and down its back. It dragged vicious looking claws over the wet rock as it pulled itself up on its thick muscular arms. Where it should have had legs, its body fused together into something reminiscent of the lower half of a fish, or a seal, or perhaps a squat muscular eel. It raised it's head to the darkening sky and screamed - a high pitched shriek like the squabbling of gulls, laid over the howl of a wolf. The sound broke her from her stupor and she turned ... to discover a second creature, as monstrous as the first, pulling itself out of the 'Lak to her right. By instinct rather than skill she stumbled out of the way, slipping on the bank, landing heavily, tears streaming her face, desperately scrabbling to try and get her feet under her and flee back through the apple trees to the (presumed) safety of the woods. As the two Semmerfolk dragged themselves toward her, she drew her shortsword ... and with sudden desperate inspiration pulled the little charm out of her apron pocket. Carved of dragonbone and weirwood, it felt cold against her palm. With a whispered prayer on her lips that she had the courage to survive, she held the charm out towards the beasts of the Semmerlak - now no more than a few feet away - and hoped against hope that it would be enough to save her ... ------------------ There is something up with the Semmerlak. By day, not a breath of air. By night, constant violent storms. Theres rumours of weird beasts preying on sailors, fisherfolk, and those who stray too close to the waters alike. The Semmerlak provides a livelihood to many who live in northern Dawn and eastern Varushka, as well as providing access to foreign ports (albeit by a circuitous route) to fleet owners in the territories of Semmerholm, Weirwater, Karov, and Karsk. You can learn all about this... actually, you can learn a *bit* about this situation on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Turbulence but what is actually going down here is a bit of a mystery. The Semmerlak page on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Semmerlak might be a place to start for the interested reader. The photo is a picture of a Nøkken, a Scandinavian water spirit. It's by Theodor Kittelsen - 2. Nasjonalmuseet: No.21. kittelsen.efenstor.net, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1340906 #nomoreskinnydippingelves, #iwantedtocallitlaketurbulencebutitlookedweird, #itsjustalakehowbadcanitget? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T18:59:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1040014616094518 +++WILL TO SURVIVE+++ Across the Mournwold, night falls. Lonely campfires burned across the land that until recently was the last bastion of Imperial control in the Mourn - now fallen, like the rest, to the Jotun. Around one fire, three figures sat. Two were dressed in the distinctive uniform of the Drakes, their equipment and weapons still by their side. They sat in each others arms, watching the firelight and thinking. Tomorrow the long trek to rejoin the rest of the army beckoned - but for now there was nothing to but wait; and talk to the curious third who'd joined them in the early evening, like them fleeing the oncoming forces as they'd overrun Overton. He was dressed more lightly- though he wore light armour, beneath that his brown robes and cassock distinguished him as a friar. "So where did you say you were from, Friar?" asked Jill, the taller of the two. The man sighed, his face suddenly crinkling with time-worn worry. "Whittle, if I ever see it again. Virtues, let them be safe... thirty years we waited, you know... and now the whole Mourn is fallen again." Grace piped up. "Whittle, I heard of that. You ain't seen nobody and nothing outside your land since the Mourn fell, that right?" "That's it - though a few of us 'ave been to Anvil, now. I went last season. Didn't fill me with much confidence, to be honest. Seems you brave folks are led by donkeys - ah, it was ever thus. I remember when I were a lad, visiting Anvil, were just the same." Jill shivered. "Fuck the Jotun. Fuck what they've done, you know, fuck all of this. They call it honorable war - s'not honorable to tear a people from their land. Not right." She fell silent, staring into the fire. Holding her closer, Grace picked up the refrain: "Yeah. We shouldn't give them an inch, you know, shouldn't have let them creep in. This is what peace brings, you know: it's just delayed horror. Back in my home village, they always said you should stand up to bullies: well, here it seems we give them the pity of picking up their honored dead and leaving the battlefield. They don't deserve it." The three of them started in silence for a moment. Then, the Friar spoke. "You know, we have a saying up Whittle way. 'Tolerance is the first crack in strong foundations'. Seems like you might agree." Grace snorted, and nodded. "Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. Seems to me if we'd done a lot less tolerating of the Jotun before their armies got as big as they are now, we wouldn't be in this mess." Friar Robin nodded. He seemed to think for a moment, and then the worry lines faded from his face, replaced by a decisive look. "Look. Things are fucked, here. But I've got a message to spread. Mayhaps it's the only way we've got. Kept us safe in Whittle for a long time..." The two women looked at each other, then at Robin. "What are you saying?" "Hear me out, at least, right? Let me tell you about the purest form of will that there is. Let me tell you about hatred..." -------------- Hate! What is it good for? A fine philosophical question. Right now it looks like it is good for some worrying items, and some contentious options for the war in the Mournwold - especially for the Generals of the five armies that were recently forced to decamp to Tassato. You can learn more about the options that indulging on some hate offer by checking the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Will_to_survive I nicked this useful image from http://cliparts.co/clipart/3209242 The text is by Wren Robson, who also provided the hastags. #hateleadstoJOTUNSUFFERING #hatemile #whittlersaremadeofstrongstuff #hateisaswordofpurewill #todefendwhatyouholddear SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T18:00:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1039974639431849 +++CASTLE OF WIND AND SKY+++ Strangers are dangerous. Little Bat stared at the tall dark-skinned man. He was dressed in fine silk, the bleached white robes pulled tight to his body. He was crouched down sheltering behind the low wall struggling for air, the wind screaming at him as it tried to steal the breath from his lips. Strangers can harm you. There were a lot of new people visiting the vale now. They had started arriving as summer faded, as soon as the castle was complete. Little Bat liked the castle. It reminded her of the picture in Little Rhino's book, the one with the giants and the castle in the clouds. The strangers had brought the clouds with them. Never approach a stranger. The strangers mostly stayed in the castle. It was calm when they were indoors - the wind would rest waiting for its prey to emerge - it only blew when they dared to set foot outside the castle. It didn't bother anyone from the vale - it was only the strangers that it hated. As soon as the clouds could see them they would call to the wind and it would run to attack them. Never talk to a stranger. The stranger was struggling to make head way, fighting against the wind with every step, desperate to reach the safety of the castle. He leaned hard in to the wind, fighting to keep his balance, but as he moved to take a step the capricious gale switched directions and sent him sprawling in the wet snow. The scrolls he had been clutching were torn from his grasp, but fortunately they dropped to the ground only a pace away despite the raging wind. Never trust a stranger. The man clutched his robes around his cold body, moaning as he reached for the nearest scroll. Just as his fingers made contact, the wind screamed again, tearing the paper from his grasp, hurling it into the air. It landed barely a pace further away, but the torment was too much for the stranger and his arm dropped to touch the cold snow cursing. The wind paused, watching, waiting, ready for the mouse to move again. Never help a stranger. Little Bat skipped forward enjoying the pattern her shoes made in the snow. She scooped up both the scrolls and standing near enough to help and far enough to be safe she handed them to the stranger. He looked at her, astonishment plain on his face - perhaps it was because she was helping him, perhaps it was because his tormentor had ceased to bellow. Little Bat dropped the scrolls into his hand. "Safe journey" she said, the same way her mother had said it to that odd stranger who had come visiting the vale last Winter. Never mistreat a stranger. She kept a fixed smile on her face just as she had been taught and carefully backed away from the stranger. Once she was a safe distance from him, she turned and ran for home. The wind picked up behind her as she ran. ---------- The Icy Crag has had its fair share of problems and it doesn't look as if that is changing any time soon. You can learn more about the situation here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Castle_of_wind_and_sky The photo is Neuschwanstein Castle in winter taken from here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/pixie_bebe/109304267). #Itsfunnyhowsomedistancemakeseverythingseemsmall, #itsallgoonSummerRealmHills, #Mattwrotethetextblamehim SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-05T17:02:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1039938902768756 +++IRON AND WINE+++ Maria expertly sucked the olive from round its stone and spat the pit into the purple-and-gold water below. Some of the dancing phantasmal horses that had been called up by one of the Reckoner covens were still prancing and turning on the surface of the river - albeit with a lot less definition. She expertly spat the pit so it passed through the forehead on a particularly fine stallion, and felt a rush of satisfaction as it exploded into shimmering droplets of water and mist. She was more than a little tipsy. It had been a good night, but she was considering retiring now. There had been no fireworks for nearly half an hour, and even the musicians back in the main hall were beginning to become a little unsteady - probably more due to the drinks they had been putting away than due to exhaustion. She tried to decide if she wanted more more drink before bed, and whether she was prepared to endure another half hour of political maneuvering from the other guests to get it. The decision was made for her. Quick, slim fingers plucked the spent glass from her hand and tossed it into the river, replacing it with a fresh glass of something tall, translucent and gold. Luija slumped heavily against the parapet next to her, and took a big sip of her own dark violet concoction. She set the half-full ambergelt goblet down on the smooth marble of the railing, and pushed her golden mask up onto the top of her head, dislodging several of her butterfly hair pins. She was flushed, and sweaty. She mopped her face, and snapped open a small practical fan to try and cool herself down. "I thought you might have taken refuge out here," she said as Maria took a sip of her drink. It was surprisingly refreshing - a hint of apple and orange companionably mixing with more than a subtle suggestion of strong spirits. "It is far too damned hot in there." Maria made a face. "No, it wasn't the heat. Bloody d'Bauser will not take a hint, even when it's wrapped around a fairly pointed insult and jabbed into that gut of his." Luija winced. "Oh dear. Still on at you about that Temeschwar business?" Maria nodded. "Yes. And some new madness of Duke Ferrero's. And of course the election. He kept trying to bribe me into going to Anvil to support him as Senator. Can you imagine d'Bauser as Senator for Tassato? They'd eat him alive!" Luiga paused at her fanning for a moment, coincidentally covering her mouth with her fan. "I was talking to a delightful little naga just this evening who reckons that d'Bauser is being funded by the vyig." Maria was not surprised, but neither was she entirely convinced. "Yes, but people say that about everyone from Temeschwar. And d'Basuer is too much of an idiot even for those tattooed thugs. Anyway, I thought they were all done and dusted?" Luija made a noncommital noise. Before Maria could ask for more details, her Prince suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh my! Maria! Could you imagine dear Cesares face if d'Bauser actually turned up to try and challenge him?" Maria could, just about, it made her smile. Cesare Sanguineo Rezia Di Tassato, Senator of the Twin City, had cleverly managed to get himself named to oversee the collection and expenditure of funds for the grand celebrations. She could not fault his commitment to excess. The wise had marked fairly quickly that there were as many posters of Cesare looking stately - nay, regal - in his role as "Prince of the League" as there were banners and flags with Empress Lisabetta's face on them. It had been his idea to dye the Vassa with wine and gilding - and his idea to shower bunting across the entire city. Golden horns in Mestra, red foxes in Regario. There was a man of ambition. A man to watch. The two sipped their drinks companionably for a few moments, then Maria furrowed her brow and asked: "Did you and he ever ..." she left the sentence hanging. Prince Luija composed her features into a coy look. "A lady does not brag about such matters, and another lady should not speculate." "Yes," said Maria. "But this particular lady knows you have a fondness for rugged cambions, so ...." Luija smiled, but she made the subtle gesture with her fan that meant "I would like to change the conversation", and Maria complied. "Actually, on a related topic, I've been thinking about the Empress' message. Especially with the barbarian practically at our door, as it were. I think we should do something." Luija nodded, gestured "go on" with her fan. Pulled a piece of yellow fruit out of her drink, inspected it owlishly for a moment, then flicked it into the river. "Before d'Basuer turned up, I was talking to Pesca. She knows someone who knows someone at military procurement. We make a reasonable profit through potion sales to the rich, but I think that if we invested slightly in refitting the Temple Street shop a little, we could look at a different market. The soldiers of the Empire are forever being injured - stabbed, cut, shot with arrows, bludgeoned, hacked, trampled, gored -" She realised she was just listing ways a soldier could be injured and realised she was a good deal more tipsy than she had at first thought. With an effort she stopped talking and took a breath. "Anyway. Pesca thinks - and I agree - that we could negotiate a pretty good deal with the civil service to supply the big five potions - the easy ones everyone knows how to make but nobody ever makes in bulk. Bulk for potions, I mean obviously. With our contacts in Feroz and Madruga, and with Pesca keeping an eye out for good deals at the Apothecary House, we could make a reasonable profit, I think." Luija had been nodding along for several moments as she spoke. "I like it, but ... we make enough as it is. Would the profits really be worth the effort?" Maria pondered for a moment. "Not really," she said slowly. "But ... there are other benefits. Once you have your feet under the table at military procurement you're in a better position to secure other opportunities. We'd be known as people supporting the Empire, and that never hurts not with the Jotun just over the horizon. But really ... well ... destiny. The Empress ... you know." She trailed off, blushing. Prince Luija chuckled, but gently. "Yes, yes I do know. I do indeed know." She pulled her mask back down, resettled her hair, and extended an arm for her sister who slipped her own through it companionably. "Look into it first thing in the morning." Luija looked Maria over, checked herself. "First thing tomorrow afternoon, I meant to say. Now! Let's go and see if we can't snag ourselves a couple of ambitious nephilim to make sure the evening ends with a bang!" Laughing together, the sisters returned to the party, leaving their empty glasses balanced on the stone wall above the wine-red river. --------------- The first Wind of Fortune for the last main event of the year. Begin with a bang - the legendary celebrations surrounding the coronation of Empress Lisabetta! Along with some three-day hangovers, the celebrations, and the Empress' celebratory message, have had some subtle but profound changes in the Empire. First, there is a new order that any General can take. Second, there is an opportunity to permanently change the identity of one of the Imperial armies on a profound level. You can learn all about these celebrations and opportunities here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Iron_and_wine We're going to be getting more Winds of Fortune up tonight - we've left it a bit late, and there's already a *lot* to digest from the Winds of War, but hopefully the tags and relatively small number will make it easier for people to find the stuff that applies directly to them. ------ The picture is a public domain photo by Ippolito Caffi, Moccoli Evening in Rome, 1834, at the Thorvaldsens Museum (www.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk) #herewegoherewegoherewego, #moredestinylessbleeding, #weregoingtoneedtokeepthisfocusedifweretogetthroughthemallbeforeBrooklyn SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-02T14:10:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1037440566351923 Hi folks, that's pretty much everything from Andy on the Winds of War, we're flat out now on the Winds of Fortune but in the mean time here's a few words from our sponsor. 1) Overton - as the Winds of War make clear, a handful of Imperial citizens - mostly Marchers - refused to leave Overton when it fell to the Jotun. They stayed behind to fight to the last. If you want your character to have been present in that group at that time - and to have made the choice to stay behind to the bitter end - then please DO NOT GO TIME-IN at 6pm Friday. Please come and see us at monster and we will take it from there. Remember that if you play one of the battles - you must monster the other. This weekend that means you're going to be portraying the Jotun - if you're coming to monster EITHER of the two battles - please bring/wear any kit or costume that is appropriate for the Jotun. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Jotun_look_and_feel 2) Skirmish Volunteering. There is a second chance to come and play orcs if you're up for it. We are running a big Grendel skirmish at 6pm on Saturday. It is totally optional, there is no requirement to volunteer for this skirmish but if you are free and want some fun then please head to monster at 6pm Saturday. If you have any kit that looks good for Grendel then please bring that kit. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Grendel_look_and_feel This will be more like a small battle (if we get enough help!) than some of the skirmishes that we have run in the past - so it'll be a lot of fun. If anyone wants to come and help PD make Empire cooler by putting a little bit extra back into the game - 6PM Saturday is the time to come volunteer. 3) Twixt the cup and the lip - I read the wrong column for the number of Imperial military units in the campaigns this season. I got the strength right, but the numbers wrong - which we discovered from the Guerdon levels. Andy is correcting the narrative - but we know a few players had noted the MUs were down - but in fact they weren't. Nothing to see here - please move along. 4) Language Timothy! - We've updated our rules for the code of conduct that we expect from players for our events. A lot of this is actually existing material that we've pulled together from a bunch of places, but the section on language is new. It's now all in one place on the wiki. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Conduct Mostly the rules are "don't be an arse" but since everyone's definition of what constitutes being an arse is slightly different - we've laid out what we class as being an arse at our events. I know a bunch of people will not like us asking players not to be an arse at our games. This shit doesn't matter to everyone - but it MATTERS TO US - and that's why we've done this update. Me and a big bunch of my mates put a metric crap-ton of our time into making Empire as cool as we possibly can - so please respect our efforts and our wishes and commit to playing the game that is being offered. *edit* Language changed to remove a mention of "fight to the last man" and comparing bad people to male genitalia... because language is hard... but saying "oops" is *easy*. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-02T12:24:07+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1037355599693753 +++THE PRICE IS CONSEQUENCE+++ The Barrens has never been friendly to the Empire, always a place of danger where unseen threats lurk behind every tree and beneath every hill For another season, the waters across the Barrens run red, saturated with vileness that sucks the energy and the will to fight out of those who drink it. Pure water is now a luxury - and the taint has sunk into every wine bottle and keg of ale in Dawnguard, as well as into the rivers, streams, lakes, and the Barren Sea. The flies grow fat and lazy; they barely bother to dodge and when one is swatted as often as not it bursts with an unpleasant crimson stickiness. Everything is touched with sickness; every wound breeds maggots, every injury blackens and swells with sepsis. The weather is too hot, and too wet, and the sky presses close above the trees, a crushing weight that breeds discontent and unhappiness. The forests and the marshes live, sick with Spring magic and with Night magic. Malevolent, hateful, hungry for blood. Potent foci of defensive enchantment that offer protection to the orc defenders. This is what the armies of the Empire must contend with as they march to conquer the Carmine Fields. The Gryphon's Pride and the Golden Sun, cautiously expanding the Imperial control of the western Barrens. Pains are taken to minimize the threat of the Spring magic taint - field hospitals support physicians and witches alike who focus their energies on reducing Dawnish casualties. Such care comes at a cost however, and the Dawnish forces advance only slowly. They are resisted by the armies of the Barrens orcs, but it is clear from the outset that something has changed. There is no sign of the banners of the Black Wind or the Great Forest, only the white bird banner of the Rhavin. They try to stand against the Dawnish, to defend the scattered orc farms and settlements of the Carmine Fields, but time and again they are forced to reatreat. With the malignant Spring curse, it is clear that their forces are being decimated whenever they try to engage with the better armed, better armoured, better trained Dawnish forces. Time and again, they fall back. They make what use they can of the magical defences in Farweald and the Untrod Groves but it is just not enough. As the season wears on there are less and less engagements between Dawn and the orcs until abruptly they stop altogether. Still, the slow and cautious pace of the Dawnish advance, even backed by the garrison of the Towers of the Dawn, means that the Empire has still not conquered the Carmine Fields, but by the time the season ... ... ah. There is more. A month or so after the Solstice, while the knights are still fighting the Rhavin, news comes from the south. An army of a little over two thousand orcs of the Great Forest, along with what appears to be the majority of their tribe or clan or whatever it is they claim as their identity emerges from Hope's Rest into the Tarn Valley in Theruinin. They do not attempt to conceal their approach, and send scouts ahead to ensure that they are expected. They are responding to the invitation of the Navarr, supported by the Imperial Senate. They are armed, and armoured, and clearly prepared to retreat back over the border at the first sign of treachery. They are met by representatives of the steadings and stridings of Therunnin, and a great camp is raised in the Lower Tarn Valley. There are stories - only a few but enough to cause comment - that with them are a number of humans of obvious briar lineage whose intentions are a little less clear. They are clearly allied to these barbarian orcs of the Great Forest - no not barbarians. By judgement of the Senate the Great Forest are foreigners, and welcome in Therunin. The question of what to do about their allies must wait, for the moment. But the tale they bring... the story they tell of their march south... that is of greater interest than any briars. The Black Wind have left the Barrens as well, but they have crossed the river east of the Saltmarsh into the Mallum. Not as conquerors, but as supplicants. Even the Great Forest orcs are not certain, but it seems that half the Black Wind tribe has betrayed the other half and seeks to make peace with the Druj... an overture that they have accepted. This, then, explains why the defenders of the Barrens are so depleted, and why the Empire is so easily able to conquer more of the Carmine Fields leaving them as the Equinox nears with ... ... ah, no. There is more still. Two days after the Great Forest orcs enter Therunin, while they are cautiously raising their tents and receiving the diplomats of the Navarr, the first reports of trouble in the east begin to filter back to the Dawnish forces. Knight's errant and questing alike, some of them battered and diseased, bring dire news of a host - a great host of orcs - that has crossed the rivers from the east, slaughtering every orc in their path that does not kneel and bow their head at their approach. Thousands of orcs. Orcs beneath banners of jade-and-gold, their spiked armour bedecked with skulls and bones. There is no chance to estimate numbers. One party of errants engaged in a test of mettle near the Saltmarsh claim they saw five thousand orcs camped on the banks of the great marshes there. Another lone survivor - who later dies of her wounds - ranted and raved until the end about thirty-, forty-, fifty-thousand yellow eyes watching her from the darkness. A pair of scouts indicate that they saw nothing... but several other scouting parties testing out the defences of the Bitter Strand to the east fail to return and while it is likely that the Barrens orcs accounted for them there is a concern that ... ... ten days before the Autumn Equinox, with the Dawnish knights consolidating their meagre gains in the Carmine Fields a band of half a dozen orcs emerge from the south-eastern forests and plant a flag of truce in the soil of the Carmine Fields that flutters and dances in the sudden quick breeze. It is spattered with blood. At the foot of the flag they place sacks, damp and dripping, and buzzing with flies. The six of them settle down to wait unconcerned, beneath the flag. Some of them roll bones, talking quietly among themselves. The others keep watch across the fields. A discussion, and then the Gryphon's Pride and the Golden Sun both send a delegation of twenty soldiers each to see what is afoot. The orcs make no effort to withdraw. They stand and watch the Imperial troops approach - not afraid, no expression readable beneath their hoods and masks. When the first Dawnish knight comes to within bow-casst, the leader holds up one gloved hand and steps forward. "Parley," she says in a rasping voice full of age and cynicism. "Parley, knights of Dawn. We have a gift and a proposal from our masters." The knights pause. The orc speaks again. She gestures to the bags they have piled around the flagpole. "Here is our gift. The heads of the Rhavin. The leaders of the orcs who attacked your homes. They are dead." One of the knights asks a question, the orc woman shakes her head. "You misunderstand me. It is not the leaders who are dead - they are *all* dead. *Every single one of them*. The tribe of Rhavin is gone. We have reclaimed their tribe lands. As was agreed." Confusion. The orc does not stop. "Take a message to your Senate, please, knights of Dawn. We are prepared to negotiate the precise placement of the Line, as agreed. We will await the word of your Senate on the other side of the river, in the Bitter Strand, on the eastern banks of the Kepahitân River, until the end of the Autumn Equinox. We will offer hospitality to a diplomatic envoy of shall we say a dozen. If we hear no word from you we will assume you have reneged on the agreement, are not interested in negotiation, and will act accordingly." She folds her arms then, and smiles, showing broken blackened teeth. After a moment, the Druj withdraw back toward the river, leaving behind their flag, and the pile of dripping, fly crowded, sacks. ===GAME INFORMATION=== The Dawnish armies have extended their influence over the Carmine Fields to the point where just over half of it is under their control. The Great Forest orcs are now in Therunin, a small army and a number of their tribemates, as guests of the Navarr. It is likely a Winds of Fortune will follow detailing the situation there more clearly. An unknown number of Druj are now in the Barrens. At this time it is not clear if this means there are armies there, or whether it is just half a dozen diplomats waiting on the eastern banks of the Kepahitân River in the Broken Stand. It is not clear what else the Druj might be doing, or what the situation is with regards to the rest of the territory. The civil service have confirmed that a conjunction of the Sentinel Gate exists on Friday night to "the eastern banks of the Kepahitân River in the Broken Stand" for up to twenty citizens. Fate, it seems, is paying attention. -------------- There we have it. Last Winds of War, about to move on to Winds of Fortune. The picture is ... well its orcs innit? Who all look the same. I'm going to guess it is skirmish crew but you never know. #warishell, #greenisgood, #gameastheysayon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-01T22:16:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1036891483073498 Unfortunately, it looks like we're not going to get the last Winds of War approved tonight, so you might as well all go to bed. Hopefully it will be up bright and early first thing tomorrow. In the meantime, here are four well-known Empire characters. Can you name them all? (By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31928910) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-01T19:00:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1036762753086371 +++LOYALTY TO GREAT THINGS+++ During the Summer Solstice, the defenders of the Empire fought hard to oppose an attack by the Jotun and their Eternal allies against the Singing Caves north of Overton. The battle was hard fought, but the Imperial heroes were victorious. This quick response, and their defeat of several powerful orc champions on the battlefield, seemed to give the Jotun pause. It also ensured that the Jotun would need to fight - and fight hard - if they wanted to claim the final acres of the Mournwold. In the first weeks after the Solstice, the Empire rearranges its forces. Of the armies that fought the Jotun offensive before the Solstice, only the Drakes remain, garrisoned in Orchard's Watch. They are joined by the Tusks and the Winter Sun from Kahraman, and - after a brutal forced march west out of Highguard - by the Strong Reeds and the Granite Pillar. The generals of the Tusks and the Winter Sun develop the Empires defensive strategy with the aid of the powerful insights granted by the Urizen magicians of the Auric Horizon and the Netherwatch Delegation. A little over twenty thousand Imperial troops, give or take, clustered in the Greensward around Orchard's Watch. A scattering of resistance fighters from the Mourn have come to join them, including a band of friars and laypersons who have risked much to travel down from the Whittle Hill to offer spiritual support to the defenders. The walls of Orchard Watch are strong, but are they strong enough? Arrayed against them, an ocean of Jotun. Their campfires are numberless, spreading like a blanket of red stars over the north-western Greensward, and across Ore Hills and Southmoor. Rough estimates suggest around thirty thousand orc warriors, perhaps as many as ten thousand of that number being made up of the retinues of great Jotun champions who fight this season under the banner of the Mandowla's Roar. They are supported by the garrisons of Hillstop and the Tribute, and by several thousand glorious elfin knights and goblinborn yeofolk proudly displaying the crimson-and-gold lion device of their eternal Queen, Eleonaris, Mistress of the Fields of Glory. The Empire's plan is straightforward enough: deny the Jotun another inch of Marcher soil. The soldiers of the Tusks and the Granite Pillar in particular prepare themselves for whatever the Jotun might throw at them, their captains discussing possible offensive strategies and the tactics that might be used to defeat them. The Jotun appear to be waiting. Small groups of restless warriors test the Imperial lines, especially those red-and-black orcs of the Corazón clan who still seem to want to prove themselves to their Jotun allies. Yet no significant offensive takes place. At first, the optimistic watchers on the walls of Orchard Watch hope that this is a sign that the Jotun, too, are defending the land they already hold. Perhaps the courage of the Imperial heroes in blunting their offensive against the Singing Caves has made the Jotun uncertain. Older, wiser heads shake sadly when they hear this opinion expressed. They know that the Jotun have coveted Overton and the Singing Caves, coveted the Greensward, for far too long to delay when it is in their grasp. Just shy of a month since the end of the Summer Solstice, as the full moon rises for the first time over Southmoor and Ore Hills, a disturbance runs through the Jotun forces. Drums are beaten, horns are blown. Here and there the orc campfires blossom into full-fledged bonfires. The alarm is sounded, the forces outside the castle walls look to their defences, brace themselves for a night attack ... ... but no attack comes, not during the darkness. The next morning, the keen eyed watchers in the high towers of Orchard's Watch report the presence of a massive new Jotun force among those spread out to the north and east. Their warning is late. The captains of the Tusks and the Winter Sun, alerted to the shift in the enemy deployments by the power of their enchantments, have already been up for hours discussing possible tactics with the strategists of the Granite Pillar. The attack comes an hour after dawn. The entire Jotun force in the Mournwold launches an overwhelming assault against Orchard's Watch, with the triumphant charge of the Mandowla's Roar - perhaps fifteen thousand orcs and Summer spirits strong - leading the way. The Singing Caves fall first, within the first three hours of the fighting. The Corazón and the Tower of the North armies are then freed to sweep round the northern flanks of the castle - where they find the Granite Pillar and the Tusks, anticipating their maneuver, have prepared defensive trenches and a stake line that breaks their charge and bogs them down and leaves them easy prey for a flanking attack. The Drakes, the Strong Reeds, and the orcs of the Winter Sun stand firm in the face of the Jotun assault. When the gates of Overton fall, Marcher and orc are there to meet the first Jotun through. When the western tower of Orchard's Watch is shattered by a Jotun catapult-stone, the Marchers and the Highborn are there to rally the defenders and hold the breach. When the doors of the keep are smashed open by armoured ogres, the Marcher defenders fight to hold them back long enough for the noncombatants and the wounded to be evacuated to safety. Overton falls. No more than a handful of the Marcher folk who have called the town home since time out of mind are prepared to flee. As one of the aldermen says, coughing blood from the Jotun arrow in his lung: "While Overton stands, we'll stand by it." Overton falls, and little by little the Marchers, and the Highborn, and the Imperial Orcs are forced back. First out of Overton, and then out of the Greensward. With the only option being to surrender and face the Jotun Choice, the captains have no alternative but to sound the retreat and withdraw from the Mournwold. As the last Imperial soldiers are harried back across the border toward Tassato Mestra, a great cry goes up from the Jotun, a cheer that seems to have no end, that rolls back and forth with the sound of drums and horns, and echoes across the hills of north-western Tassato as the last Marcher captain leaves the Mournwold. For three centuries a Marcher banner has flown over the Mournwold. Now this land belongs to the Jotun. ===DENOUEMENT=== While Orchard's Watch still stands, it stands for the Jotun now, a third fortification securing the southern hills, securing one end of the passes that lead into Braydon's Jasse and Kahraman. The Singing Caves, and the mithril they contain, belong to the Jotun now. So, too, do the people of the Mournwold. The fate of the people of the Greensward at least is clear. They have never been under the boot of the Jotun before, so they will be offered the Choice. Take up arms and fight for the Jotun against the Empire; lay down their arms and work the fields as thralls; or wield their weapons one last time and receive an "honourable" death beneath an orcish axe. What is less clear is the fate that will befall those Marcher yeofolk who had taken the Choice to become Jotun thralls but, inspired by Imperial forces, took up arms against their orc overlords. The people of Whittle are obviously under threat, but there are hundreds of others across the Marches who have offered support to the Imperial forces during their effort to liberate the Mourn, resistance fighters, and even those who have sheltered or aided scouts passing through their villages. The Jotun traditionally deal very harshly with those who violate the oath of the thrall; there is a very real chance that will be executed wherever they can be found. The Military Council will no doubt need to debate what happened in the Mournwold, but something is clear - without the heroic action during the Summer Solstice, it is likely that the Jotun would have taken the Greensward easily and potentially been in a position to begin establishing a beachead in Tassato - or even to offer concrete aid to their forces in Kahraman. ------------- *Not* a short one. You can of course read it on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_war#Loyalty_to_Great_Things (If any Marcher's are reading this, it means that the Sheriff of Overton has *just* lost their job, although I'm not sure that is at the forefront of anyone's minds right now. It also has significant implications for any Imperials whose personal resource was in the Mournwold. We can worry about that later ... I've summarized it in the Game Information section on the wiki anyway) The photo is DJ Tommy Gee, and it is a picture of a bunch of evil Skirmish types strutting about like they own the Mourn. Which they do. #surelythatisallofthemright?, #dontgotobedjustyet, #itistimetodrinkciderandsingsadsongs, #summerisicumenin SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-09-01T12:09:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1036507886445191 +++AUDACITY+++ The Freeborn Storm sweeps east along the coast from Sarvos, through Necropolis, hunting Grendel. The warships of the Freeborn navy are supported and reinforced by over forty independent Imperial captains. Over half of them hail from anchorages in the Brass Coast, but there are ships from Wintermark and the Marches, from Urizen and Varushka and Naarr, and even a fleet whose captain calls distant Skarsind home. The thick, unnatural fog still clings to the waters of the Bay of Catazaar, as it has done for the past year. Most of the ships' crews have become inured to its eerie effulgence, and as it clings close to the water rarely rising high enough to spill onto the deck of a warship, they give it little mind. Still, it plays odd tricks and occasionally interferes with communication between vessels in the fleet. Phantom lights, and even the occasional eerie ghostly ship are spotted when the sun goes down and the fog begins to glow faintly under the light of the moon. It does not help that Necropolis is subject to the eerie phenomena of the empty sky - that once the sun sets the stars which have so often proved the friend of the sailor cannot be seen. A few of the more superstitious consider it a bad omen. Still, the navy is never of out sight of the Highborn shore. The lighthouses that dot the coast provide welcome beacons on the darknest nights, helping the less maneuverable warships avoid dangerous rocks and reminding the ships' crews that they are never far from home no matter how isolated the dark skies may make them feel. The plan is to catch the Grendel navies in Spiral by surprise and deliver them a crippling defeat while their attention is focused on the land battle. Unfortunately, as the flotilla of Imperial ships rounds Rebekah's Leap into Redoubt, it becomes apparent that things are not going to unfold as the Empire expects. Coming the other way around Rebekah's Leap is an immense Grendel armada. It is at least twice the size of the Freeborn Storm, even allowing for the presence of so many independent captains. A plethora of warships with blood-red, bile-yellow, and sea-green sails crewed by thousands of hard-bitten orc mariners, rigged for war, speed toward the Imperial navy. The wine-dark waters below that haunted bluff become the scene for the first ever major naval engagement between the Grendel and the Empire. The Battle of Rebekah's Leap begins when a fleet of fast moving orc vessels pull ahead of the main flotilla, red sails set for speed, and engage swift corsair vessels belonging to House Taziel and the House of Ezmara. A storm of grapples; a flurry of arrows and bolts; and then the ships are locked and boarding planks dropped into place and blood begins to flow. Moments later, the two navies wash over and around them, their conflict serving as the centre point to the biggest naval battle in the history of the Empire. From the start, it is clear that the Empire is outclassed. They are outnumbered, and the Grendel crews are simply more experienced at engaging in ship-to-ship combat on such a scale. The Imperial fleets are more maneuverable but no match for a Grendel naval vessel; the Empire's warships are powerful, but they are also ungainly and slower to react to the ebb and flow of the sea battle than their orc opposite numbers. It is almost certainly a blessing that the Grendel navy appears to consist solely of warships - if the Grendel had brought a contingent of their own independent captains with them then the Empire would be in even more serious trouble. There is also magic at play. The difficulty of coordinating Imperial vessels does not appear to be one experienced by the Grendel. Many of their warships seem to possess preternatural ability to spot and exploit weaknesses or circumstances. They are difficult to outmaneuver, almost impossible to take unawares. The magicians aboard the Imperial ships are left in little doubt that they are observing powerful enchantments of the realm of Day or perhaps Autumn, the make the Grendel armada even more deadly. The Empire is outclassed, but it is not incapable. Many Grendel ships are sent to the bottom, or set aflame, or have their rigging and sails crippled. At one point a band of Winterfolk board one of the three-masted orc warships with greataxes and manage to chop two of the masts down before they are forced back to their own ships, leaving the vessel easy prey. Unfortunately, the simple fact is that the Grendel armada is better than the Imperial navy. Nearly a fifth of the Empire's warships are sunk or immobilised. As twilight approaches, the captains have no choice but to sound the retreat - horns blaring, drums beating, flag-speakers frenziedly gesticulating on the prow of their vessels. The fury of the Freeborn Storm has met the rock of the Grendel armada and been repulsed. They pull back into Necropolis, grimly aware of the dark fate that awaits the crew of any ship left behind. Death might be preferable to slavery at the unkind hands of the Grendel. Over the next few days the navy regroups with its allied vessels quickly and efficiently - and just in time. The Grendel armada follows the Imperial Navy into Necropolis, and the Battle of the Pharos begins in the waters below the cliffs atop which the Necropolis stands. The Valiant Pegasus are garrisoned here, protecting the tombs of the Thrones and the homes of the Highborn people. They are forced to watch, helpless, as the maritime battle rages below them - even their great catapults and trebuchet are unable to propel stones far enough with enough force to be a factor in the battle. The surviving Imperial mariners have been seasoned by the Battle of Rebekah's Leap. The initial enthusiasm for the battle has gone; the mistakes of treating it like an engagement with pirates, are not repeated. But the Empire loses again, forced to sound another retreat. This time the Grendel do not pursue. As Autumn Equinox approaches, there are scattered engagements between Imperial vessels and orc ships testing each other, but the warships do not clash again. Each force keeps careful watch to ensure no ships sneak past them, neither side completely controls the waters of Necropolis, but there are serious concerns that a second season of naval engagement will go no better for the Empire. Yet ... it could have been worse. Sharp eyed corsairs averr that many of the Grendel ships showed signs of existing damage - hastily repaired rigging, patched sails, caulked hulls. A few of the boarding parties talk of splintered wood and oddly scorched decks. One of the Navarr is first to offer an explanation - these are ships that have been exposed to the angry fury of the sea, raised by Imperial magicians. Perhaps some solace may lie the knowledge that it could have been worse. Some solace. Perhaps. ===GAME INFORMATION=== The Freeborn Storm and the Grendel armada have clashed on the border between Necropolis and Redoubt, leaving both navies in Necropolis. The Auditor of the Imperial Treasury, Gerard La Salle has prepared a report for the Admiral on the strategic situation created by two rival naval forces being in the same territorial waters, to be presented during the Autumn Equinox. ------------------ Good morning, lovely people! The Battle of Rebekah's Leap, and the Battle of the Pharos. It is ... challenging ... to do a naval write-up at the best of time because once I've used "rigging", "sail", "mast", "rudder", and "hull" once I have run out of nautical words I know that are not "ship's biscuit". For a pre-Napoleaon game world it's even worse - at least for Maelstrom we could fall back on talking about cannons. And shark monsters. But mostly cannons. Plus it's never entirely clear to me if the Freeborn Storm has five-thousand ships in it or what. It's a lot easier with armies, I can tell you. Not least because armies fight in places with terrain where as near as I can tell from dimly-remembered trips to the beach the sea is remarkably same-y in a "blue, wet, goes up and down" kind of way. Anyway! First Imperial naval battle done! There are a few more Winds of War to come, they'll be up today and then we'll turn to Winds of Fortune most likely tomorrow morning. Stay tuned! The picture btw is Tom Garnett again and I am pretty sure it is Elizabeth Simmoens doing fire things. It was a lucky find - because if you squint you can imagine it is taking place on a boat just about - because for some reason Tom has not taken many pictures of epic sea battles for us to use for Winds of War. I know right? Outrageous. #amysticalquesttotheisleoftortuga, #Thedolphinssplashingettinerybodyallwet, #butthisaintseaworld thisisrealasitgets, #thanksalsotosunlesssea SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-31T19:56:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1035994126496567 +++INTERLUDE : THE GREATEST WEAPON+++ Some people in the south say that insight is the greatest weapon. Others say that knowledge is a power in its own right. Even where the Empire is not engaged in brutal conflict against its enemies, there are events of note. ===STANDOFF IN SPIRAL=== During the Summer Solstice, the Empire struck against the Grendel defending Ossuary and gave them a thorough thrashing. Forced to retreat in disarray, the orcs leave an opening for the Imperial forces to swoop in and claim not only the mithril mine but the entire region - and with it the territory of Spiral. With intelligence gained through heroic action, the generals discovered that the Grendel armies were being ordered to defend rather than launch an offensive over the coming season and made their plans accordingly. Spiral is an Imperial territory. The Eastern Sky, Green Shield, and Northern Eagle defend the four northern and western regions, while the still very significant Grendel presence occupies the south and the east. They defend Apstrus, Apulus, and Screed (where stands the sinister Black Plateau) with at least the same fervour that the Empire defends Ateri, Cinion, Ankra, and Ossuary. In the absence of further conflict, reports of eerie dreams among the sensitive decline rapidly. Urizen illuminates report that the Black Plateau appears to be settling down again. The rumbles of thunder and hate that have been observed in recent seasons quieten down... but do not fall entirely silent. ===SPIES IN SARVOS=== The Highborn army of the Seventh Wave, fresh from their engagement in Kharaman, come to Sarvos with a grim intent. They stand vigilant against any potential threat from the sea, and concentrate on restoring some of the losses they have suffered fighting against the Jotun in the west. Some of their Unconquered scouts also set about carefully exploring the League territory for signs of an alleged network of spies. So far they have reported no success - but at the same time there has been no impediment to their ability to re-equip and resupply. ===SILENCE IN THE MARSHES=== Again this season, powerful magical citadels rise in Kallavesa and Bregasland. Mists and briars, trees and marsh beasts alike work to protect the marshes of Wintermark and Bregasland. Their protection proves unneccessary. No orc forces enter Bregasland, and the Jotun forces pushing into Kallavesa first pause in their advance, and then they march back across the border to the west. Not all the Jotun leave - they still have the beginnings of a beachead in West March that will need to be rooted out. But there is no further immediate threat to the sacred lakes of the Winterfolk. ===SLAUGHTER IN ASOLAT=== The army of shambling unliving husks that emerged from the Semmerlak into Weirwater does not stay in Weirwater. Rather than entering Semmerholm, the army turns aside at the last minute and marches westward through the southern forests and hills, through Hawksmoor and Weirmoor, and enters Winterborne just north of the town of Weaving in Astolat. The witches of Weaving take one look at this army of stumbling cadavers and sound the alarm. As the first stories of the bloodthirsty unliving horrors preying on farmers and travelers, they rouse the Golden Axe, and the defenders of Castle of Thorns. The Varushkan army is spending a season near the tourney grounds of Laroc, being entertained and resupplied by the artisans and magicians of Spiral Castle, and responds quickly to the threat to the Dawnish people. Varushkan warriors, Dawnish witches, and the yeoman garrison of the Castle immediately march north to the defence of Weaving. The abominations are utterly outclassed. Between the total commitment of the Varushkan army to defending Astolat, and the looming presence of Castle Astolat, the cadaverous forces are completely outmatched. The wily Varushkans kill as many as a tenth of the horrors and inflict crippling injuries on many more. yet before the army flees back into Weirwater, they account for some two hundred Varushkan soldiers many of them torn apart and their flesh consumed by the monstrous host before they can be driven off. The lifeless horde retreat, but the damage is done. What should have been a relaxing visit to Astolat for the Golden Axe has been viciously interrupted. The Varushkans harry the unliving forces back to the borders and then stand a vigilant watch over them for the rest of the season, supported by weavers from the nearby Dawnish town and sentries from the Castle of Thorns, but the haunted legion out of Karsk makes no effort to return and appears to be camped now in the woods of south-western Weirwater far from any significant Imperial settlement. --------------- A quick roundup of stalemates, minor effects, and useful-to-know information. You can read it in full here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_war#The_Greatest_Weapon_.28Interlude.29 along with a small "game information" section with more info about the effect of the attack on Astolat on the Golden Axe. Lovely Tom Garnett Picture that I will probably cut the borders off and use on the Winds of War page. #therestprobablyinthemorning, #whohaventweseenyet?, #hedhavegottenawaywithitifithadntbeenforthatpeskyVarushkanarmyandtheimmensecastleofdoom SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-31T16:15:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1035879213174725 +++FRUITS OF OUR LABOUR+++ During the Summer Solstice, the Jotun pushed forward into Serra Briante. The fighting was brutal and swift, and the Great Mine fell to the orcs. Their celebration was short-lived, however ... After the solstice, a significant portion of the Imperial forces that had been defending Kharaman withdraw - some to the Mournwold, some to other parts of the Empire. Only the Fist of the Mountains and the Red Wind Corsairs stay to defend the remainder of the Freeborn hills from the Jotun - but they are replaced by armies drawn from across the Empire. The Fire of the South fresh from furlough in Weirwater; the Hounds of Glory and the Wolves of War from the debacle at Sarvos; and several armies previously engaged with the Jotun in Mournwold (the Bounders, the Quiet Step, and the orcs of the Summer Storm) converge on Kharaman. Over thirty-five thousand Imperial troops, supported by a little over three thousand additional troops lead by independent captains, face a roughly equivalent force of barbarian orcs. This season however, the garrison at Fort Braydon is cut off from the main force of troops due to enemy action during the Solstice. The Jotun armies make no effort to invade Braydon's Jasse, instead throwing their strength towards the conquest of Gambit and Jade Range, seeking to outmaneuvre te Empire and bring the territory under their control as quickly as possible. By contrast, the Imperial forces drive forward into Serra Briante and Serra Damata, totally committed to crushing the Jotun forces and driving them out of the Brass Coast. The orcs are overjoyed, meeting the Imperial charge with a charge of their own. The first clash of forces, in the dry plains below Serra Briante sees two great waves of soldiers crashing together into a great sea of slaughter, heroism, glory, and savagery. The Dawnish forces of the Hounds of Glory take the vanguard, and if their unexpected presence on the battlefield gives the Jotun pause they do not show it. The dry fields gulp down the blood of humans and orcs alike, and as the sun sets the Jotun cede the field, falling back to their camps around the mine itself. It is a small victory ... but a victory nonetheless. The Jotun treat their dead and the Imperial dead with respect. There is a strange detente, supported by the Wintermark and Dawnish forces, allowing the godi and the Imperial priests to claim the bodies of the fallen. Only the Navarr of the Quiet Step refuse to participate; at every opportunity they despoil the bodies of the fallen, seeking to send a message to the Jotun - and to their fellows fighting in Liathaven, no doubt. Over the next months, the Jotun push into the southern regions is blunted almost entirely. Wherever they try to advance, they find the Empire - not in defensive positions as they clearly expected, but on the offensive. It is clear that by attacking, the Imperial generals have stymied at least part of the Jotun strategy. Their plan is quickly abandoned in the face of strike after strike against Serra Briante. While a tower of ice and black iron still watches over the Damatican Cliggs, there is no matching citadel to protect the mithril mine. The Jotun are able to hold for a time, but their tactics are not those of a defender but of a conqueror. While many of the engagements are won by the Empire, enough go to the Jotun that the dead litter the hills like fallen leaves. The last battle at the Great Mine of Briante sees the Jotun make use of the old Navarr warning beacons, burning golden flames to send news of their defeat west to the forces camped in Serra Damata. Grudgingly, carefully, the Jotun pull into the hills. A token force secures the Great Mine, and then the rest of the Imperial host follow the Jotun, giving them no respite. Another great battle rages outside the walls of Briante, the town that gives the valley its name. The Jotun are again forced to pull back, but the damage done to the town is extensive. Inside, a horror. Every Navarr prisoner old enough to wield a weapon that the Jotun have taken during their campaign in Kharaman - including many refugees from Liathaven seeking shelter among the Freeborn of Briante - have been executed and their bodies piled up like cordwood in the town square. Nearly a hundred men and women, all dead. A single Navarr guide is left alive, shackled to a post. Through tears, the guide haltingly passes a message from the Jotun to the thorns of the Quiet Step. "They say this is the answer to the murder of thralls." The priest's face is set as the message is delivered, and there is no hint of accusation in the words. While the Empire liberates Serra Briante, the campaign is far from over. Another four weeks of brutal warfare sees the Jotun finally, grudgingly forced out of Serra Briante entirely, and pushed ever westwards towards Reinos and the Lasambrian Hills. The final battles of the season takes place in the town of Damata, in the shadow of the glacial citadel of Cathan Canaea. Yet the Jotun clearly have no interest in a drawn-out siege. They face the Imperial forces in the open, albeit supported by the servants of the Queen of Ice and Darkness. Massive orc-like warriors in fur and leather, marked with spiral tattoos, hurl their deadly barbed spears down from the walls on any who come too close. A courageous attempt to force the gate of the citadel ends in disaster, leaving dozens slain or maimed. All told, the servants of Cathan Canea and their grim citadel kill some two hundred Imperial soldiers before the armies fall back. Without the presence of the magical fortress, the Empire would almost certainly have driven the Jotun out of Serra Damata entirely. The extent of the cost in orc and human lives for this wild, bloody campaign is hard to conceive. The Jotun bury the Imperials alongside their own dead, when they are given the chance. Some soldiers are simply maimed, or lose their will to fight, rather than being counted among the fallen. At the end of the season, though, it is estimated that between the Jotun and the Imperials there are ten thousand warriors - the equivalent of two entire armies - who will never fight again. The Empire has won, for sure, but the cost has been great. As the Autumn Equinox dawns, there is an opportunity to catch a few quiet moments to reflect. There is every indication that they continue to enjoy the support of Cathan Canaea, as her tower of ice and iron shows no sign of melting or returning to the Summer Realm. There is no sign that the Jotun are planning to give up the Damatian Cliffs any easier than they ceded control of Briante and the Great Mine, and every sign that their numbers are being reinforced by warbands fleeing Liathaven, and by the strange orcs of the high peaks. ===GAME INFORMATION=== In the end, the Empire liberates Serra Briante and dominates over half of the Damatian hills. The Great Mine of Briante is now back in Imperial hands. The Imperial Senate may choose to allocate the mine as either an Imperial resource, or a Brass Coast national seat (chosen by vote of the Freeborn fleet owners). Because the Bourse seat has changed hands it is possible to change how it is appointed, and there are already rumblings of interest in parts of the Brass Coast in seeing this resource in Freeborn territory be controlled by the Freeborn. The Jotun have already claimed the mithril bounty from the mine for this season, however, which means that regardless of the Senate decision, it will not be actually appointed until Winter at the earliest ... assuming the Empire still controls it. -------------- A long one this time. You can, as always, read a more friendly version (again with some extra bonus text) here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_war#Fruits_of_Our_Labour The picture is Tom Garnett again, and I think has a bunch of Imperial orcs in it. #VaeVictus!, #backandforthbackandforth, #theEmpireisinvincible SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-31T15:48:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1035863176509662 We've reopened the Empire downtime system for a few days - mostly to allow players to submit arcane projections for the start of the next event if they want to (you can also transfer resources between players). We'll close the downtime/inventory section again on Friday lunch so that we can pack everyone's packs. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-31T15:19:50+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1035834949845818 +++OUR NEIGHBOUR'S FIELD+++ The Citadel Guard march from Spiral to the verdant chaos of Reikos. The magic that has transformed the Highborn territory has not yet run its course. Scattered across Reikos are loci where the transformative magic is still breaking down the last ruins of the Druj occupation, but they do not impede the progress of the Urizen forces as they march north and west toward their ultimate destination - the newly forested region of Tamarbode claimed by the eternal Llofir, via its herald Gilean. Outside of Tamarbode, the more supernatural effects of the Spring magic that has consumed the territory are beginning to fade. The fungi and moulds, their purpose completed, are dying and rotting and being replaced with fresh new growth. The trees that replace them grow with preternatural speed, it is true, but for the most part they appear quite normal - no doubt grown from seeds that had laid dormant in the ruined soil during the Druj occupation. The ruins of Chalcis Mount, Haros Water, Longshire, and Riverwatch are gone. In their place, untouched greenery flourishes. In Tamarbode, however, the magic is still very much alive and busy about its own business. A living green forest covers the entire region, a viridian wall made rainbow by a hundred exotic species of mushroom and toadstool. Spores hang like heavy fog in the air, and here and there truly immense mushrooms push up through the canopy toward the open sky. The Urizen army pushes calmly forward, balancing a desire to conquer Tamarbode with the need for caution in the face of an unknown threat. Almost immediately they encounter resistance - but it is a slow kind of resistance that comes as much from the supernatural terrain as from any conscious opposition. First the spores that hang heavy in the air must be dealt with - wet cloths across the mouth and nose work well enough but must be constantly refreshed. Some of the troops find even this insufficient, suffering extreme allergic reactions to the air itself, being forced to fall back from the fecund madness that has claimed Tamarbode. Those who are exposed to the air for too long fall suddenly ill. Hallucinations claim some of them, making it impossible for them to tell the reality of the living jungle from the fantasies inside their heads. Others begin to suffer difficulty breathing, to the point where any exertion becomes impossible and they must be transported back to fresher air and safer woodlands outside Tamarbode. In neither case do these reactions prove fatal, but they slow the advance of the Citadel Guard just as much as the thick undergrowth. There is some shadow of the Spring realm at work here that attacks the tools, weapons, and armour of the soldiers pressing into the mysterious kingdom that Llofir has claimed. Straps come loose, wooden hafts are eaten through by parasites and opportunistic fungus, even metal is not spared becoming prey to weird rust-like growths that hungrily devour iron and steel. Not all the obstacles encountered in Tamarbode are so passive. The plants themselves seem to resent the presence of the Imperial forces, and conspire against them. In a few cases, some of the trees themselves appear possessed of a jealous sapience and the ability to move their branches at least - although there are no sightings of actual mobile trees such as those that besieged Holberg. Mostly it is just roots catching and twisting ankles, or branches tangling in cloaks and hair ... although that said there are a few cases where something that seemed at first to be great tree leans forward with a bestial roaring noise and attempts to crush a soldier or four in coiling meaty tendrils. Then there are the new inhabitants of the region, which are encountered with increasing frequency as the Urizen get closer to the centre of the region. They appear to come in three basic shapes. Small, mostly cowardly creatures that flee before the Urizen advance. Human sized guerillas that strike from hiding and either seek to bear individual soldiers away or spray caustic or madness-inducing spores before retreating back into the undergrowth. Large, mammoth-sized horrors that provide a significant threat, usually accompanied by a score of the human- or child-sized entities. Behind it all, an awareness of some sentience that seems to be profoundly aware of the disposition of the Citadel Guard throughout Tamarbode, and that directs the relatively weak defenders to impede and harass them as they move forward towards the heart, toward the earthwork scholars call "The Sign of Tamar." The Urizen advance is slow, and by the time the Autumn Equinox draws near, it is not complete. The captains estimate they have recaptured a little over half the region - much of the same land that the Wolves of War claimed during their attempt to drive the orcs out of Tamarbode before their swift flight to Sarvos in the wake of the Grendel invasion. There are also signs that the resistance here is increasing - and quiet concerns about how much that resistance might increase once the Equinox rolls around. +++GAME INFORMATION+++ At the moment, there is no significant opposition to the Urizen army. Any "casualties" quickly recover once removed from the weird forested region with no permanent damage done. Provided that there is no significant response from Lofir to this invastion of the region claimed by the eternal then the Citadel Guard should have conquered Tamarbode and cleared out the remaining supernatural defenders by the Winter Solstice. ----------------- You can read this on the main wiki here -> .http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_war#Our_Neighbour.27s_Field The picture is Solas (Chris Knowles) looking nice and atmospheric. Technically the picture is a portrait but I used the Power of Paint to put it into the same style as the other photos I'm using and I am *not sorry*. Oh and I've also done a small update to Reikos removing all the ruins that are now in the process of turning into beautiful untouched woodlands. We'll update that page more once the final situation in Reikos becomes clear. #fungusforthemushroomgod, #thiswilldefinitelyendwell, #sporessporesforeveryone SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-31T14:46:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1035811106514869 +++RETRIBUTION+++ As Summer pales into Autumn, the Navarr raise the banner of Thorns. The warriors of Navarr flock to fight with them, both those from the other forests and the survivors of the Jotun's rage. The Senate has ensured that there are plenty of weapons and armour to equip them. Their numbers swollen by new recruits, they are further bolstered by the forces of thirty Navarr captains, and half a dozen Imperial heroes of other nations, who bring with them an additional two and a half thousand troops. Even the dead rise to fight the enemies of the Navarr. The Jotun raise burial mounds over those they honour, but they have left the bodies of the dead Navarr where they fell - a fatal mistake. On the last night of the Summer Solstice, a thousand murdered Navarr rise to heed the echoing call of Winter magic. Shambling; abominable; hungry for orc flesh; thirsty for orc blood; they howl for vengeance against those who slaughtered them, slew their families, burnt their steadings, scattered their stridings. They are terrible. Yet even they are not so terrible as the living. The Navarr who still breathe launch ruthless, terrifying attacks against the orcs. They fall upon the hated enemy with cruel, savage attacks that leave no room for mercy on either side. The bodies of the fallen orcs are despoiled, displayed as trophies to fill the faltering hearts of their foe with terror. Wherever they are victorious they make grisly scarecrows of the fallen orcs - providing a fearsome lesson to the Jotun as to what it really means to face the full fury of the Navarr, unleashed at last. The anger of the Jotun falters. As it is, only token forces remain in Liathaven - scattered warbands hunting the remaining defenders through the trees. It becomes clear as the Black Thorns advance that these warbands are unprepared for the cunning of the Navarr. They present little challenge - their tactics are better suited to pitched battles than to the relentless, unending guerilla assault of seven thousand mobile Navarr and their unliving cohort. A weak-seeming band of stragglers turns on the warband that pursues them as the trees sprout archers like murderous fruit. A poorly defended steading proves too ripe a prize to resist ... only for the Jotun to discover the token garrison has faded away and now they are surrounded by an army of Navarr. A "routing" band of Navarr ambushers leads the unsuspecting Jotun into the vallorn miasma then fades into the shadows as the orcs fall to packs of shrieking husks. The darkness that the Jotun have always feared lurks beneath the trees has come alive, and their warbands are no match for it. Their warriors learn that when they fight these heirs of Terunael, they will not fall in heroic combat but will be slain unawares, butchered like sheep, oblivious to the danger until it is too late. They will not rest beneath burial mounds, but will hang rotting from the trees of the forest, torn apart and defiled utterly. Their certainty that their heroism will carry them across the howling abyss begins to falter. Anger at last begins to give way to fear. The western orcs pull back, retreating first to Western Point and thence to Hordalant and Reinos. They refuse the tempting lures placed before them, withdraw rather than attack, and as the Autumn Equinox approaches they begin to quit southern Liathaven altogether rejoining the Jotun forces fighting elsewhere, in less terrifying terrain. They fall back where they see movement among the trees, where there is any hint of Navarr forces. The Jotun do not like to fight beneath the dark canopy of the forests at the best of times ... and this is very far from the best of times for the orcs. Within six weeks of the end of the Solstice, Beacon Point is liberated. The Black Thorns and their allies - both living and dead - push on to Western Scout There is some scattered resistance ... and during the day the Jotun hold their own. But when night falls, the orcs die, alone and afraid, voiceless, in the dark. ====GAME INFORMATION=== The Navarr have liberated one region of Liathaven (Beacon Point) and made significant gains in a second (Western Scout). If the situation does not change the Navarr will have liberated the whole of southern Liathaven by the Winter Solstice, breaking the Jotun control of the territory and making it once again a contested territory. Furthermore, thanks to their liberation and control of the paths of Lan Thúven, they will be in a position to strike into West Ranging to permanently sever the Jotun supply lines into the Mournwold. In the face of the Navarr's terror-tactics, a significant number of orcs are quitting Liathaven without fighting, reinforcing Jotun armies elsewhere. It remains to be seen how significant this reinforcement might seem. This special order was the result of an opportunity for the Navarr to employ vicious tactics against their enemies to increase their ability to drive the Jotun out of Liathaven - it may or may not remain available to them if they choose to strike into northern liathaven and complete the liberation of the territory. ------------- So we're starting Winds of War, last one of the year. You can read this in a more eye-friendly format, with some additional ... imagonna go ahead and call it "flavour text" ... here -> www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_war#Retribution ------------- The theme for the photos for this batch of Winds of War is "Tom Garnett's lovely gallery" which you can find here -> https://www.facebook.com/garnett.tom/media_set?set=a.1373563136004981.1073741975.100000539247809&type=3 I am told that this is the Nation's Guard coven doing a ritual - I picked it because it is dark and moody. #GameonIguess, #startonahigh, #gogomurderhobos SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-29T19:32:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1034236440005669 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-26T15:30:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1031722640257049 Just a quick reminder that today is the deadline for early booking for the next event. The price goes up to the late booking price for payments sent after today. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-11T13:25:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1019682974794349 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-08-01T15:45:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1012661105496536 Third time the charm. Hopefully this is the right one this time. Apologies, tired from long weekend. It's Tom Garnett! It's just after the crowning of Empress Lisabetta! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-27T11:38:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1009257359170244 A little more awesome by the brilliant Luca Da Rè - montages of the many fantastic photographs from recent events set to music! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx6Af0M3St8&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cBxJ4I3W4c Enjoy - we'll see you all soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-27T11:06:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1009238189172161 +++Spreading the Word+++ I know we promised you we were all done on Winds of Fortune - and we surely are - but we wanted to add a little one, just to update players on the really awesome accounts of past life visions painstakingly compiled and printed by a group of players. You can read about the publication by here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spreading_the_word Or you can just go straight to the accounts themselves which are now available from the wiki http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Seer_of_the_Gateway#Publication If the authors produce any more accounts, we'll add them here in the future. #IWasOrganizedInAPastLife, #DeadlinesAreLinesForZombies, #DefinitelyLeavingForSiteSoon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-25T09:37:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007918895970757 +++AXIS OF AWESOME+++ Something for a gloomily bright and sunny Monday morning - a new Empire Podcast! Axis of Awesome sees a focus on player support issues, with Clare, Linette, Liz, and Toni, and their host Matt Heath talking about topics including Egregores, the Three Refrains and all things background, as well as giving loads of hints and tips to the newer players amongst our listeners. You can find it here -> http://shoutengine.com/Empirepodcast/empire-podcast-the-player-support-team-21866 Our new player team also moderates a facebook group aimed specifically at offering support and advice for players here -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ (The podcast was recorded shortly after E1. Many thanks to Ian Horne for his work editing it for publication) (EDIT: Just spotted that I forgot to scrawl "Tom Garnett" on the picture of Liz - for it is he that has snapped the picture. Apologies.) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-24T00:28:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007117279384252 +++ONE LAST THING+++ One last thing - not a Wind of Fortune so much as a late change we had been discussing and kept putting off. We're adjusting the way Varushka selects its senators. We've edited the http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Varushka_leadership#Leading_a_territory page, and the Boss has written an OOC and an IC explanation for the changes here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Varushkan_Elections And that really is it - good night all, see you in a field soon. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-24T00:19:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007115746051072 +++THE PRIME COLOUR OF THE WORLD+++ I saved it until last. The Entire Empire has been imbued with Spring magic by the Sherard Hunters of WIntermark. It has boosted fertility and also filled up herb gardens with cerulean mazzarine. It's also spread a swamp; encouraged briar weirdness; caused the premature flowering of an incredibly rare plant; and several other shennanigans. you can learn about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_prime_colour_of_the_world ======= #thatsallfolks, #iforgetwherethepictureisfrom, #goSherardHunters SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T23:10:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007088239387156 +++O ROSE THOU ART SICK+++ Curses. What are they good for? Well, I suppose they are good for bringing suffering to your enemies, so that you can feast upon their lamentations as despair slowly overcomes them. If that's your idea of a good time, at least. A quartet of curses for our penultimate Wind of Fortune. Of particular interest to the inhabitants of Astolat, Casinea, Tassato, and Redoubt. Immagonna leave you guessing as to which curse goes with which territory. If you follow this link -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/O_rose_thou_art_sick <- you will learn about: * the misanthropy of magicians (and marred mana sites) * the slow erosion of a powerful structure * the surging chaos that tears at the very fabric of society (and also military units) * some more farmers having a dreadful Spring but this time with *too little* water rather than *too much* --------------------- I took the picture from here -> http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=128176&picture=bloody-ladybird-rose it says public domain and everything ------------------ #rollontheinvisiblewormandthehowlingstorm, #koboldsvsentropywhowillwinplacebetsnow!, #Iyearnforthesweetembraceofsleep SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T22:44:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007077826054864 +++BLACKEST NIGHT+++ Pay no attention to the worrying picture. Its just a picture. It can't hurt you. Not like the long nights under the empty skies off Skarsind can slowly corrode all feelings of hope and joy. Celestial phenomena; three of them. * The red star - its getting bigger. * The Phoenix - its getting ... hard ... to ... talk about * All the other stars - have been eaten. Or are fine. Depending where you are standing. You can learn about them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Blackest_night ------------------- The picture is from Comet in Moominland. If you have not read it, go and read it. #thatominousredstarisnothingtoworryabout, #wehavetoomanyconstellationsanyway, #whoneedsstarswhenyouhavethemoooon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T22:27:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007071836055463 +++SORROW AND DEATH+++ Zenith, on the eastern edge of the Empire, appears to be in a bit of a pickle. The Spire of Twisting Shadows is in ruins, and while most of the staff and guests are apparently dead they are not being allows to lie still. At the same time, a pall of unendurable sorrow spreads softly across the territory from somewhere in Lustri. Dual magical threats to a territory within striking distance of both the Druj *and* the Grendel? The situation looks very serious indeed ... YOu can learn more about these events here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sorrow_and_death ---------- The picture is something I cobbled together out of some artwork that John Haynes did for me. The actual pictures are much nicer. If there were more good quality public domain pictures of death knights, this would be all so much easier. #letsseewhoitisunderthisMasque, #solongSpireofTwistingShadows, #thisisgoingtoescalateIsuspect SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T21:52:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007060586056588 +++SMALL THINGS AND LARGE+++ The Marches have been cursed. Again. The Spring planting, like the Autumn harvest before it, has failed in Bregasland, Upwold, and Mitwold. How many time can you know a Marcher down before they lack the will to get up again? One more time than this, at least, it seems. You can learn more about this state of affairs, and the ambitious plan of the market towns, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Small_things_and_large (We also realised we hadn't told anyone how going over your supply limit worked. We've fixed that now -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Commission#Insufficient_Supply) --------------- Picture is a granary, which I have ineptly scrawled a pig on with the power of Paint and scant regard for aesthetics. I took the granary from here By No machine-readable author provided. Janeznovak assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons #loyaltyandprideorprideandloyalty, #grainforthegraingods, #wemadeuparule SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T20:53:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1007039562725357 +++TEMPLE OF THE BULL+++ With the permission of the Senate, the priests of two of the Asavean idols are building a temple in Oran, in Feroz, on the Brass Coast. This construction has not met with universal approval, but the Asaveans are paying very well indeed. There are a number of opportunities here, including a chance for someone to be named as the liason between the Empire and the temple, and a chance to build a temple of the Seven Virtues in Nemoria. There's also some options for the Synod to set fire to things ... you can learn all about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Temple_of_the_bull I must warn you there is also a section about two of the Asavean gods that you may want to skip if you are easily lured from the Paths of Virtue into Iniquity and Licentiousness. #anothersynodoption, #internationalpoliticsiseasy!, #donttalkaboutthesacrificesPike! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T18:47:43+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006977396064907 +++A BANNER OF THORNS+++ A Navarr army is in Liathaven, fighting to reclaim their territory from the remaining Jotun. The Quiet Step is in nearly Mournwold. There are opportunities here to liberate Liathaven more swiftly, to strike against the Jotun, and perhaps even to take control of a useful strategic resource. You can learn more about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_banner_of_Thorns You can also, for reasons that are too complicated to go into right now, view some of the text as a Star Wars - style screen crawl here -> https://brorlandi.github.io/StarWarsIntroCreator/#!/AKNNyTN8lSKRcZVx6eX5 Just don't ask me why. ---------- The photo shows a pair of murder-hobos engaged in some sort of shennanigans. Probably there's more context than that but I'm not sure any of us need it. It's an Oliver Facey picture as you can see from the bottom left-hand corner. #comeandhaveagoifyouthinkyourehardenough, #whatcanpossiblygowrong, #haveitoldyourmybackgroundyet? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T18:08:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006964626066184 +++SYMPOSIUM+++ There has been rumbling for a while about organising an official Symposium of the Imperial Synod - an opportunity to speak frankly and openly on matters of faith and religion. With the Council of Nine up to full strength again, this seems as good a time as any - but before much planning can be done a greater majority of the Imperial Synod must be secured. You can learn more about the meeting-to-plan-a-meeting here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Symposium You can learn more about the fascinating cultural roots of Symposia here ->https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symposium ---- The picture is apparently an ancient Greek depiction of a Symposium. Depending on the weather, the priests may have to wear more clothes. By Deutsch: Brygos-Maler English: Brygos Painter Français : Peintre de Brygos (Jastrow (2006)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T15:09:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006865356076111 +++A QUESTION OF PROVENANCE+++ In between remaking Reikos as a pristine wilderness, the unleashed influence of the Spring realm is also causing large numbers of peculiar things to grow - especially odd mushrooms. Its also promoting the growth of herbs, albeit some of them look a little weird. The Synod needs to take the fore and put the weirdness in Reikos in context for the inhabitants. Oh... and theres something about how Llofir is even managing this but that's a Conclave issue so I wouldn't worry about it. You can learn about this in the third part of the Reikos write-up here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_question_of_provenance -------------- The picture, as I am sure you are aware, is by Mister Tenniel and comes from Alices Adventures in Wonderland. The flavour text is again by Ian Horne, edited by the monkey with the beard. #howstrangeitistobeanythingatall, #purplemushroomssnigger, #Howdoththelittlecrocodile? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T14:32:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006847349411245 +++REBIRTH IN REIKOS+++ The Imperial Synod has authorised Yael and Brother Jared to go to Reikos to combat the threat posed by the heretic Golan. Their arrival has coincided with what some people are claiming is a miracle that has fired up many of those who followed Golan with zeal for the First Empress Come Again and her message of the Land Without Tears. You can learn about this event - and the implications it has for the Synod - here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rebirth_in_Reikos =========== This is the second of the three Reikos winds of fortune for this event. The photograph is by Charlotte Moss, and the central figure is Brother Jared. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T14:15:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006839039412076 +++A SEASON OF MUSHROOMS+++ Even allowing for everything else that is going on, the stuation in Reikos is off the hook (as the young folks almost certainly haven't said in years). Waves of Spring magic, mushrooms, an army of fungal servitors ... you can learn all about the shennanigans in Reikos this season here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_season_of_mushrooms Highlights include: * Courageous priest helps despairing natives unite behind the cause of stopping mushrooms stealing all their stuff * Brave captains fight to recover bits of Highborn history that *literally* belong in a museum * It turns out mushrooms don't like Druj fear pillars any more than anyone else does and are happy to metaphorically hold the coats of people who want to smash them with hammers * Someone has conquered Tamarbode and it isn't the Empire... There's a quick participation section at the bottom, too, for anyone who wants to tell stories about their surreal times in Reikos. =============== The flavour text, btw, is mostly from Ian Horne except where I have randomly changed words because I cannot help myself. The cheery red mushroom is from http://www.ForestWander.com [CC BY-SA 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons and I resisted the urge to draw a face on it. You can if you like, and we'll stick the best ones of the fridge. #Ilikellofirtoomuch, #mushroomsforeveryone, #takethatDrujpoisons! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T13:18:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006807536081893 +++THE OTHER EMPRESS+++ On the eve of the formal coronation of the twentieth Throne, the body of the sixteenth lies in state in a cellar near Sybella. Saved from the greedy hands of the Grendel, the coffin of Empress Giselle - along with her body and personal effects - is now in the hands of the Magistrates who are seeking the guidance of the Senate as to who has the greater claim to her body. Will she be placed alongside so many other Thrones in the Necropolis, or will she be interred in a city of the League? Either way, someone is going to be unhappy... and someone is going to have to foot the bill for her new tomb as the old one is no longer fit for purposes. You can learn about the dilemma of The Other Empress here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_other_empress ======== You know (he says conversationally) there is a surprising lack of pictures of nice-looking tombs belonging to queens and empresses that don't have bloody cherubs on them? This picture is from wikimedia (By Joshua Veitch-Michaelis from Leamington Spa, England (Dead flowers, Pére Lachaise Cemetery) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via ) and is nicely goth. #wheretheresnowilltheresaway, #canwenotjustchuckherinaswamp, #liveharddieyoungandlumbertheEmpirewithlegalissues SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T12:13:53+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006774709418509 +++RAISE A GLASS!+++ After the coronation, the celebrations! Traditionally the coronation of a new Throne is followed by a party that might last as long as a week or even a month. Someone needs to pay for that party. The celebrations are also an opportunity for the new Throne to lay out their vision of the future with a celebratory message - a message that will help shape the celebrations that follow. If the parties are good enough, the Throne's message may have a significant impact on the entire Empire. You can learn more about this opportunity here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Raise_a_glass ==================== Any excuse for a party ... but this party may have significant impact. The photograph is from wikicommons (By user:AngMoKio (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons) ============= #theclosestwearegoingtogettofreetextdowntimes, #passthehat, #fireworksforeveryone SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-23T11:54:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1006769036085743 +++THE TWENTIETH EMPRESS+++ Surely everyone knows by now? There is an Empress, the twentieth to take the Throne, and her coronation will take place during the Summer Solstice. You can learn about traditional forms of address, about the basic timetable for the coronation, and about a few other related things here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_twentieth_empress ============= First Wind of Fortune, I am anticipating putting a *lot* of them up over the course of today so it's important people don't feel overwhelmed. I'll be tagging them as we did last event because it worked well. We've done less flavour text this time around - due mostly to time constraints and being knackered from the religion review. It's a shame but it was that or not get them up until after the event which I'm sure you'll agree would have damaged their usefulness. ------------- The photograph show the new Throne, and is part of a set taken by Miranda Brennan used with kind permission. --------------- #herewegoholdtight, #sofarEmpressLisabettahasnoephithet, #busydayahead SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-18T22:12:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1004029859692994 Meanwhile, in other news, we have a couple of event announcements. After something like a decade of catering our events, Feast have decided to call it a day. We're really sorry to see them go, Andrea and Ady who run Feast have been part of PD for a very long time and we'll miss working with them. In the short term we've asked Mhorish to run two stalls at the next event, one in the IC area and one in the OOC area. I've made clear to them that what we want at events is a wide range of food at sensible prices. We'll monitor the situation carefully and if the new solution works out then we'll look to build on that - if it doesn't then once we have a bit more time we'll look at other options. We're also making some changes to the way we deliver quests. For the last year or two we've been pre-announcing some "nation slots" when we've asked players from that nation to help out doing some extra volunteering with monsters. After looking at the situation, that hasn't produced good outcomes for everyone - the individual slots are almost always inconvenient for one or more nations (usually Dawn!) and the idea for a feedback mechanism linking further plot to numbers of volunteers just caused all sorts of horrid problems. So we're dumping all that and trying a new approach at the next event. The plan is to announce three or four "extra volunteer slots". In practice you can come and volunteer to monster at any time during the event pretty much - we're always grateful for more help. But these slots will be when we're specifically asking players to consider coming down and helping. We realize not having a single slot for each nation will mean we get less volunteers overall - but we're hoping that we'll still get a fair few and the flexibility will mean that players can fit it round their game - rather than fitting it round ours. Helping out in one of those slots will be strictly voluntary - it's something to do if you enjoy it or want to give something back to the game. Our plan is to time-table our bigger quests and skirmishes in those slots and use the extra volunteers we get to bulk out our dedicated skirmish crew. Keep your eyes on the wiki - we'll update it in the next few days with the event details and we'll use this page and an email to let everyone know the "best times to volunteer" as soon as they're released. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-18T16:38:12+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1003864343042879 +++HOTFIX 2.2.1+++ Okay I wasn't expecting to do this but... we're patching our own patch notes. All the big companies do it. Short version - we're transitioning from liao physreps to liao cards. Long version - http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016 We'd been planning to shift ot liao cards over Winter for a couple of reasons - among them the way that the physreps are a major contributor to the need for refs for ceremonies we might otherwise be able to let players self ref; and the new Synod opportunities create big problems when it comes time to hand in 100 liao in a baggie designed for 0 liao to go into. We'd tried a stopgap measure with the anointing oils, but when we sat down to finish designing them yesterday it became increasingly clear they were not fit for purpose - a single card that can be *either* an IC commodity or an OOC marker for an aura was a bit of a nightmare. The fact we were doing a big overhaul and then already planning to do another thing six months later started to nag at us as well. Why were we waiting? So we decided to bring the liao cards forward. This means you can do a quick insight, a dedication dream, or - most importantly - an anointing without needing a ref. Instead of abointing oil, we've designed a set of aura cards. Any priest with anointing can come down to GOD and pick up a handful of aura cards for their dedication, and when they do their basic anointing they rip their card and give the aura to their target. Bish bash bosh jobs a goodun. Once we've seen how the cards are going, we may also look at ways to remove the ref requirement from other skills (where it makes sense - you're never likely to be able to do a thorough insight without a ref). ===IMPLEMENTATION=== As the boss says on the rules page, the old phys-reps of liao will remain valid until the end of the Winter Solstice 2017 You can trade your phys-reps in at any time - but they'll also remain valid for doing ceremonies *WITH A REF* until the deadline. After which they will no longer be liao, they will be physreps you attach a card to. We're still discussing what to do with all the physreps people hand in. #itllbefine, #illmissthelittlepurplebottles, #weapologisefortheinconvenience SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-17T11:10:26+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1003134846449162 +++PATCH NOTES 2.2+++ Third and (almost definitely) final set of patch notes. Last night we finished updating the item and ritual changes that go with the Great Religion Overhaul, and the Boss put his rules update/design expanation words up on the main wiki (you can find them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Religion). It also explains our IC reason for the changes that have swept the world. Go and read it now if you like - I'll still be here when you come back. Done? Cool. I'm now going to just quickly summarize the changes to rituals and magic items we've implemented. We've done as few as we felt we could get away with - the proper time for taking a long look at items and rituals is over Winter. +++CHAMBERS OF MAGIC+++ Three rituals (The Chamber of Delights, The Chamber of Pallas, and The Solace of Chimes) have been significantly overhauled. They now explicitly create Location Auras in a similar manner to Consecration and many of the same rules apply. The two big changes are that we've increased their magnitude to 8, and that you can now use them to recover personal mana. Before anyone gets *too* excited, you cant use them for this purpose on battlefields or quests. They're part of an experiment to shift personal mana to an "encounter" rather than "daily" resource (for the D&D 4th/MMO nerds among you). +++PERSONAL AURAS+++ The Conspirator's Cloak and Freedom of the Soul are now Personal Auras, as well as Enchantments. This makes them slightly better, but also a little trickier to use as they will not stack with an anointing. The magnitudes have not changed at this time. +++ANARCHY AND CLARITY+++ We've updated the Unfettered Anarchy curse as well, to make it a little clearer and to establish the relationship between it and Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul. The key point for this curse (and for Freedom of the Soul as well) is that you can't resist the roleplaying effect *created by the curse*. You can still overcome *other* roleplaying effects as normal. There has also been an update to Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul - a few elements were removed to establish it as a pure enchantment with no actual spirital elements. ++WAYFARER'S PYX and DRAGONBONE RELIQUARY+++ We've removed the dragonbone reliquary. Any artisan who used to be able to make this should find they now have the bility to make Wayfarer's Pyx. The Pyx (which was made obselete by the changes to hallow) now has similar functionality to the Dragonbone REliquary - it empowers Sect ceremonies. Its ability to simply increase the strength of any cooperative ceremony performed by a sect is both recognition of the sects new role as a source of cooperative spiritual power, and a nod back to the old ability of sects to gain extra power. +++DRAGONBON SYMBOL+++ One of the big changes. This symbol was made obsolete by the changes to Hallow. Going forward, it allows someone who is dedicated or anointed to spend ten minutes in a consecrated area of the same virtue, once per day, to recover all their hero points. Religious roleplaying in this case I hope will mean things like "vigilantly planning the destruction of the orcs" or "arguing heatedly about predestination versus free will" or even "listening to and discussing a sermon delivered by an allied sutannir/guide/magister/illuminate/bishop/stormcrow/preacher/troubadour/wise one/friar. +++BANNER OF THE BOLD+++ Another significant change. As the Boss mentions in his write-up, we are looking carefully at the design goals of a couple of types of items, standards among them. We've not been satisfied for a while with how they are implemented, or their role in "buffing" a unit of soldiers - one of my arguments is that that function is something for ritual magic not items. With that in mind the Banner of the Bold no longer bonds to a unit, but to an individual, It gives them a source of spiritual strength to overcome roleplaying effects, and a boost to their hero points. I'm not sure precisely where we are going to go with the standards in the future, but I suspect they will be personal items intended for characters who enjoy supporting their friends with their power level reflecting the requirement that they *be* battle standards. +++TOUCH THE SCREEN TO LEARN MORE+++ IF you've been adversely a/effected by any of the changes made here, you can of course shuffle your skills around slightly with an e-mail to PeeDee at admin@profounddecisions.co.uk or if the situtiaon is more complex, an e-mail to matt@profounddecisions.co.uk should get things sorted out. With time running short, I'm hoping we'll see the first Winds of Fortune going live tomorrow some time, so until then ... --------------------------- The photograph is a lovely Tom Garnett shot from his last-event album (https://www.facebook.com/garnett.tom/media_set?set=a.1324533714241257.1073741970.100000539247809&type=3). Obviously *I* know which orc that is, but do you? Why not demonstrate your superior orc-recognising skills in the comments... #thatsallfolksprobably, #weneedanoldpriestandayoungpriestandabucket, #nowtoputloadsofsynodoptionsintomakepeoplecryabouthavingtoomuchtodowiththeirliao SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-16T18:19:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1002727749823205 +++PATCH NOTES 2.1+++ So the second part of the Big Religion Overhaul is now up and live. We're looked at each of the old roleplaying effects for each virtue in turn, and... I want to say "tweaked" but I think that is a little too much of an understatement. Take a look. They're laid out in order here: * Ambition: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Ambition * Courage: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Courage * Loyalty: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Loyalty * Pride: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Pride * Prosperity: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Prosperity * Vigilance: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Vigilance * Wisdom: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Auras_of_Wisdom In each case, we've followed a similar guideline. The Consecration is primal, primaevil, quintessential - but it also creates an aura that exalts the spirit and makes you feel good about staying in it rather than immediately sending you running off to Do A Thing. There are four Anointings, and each one consists of two sentences. In each case we've tried to define a Call to Action that you can draw on to gain spiritual strength, or that gives you license/encouragement to go and Do A Thing. FInally we have a variable number of hallows, each of which is around a sentence long. Assuming the tech works, the bolded section on each is an immediate reminder of the kind of action the hallow encourages. In the case of the hallows, we've been a lot more specific than we have with the anointings - they encourage a type of behaviour that can be much narrower yet at the same time we think will encourage Activity rather than Inactivity. Finally, there's also the Dedication entry. We spent a lot of time deciding what to do about the dream anointings. They were cool, but they didnt fit what we wanted from Anointing going forward. As a consequence, we've moved their effect to be a function of Dedication (and added a section to that skill page). The new Dream ability basically can fill in a number of roleplaying roles - advisor, mystic, diviner, confessor - but what we wanted to be sure to capture was the idea that it starts with and ends with an interaction between two characters - the priest and the pilgrim. It's pure roleplaying, between two players, with the skill providing something to roleplay about. We were also quite taken with a bit of feedback we received that talked bout how the old dream anointings could be used to give a player an excuse to take a character in a different direction if they needed to get out of a rut, or wanted a new challenge, and I'm pleased that the Boss has been able to keep that "opportunity to change" element in. I'll be interested to see how the Dreams play out. Right that's it for this one, I'm now off to the third big piece of work which is updating rituals and magic items that we need to change to accomodate the new rules. I'd be interested in hearing which auras you think stand out as having potential to encourage cool roleplaying - maybe comment below or better yet head over to our forums at https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/active-topics.html and join in the discussion there. --------------- The photo is a collage of the virtuous animals and the virtue picture book by Stephanie Heath. The collage itself is a bit of a bodge job, but I work in paint and have the hands of a monkey so I take what I can get. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-16T13:53:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/1002570796505567 +++PATCH NOTES 2.0 : THE ONE WITH RELIGION+++ Good afternoon folks, Raff here. As some of you have already noticed we are putting the long-promised Religion Skills Overhaul live at the moment. I've just finished getting all the actual skill pages up, and editing the links for the metarules page. If you want to take a look, the place to start is here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Religious_skills I've also just finished the last pass through the individual skill pages - so there's now a page for anointing, a page for hallow, and so on. There's also a new page about auras (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Aura) which talks about the wider rules implications of this "class" of effect. Most people won't need to worry too much about that. What's still not up as I type this are the overhauled auras of the virtues (the roleplaying effects that Virtue priests create), which are my next job. We're also overhauling a few items and rituals that interact with the new rules directly. I'm planning to do another post this evening when we've finished doing that. Also this evening, or tomorrow morning at the latest, the Boss will be putting up a Rules Changes 2016 page covering *all* the updates, and talking about what the IC explanation for all these changes are. For the time being, though, I though a very quick summary of the priest skil changes was worth touching on. It'd be useful for the Citizen in the Street to at least skim these. +++DEDICATION+++ No major mehanical changes. We've mostly just clarified a few rules, reinforced its significance to the Past Life Vision experience, and touched on why its the prerequisite skill. (ETA: Technically no longer true - we've added in a significant roleplaying ability for priests called Dreams which is now part of dedication) +++ANOINTING+++ Some major changes. ANointings now last a season; they *all* provide you with a source of strength to over come unwanted roleplaying effects (how you represent that is your problem/challenge); and we've introduced a refless method of applying anointings. +++CONSECRATION+++ A few minor changes. The most significant is probably to spell out that a consecration aura is a source of strength that will let you over come an unwanted roleplaying effect. There are some minor twiddles which we'l talk about in detail later on. +++HALLOW+++ Some major changes. The first big one is that we're moving all hallows to the ribbon. Anyone who interacts with a hallowed item experiences the roleplaying effect - whether you're bonded to the item is irrelevant. However, this explicitly means that the practice of hallowing a banner, reliquary, or covenstone now no longer gives any extra benefit - only the person actually interacting with the item feels any effects. The other big change is that *no* Hallow allows you to overcome unwanted roleplaying effects. We didn't take this decision lightly, but we were really uncomfortable with things that let you overcome RP effects that you could just hand round - so if we wanted to make the hallows more obvious something had to go. We've also changed the durations - hallows last a lot longer than they used to - and made it possible to hallow mundane items if you like. Oh, and the priest also gets to name the item. Instead of carrying around a One-Handed Sword, you can now have Sword of Omens, or the Sword of Astolat, or Bohemond's Fancy Sword. Its a small thing but it makes me happy. +++INSIGHT+++ Big change here is to split testimony in two - a surface version that just picks up specific things that can be self-reffed and a deeper insight that reveals more info. The other change is that we've made insight pick up species. This is the skill you want if you want to find out if the smiling person in front of you really is a herald, or if they're someone with a magical disguise. +++TESTIMONY+++ We made only a few changes here, mostly around what the strength of a testimony means, and a few notes about other things that can show up on your soul like testimonies do. +++EXCOMMUNICATION+++ Again, no really major changes here. A little more text about the implications of using the skill. +++EXORCISM+++ We've made one major change to exorcism. It is now focused specifically on dealing with ghosts, wicked spirits, and similar things. It no longer removes other priest skills; rather, each skill now has the ability to remove its own effects. So you use Excom to remove excommunication, anointing to remove personal auras and so on. This is the closest we got to a proper nerfing of one of the priest skills, and we spent a lot of time debating it that I expect the boss to go into in more detail later. +++SECTS+++ Short version - sects now let priests of the same sect cooperate regardless of their virtue. That's a fairly significant power that we think will make it much easier for people to dedicate to the virtue they want while still being able to work with their group. The old rules about how much liao it took to do things have been replaced completely, but there is a possibility that there may be some items that allow sects to achieve more powerful effects. More on that later, maybe. So there you go! Stage one complete! I am now finished my coffee and about to delve back into the wikimines. Watch this space. -------------------- The picture is Virtue Bell, the Highborn Pony, part of a beautiful Steph Morris gallery where she envisions the ten nations as magical equines. Go take a look and enjoy the whimsical cuteness. https://www.facebook.com/Trinkety/media_set?set=a.10153077314881966.1073741922.518071965&type=3 #imtoobusyforhashtags, #weneedEmpirepokemon, #writesomethingwittyheresub SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-11T20:21:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/999495800146400 +++THE BLOOD OF LIATHAVEN+++ The Jotun and the Imperial armies clash in Kahraman, locked in bloody battle over control of Serra Briante. The orcs barely note the Navarr moving along the border, through the sparse woodlands and low hills of Serra Damata, and into the mountains of the northwest. They travel quickly, in small groups. Sometimes they use the trods, sometimes they don't, but they always move with speed and stealth and purpose. There are the soldiers that form the core of the army, but they are joined by warbands from Liathaven, Therunin, Miaren, Brocellinde and Hercynia. Some are experienced Thorns, some are enthusiastic warriors just past their citizenship tests. There are stoic warriors who have fought the barbarians and the Doom of Terunael all their lives, and there are people who until recently oversaw herb gardens or forest reservations, who have left behind the life of the tender and taken up the bow and the spear. There are a few clashes between Jotun orc and Navarr, but not many. The scions of Terunael do not seek the engage the Jotun and when they set their minds to moving swiftly, and with focus, the Jotun cannot gainsay them. They have more pressing matters in Serra Briante, after all. The Navarr, the warriors of the Black Thorns and their allied captains, give Damata and the Cliffs a wide berth. Had they had pressed closer, the Jotun would have treated them as a threat, would have drawn them into their campaign to conquer Kahraman. But they have other places to be. Not everyone who travels the hidden paths with the Black Thorns is Navarr. Beside them walk a company of dark-clad Highborn; two bands of pale Ushkans far from their home in Miekarova; a fellowship of quiet warrior-mystics from the marshes of Wintermark. They match the Navarr for cunning, and caution. And some of those allies are pale, and grim, and do not fear the death of the body for their souls belong to a world very far from the dark forests of Liathaven. The Clarion Call of Ivory and Dust has been sounded, and the servants of Kaela march alongside many of the Navarri warbands. Well-paid Freeborn scouts, hard-bitten and scarred and foul-mouthed, lead them through a certain pass in the mountain. They do not follow them down into the forest, preferring to take their chances in Kahraman with their well-earnt wages. One by one the disparate bands reunite in Beacon Point. A month after the end of the Spring Equinox, some seven thousand Navarr raise the standard of the Black Thorns in Liathaven and begin to take back their home. Many of them have left friends or family in the corpse-glades of Liathaven. They are angry... but they all know that they will have a hard fight ahead of them. They are prepared to fight the legions of the Jotun; to strike from the shadows beneath the trees and to run from any pitched battle. Prepared to give their lives to save as many of their people as they can. There is no parley, no prisoners, no mercy. Not on either side. Jotun injured are executed quickly. Navarr who fall and cannot be rescued are killed without question by the orcs. There is no time for pity. There is no way to be sure just how many warriors the Jotun have left in these woods. Two things become clear as the guerilla campaign continues. The armies of the Jotun are not in Liathaven, not in southern Liathaven at least. There is some resistance, especially along the south-eastern borders. Outposts and watchers left behind by the armies moving from the west into the cinnabar hills. The Black Thorns hit fast and pull back to the cover of the woods. The Jotun are well trained, but they are reticent to pursue the "human Druj" into the forests; they know the Navarr will show them no quarter. There are not even any supply trains to harry - most likely the Jotun in the cinnabar hills are being supported by the orcs of Lasambria. The Navarr have taught them the dangers of running their baggage trains through the woods. Second, despite this lack of organised occupation, liberating Beacon Point and establishing a beachhead here will be a difficult task for a single army, even with the support of nearly three thousand Thorns and their allies. But they are Navarr, and they are cunning. They know that this is gamble, that everything depends on what the Jotun do next. If the Jotun conquer Kahraman, the Black Thorns risk being trapped in Liathaven - easy prey for the vast Jotun host. There are enough orc warriors in the cinnabar hills alone to strike down every Navarr soldier twice over, should they turn their attention toward the forest. Worse, there is the Vallorn. Oh, there is little sign that that slumbering behemoth is any more active than it has been for a century or more... but it cuts Liathaven in half like a festering wound. It is not enough to free Beacon Point and Western Scout; to liberate Liathaven will require the Jotun hold be broken on some or all of the northern regions and that may prove extremely tricky for a single army, even one driven by the passion to retake their homeland. Yet there is hope, also. By the end of the second month, the survivors of Liathaven begin to make themselves known. The Thorns of the Blackscar are the first to arrive, bringing with them scores of former citizens of Liathaven who they have enlisted into their service. Small groups of daring messengers are sent to Western Scout, and north to the edges of the vallorn, in search of other resistance groups. There may be no armies, but there are still orcs to fight. People still die. Yet, now the standard has been raised, the last remnants of the people of Liathaven are coming to fight beneath it. They will not go gently into the night. They will rage; rage against the Jotun; rage like the fires that consumed their homes; rage until there is a final reckoning and Liathaven is free again. ===GAME INFORMATION=== The Black Thorns has made significant headway toward freeing Beacon Point and establishing a beach head in southern Liathaven. If nothing changes, they will have claimed the region by the end of next season and liberated Western Scout by the end of the year. Additionally, the remaining resistance fighters and survivors of the Jotun purge are flocking to the Black Thorns banner. This represents an opportunity ... which will be explored in more detail in Winds of Fortune. ---------------------- The last one. A victory for the Empire to close on. Woot! The photo is Beth Dooner again I believe, of a bunch of Navaar getting stuck in to something. We're done with Winds of War for now - I've got fingers crossed that @Ian Horne will do some of his fine recordings, sheds and tinies permitting. There'll be a day or two of lulls and then I'll wheel into Winds of Fortune. #themansanarse, #theycannottakeourfreedom(tomurder)!, #thetroublewithNavarristheyalwaystrytowalkitin SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-11T18:39:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/999444920151488 +++THE HERALDS OF MOURNING+++ In the Mournwold, the Empire seeks to build on the gains they made before the Winter Solstice, before the Jotun drew their line in the soil and said "no further." Their numbers are almost half what they were in the previous season - twenty-three thousand Imperial soldiers face the Jotun across the barren hills and fields of the Mourn. The Bounders and the orcs of the Summer Storm hunger for the blood of the invaders. They push themselves to the attack, relentlessly striking at the strength of the orcs, ruthlessly seeking to add as many as they can to the butcher's bill. The fury of the Marchers finds a match in the wrath of the Imperial Orcs. Together they cut a swathe through the ranks of the Jotun. By contrast the Drakes, the Quiet Step, and the Towerjacks take a more balanced approach - fighting to drive the Jotun back rather than focusing on spilling their blood. The Towerjacks in particular seem to relish the chance to fight alongside the warriors who came to the defence of Holberg, and help to liberate the city from the stranglehold of the Druj. The Empire attacks ... and encounters the hammer-blow of the Jotun coming in the other direction. The barbarians are also on the offensive this season. The warriors who fight beneath the banner of the Mandowla - numbers greatly depleted by their heroic stand - triumphantly lead the way in an all-out attack against the defenders of the Empire. Yet their strategy is not that of the single mighty hammer blow - it is like a half dozen hammers striking all along the borders of the lands the Empire has freed. They drive the Empire out of Freemoor first, village by village. They meet the Imperial charge, and turn it back. Their numbers are bolstered not only by the glorious captains of the Jotun - the forces that owe allegiance to no single army but fight where their ancestors and their hunger for glory takes them - but by stranger forces. At first, it seems as if an army of Dawn has taken the field against the Empire. It soon becomes apparent that these are no Dawnish nobles, but a cohort of Knights of the Crimson Fields. Champions of Eleonaris. Two thousand tall, proud knights, all clad in raiment of burning crimson. They bear stag-horns upon their brows, and bring with them a thousand goblinborn yeomen, each bearing a shield with a rampant lion device. As they come, they call out the glory of the Jotun, and mock the treacherous, cowardly nature of the Empire. Freemoor falls to the Jotun. The fighting in the Ore Hills has been bad enough, but now the full focus of the campaign falls in the region newly-taken by the Empire, as thundering blow after thundering blow beats against the Imperial advance.The Towerjacks are able to hold the new fortification the Empire has raised - built on the partially completed frame of the Jotun castle - only long enough to secure the retreat and to get the last of the builders to safety, before the newly completed structure falls to the orcs. One more season, and the fortification could have been garrisoned and served to bolster the Imperial claim to the Mournwold but now ... the banners of the Shield of the Mountain already fly over the keep which the Jotun are tauntingly calling "The Tribute". The Summer Storm and the Bounders rally the retreating Imperial forces, and launch a counterattack. The Shield of the Mountain come to meet them. A day of carnage ensues, the Battle of Ore Hills will be remembered by Imperial and orc alike for a century and more to come. At the height of the battle, when the sun is at it's highest point, some fury overtakes the Imperial Orcs, some rapture roars through their blood. As one they come together, drawn together from across the battlefield, and as one they fall on the Jotun - all tiredness and exhaustion gone. Their faces burn with rage. Many shout unfamiliar battle-cries. The Jotun are taken aback, falter in their advance... for a moment falter... and then with a passionate intensity that matches that of the Imperial Orcs, they come to face them. The battered humans are ignored for a few terrible moments as the Summer Storm seems hell-bent on engaging the entire Jotun force by themselves - until a beat later the Bounders sound their own advance and enter the fray alongside the scions of Thrace. Chaos. Horns, drums. The shrieks of the dying. Then news from the south. While part of the Quiet Step has been fighting in Freemoor, the rest struck stealthily into Southmoor to attack supply trains. It is from these Navarr that the warning comes. The Tower of the North marches on Orchard Watch with catapults and siege towers. With them five thousand newcomers, red and black clad warriors bearing the orange anvil-and-mountain banner of the Corazón. Freshly arrived through the forests of Liathaven, the former Lasambrians - now the newest clan of the Jotun, marches into the Greensward toward Overton. Without support, the Greensward will surely fall and Overton and the Singing Caves be lost to the barbarians. Orders are given, the retreat is sounded. It seems at first that the Summer Storm and the Bounders will not quit the field, but after a tense moment they begin to withdraw. The Jotun follow close behind. It is not a rout but a withdrawal. A forced march south to Greensward, to intercept the besieging forces. The orcs already lay siege to Orchard's Watch when the Empire arrives. In different circumstances they might catch the Tower of the North and the Corazón between their hammer and the anvil of the castle ... but not with the host of Jotun on their heels. Another terrible battle ensues in the shadow of Orchard's Watch. The Jotun send a fraction of their force toward the Singing Caves, forcing the Empire to respond. The garrison of Overton holds the town against the barbarians, but the walls are pounded for six hours straight by orc siege engines before the Empire is able to overrun their positions and push them back... but not all the way back. More blood, more bodies, more land lost to the Jotun - and this time the Jotun camp on land they have not owned in four hundred years. As the Summer Solstice draws near, the Jotun have retaken all the territory the Empire had liberated, and conquered half of the Greensward for good measure. Orchard's Watch still stands, and the Singing Caves have been held. The fighting there was fierce, but my some miracle the mithril miners and wagon-drivers who carry the bounty of the Caves to Tassato were forewarned of the Jotun attack. They say that Jonah Gold walked the mine, and cried a warning. Warned is armed, the Marchers sometimes say; but a warning alone is rarely enough. The miners and wagon-drivers shed blood to keep the mine from the Jotun and without the intervention of the Drakes and the Towerjacks they would have been swiftly overrun. There is a rhythm in such things, and a time between beats. Jotun and Empire alike need to regroup. Eight thousand soldiers have fallen in the Mournwold this season alone. The orcs set about the business of laying their dead beneath the funerary mounds their heathen godi prepare. And as is the nature of their heathen practices, they lay the dead Imperials alongside their own dead - perhaps as slaughtered foes to serve the heroes in the land across the abyss, perhaps to honour those who fought with bravery. For the first time, the watchers on the walls of Orchard's Watch report, they lay Imperial Orcs alongside the fallen of the Marches and the League. Perhaps it means something. ===GAME INFORMATION=== The Empire has lost Ore Hills, along with all the territory they had claimed in Freemoor, and nearly half of the Greensward. Orchard's Watch still stands, but has been damaged. The Singing Caves were attacked, but remain in Imperial hands. The fortification at Ore Hills, which would have been completed by the Empire by the start of the Summer Solstice, is now controlled by the Jotun. Assuming they install a garrison, it means they have gained another level one fortifiation in the Mournwold to go with the one they already controlled in Southmoor. Every Imperial Orc who was fought with the Summer Storm army, and any Imperial Orc PC who would have fought alongside them, has experienced a powerful moment of contact with a potent orc ancestor. Sjöfn of the Bittenblade is an ancient Jotun whose voice for a short time overwhelms that of all other ancestors. While she is a Jotun, she appears unconcerned by the nature of the Imperial Orcs; her voice drives them to fight heroically, gloriously, and revel in the clash of steel on the battlefield. Any Imperial Orc who wishes to can continue to hear this ancestor although the "volume" of her voice will have diminished significantly by the end of the Summer Solstice. Any PC who wishes to do so will find that she encourages them to take actions that are in line with the five things of the Jotun. ------------- So there you go. Any Imperial Orcs who have questions I'll see if I can get onto your facebook goup to field any queries - or you can get answers with less swearing by writing to empore.plot@profounddecisions.co.uk The photograph is a lovely shot by Beth Dooner - I dunno if those are player-volunteers or skirmish team but they are bonafide orcs. i the Boss asks, its not a black and white picture its just super moody. The little wyvern is te Wyvern of Wessex (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wyvern_of_Wessex.png) #ImnotsureImuptoawittyhashtag, #Imphobicofbeinglynchedactually, #JotunrocknearlyasmuchasThule SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-11T14:36:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/999327293496584 +++THE CRUCIBLE OF KAHRAMAN+++ Kahraman ... the cinnabar hills shake to the thunder of war. A little over twenty-five thousand Imperial forces form a bulwark against nearly forty thousand Jotun intent on conquering Serra Briante. The Tusks form the heart of the Imperial defence, supported by two armies of Highborn. The Seventh Wave and the Imperial Orcs of the Winter Sun both try to use the terrain to their advantage - the one with a series of ruthlessly planned and executed ambushes, the other with a relentless hit-and-run campaign of stinging attacks against the flanks and rear of the Jotun forces. In the thick of the fighting, though, it is often the Winterfolk who face the strongest warriors of the Jotun head-to-head, making them pay for every Freeborn hill they take. The Fist of the Mountain lives up to its name, bloodying the Jotun but spilling its own blood in return. And while the rest of the Empire forms a defensive line, the Red Wind Corsairs go on the offensive. The bold corsairs strike out, attacking Jotun baggage trains to steal the back the wealth that the Jotun have so recently taken from the Freeborn. During the lulls in the fighting, the Jotun and the Wintermark engage in a strange ceremony of honour; wherever possible, each side allows the other to reclaim the bodies of the dead. On the battlefield there is only blood, but in the beats between there is room for something else. So far, at least, none of the other Imperial forces have taken advantage of this detente to murder the choosers of the slain. The orcs and humans are not the only ones moving among the slain, however, and the detente between them makes the presence of the heralds of Kaela even more obvious as they go about their grim business offering the dying of both sides an escape of a sort. Not that there are as many dead as perhaps their might be. The waters of Kharaman surge with life - it pulses in the stream and riverbeds, filled to bursting by the snowmelt from the northern mountains. The magic throbs like an invisible heart, and follows the tributaries of the Scorrero in particular, spreading an unexpected fertility to the rest of the Brass Coast. The power saves a great many, orc and human alike, who might otherwise have breathed their last... or taken the cold hand of one of Kaela's agents. Yet even with this potent magic, four thousand orcs and humans will never fight again. After each battle, the Jotun raise great hills over their dead, and over the dead of the Empire whose bodies are not recovered. It is a campaign of castles, as much as armies. The Jotun armies are supported by a great squat tower of smooth glacial ice and rough black iron that has risen over the ruins of Freeborn Damata. The knights of Cathan Canae who garrison it appear as eight-foot-tall orcs, garbed in fur and with scarred and tattooed skin. Each wields a mighty barbed spear of polished bone against Imperial troops with precisely the same fervour that last season they - or their cousins - wielded those same spears against the Jotun. The Lady of the Frosts is even-handed with her gifts. For their part, the Imperial forces are based from Fort Braydon, and out of a castle of black ice that broods in the hills overlooking the Great Mine of Briante. Summoned from the realm of the Queen of Ice and Darkness by the Varushkans of the Coven of the Indomintable Sun, garrisoned by three barn-sized one-eyed giants who hurl chunks of ice and stone at the Jotun if they venture too close. And venture close they do, as they seek to conquer Serra Briante with the same furious speed which brought them victory in Serra Damata. The greater campaign, of Empire against Jotun, is reflected in many different ways - but nowhere more obviously than in the rivalry between the doughty Marchers who fight beneath the banner of the Tusks, and that of the savage raiders who carry the wolf-skull standard of the Howling Night. Where the Tusks present a disciplined defence, the Howling Night ulvenwar constantly probe and seek to outflank the Imperial defences. In the end, the two armies more-or-less cancel each other out... yet it is easy to imagine what might have happened if one or the other had not been present. But for the constant maneuvering of the wolfskin-wearing Jotun, the Marchers might have dug in and offered a serious counter to the barbarian forces. if not for the stout defense of the soldiers of the Marches, the barbarian raiders could easily have skirted and perhaps even overrun the Imperial defensive positions. In the end though the Empire cannot hold back the flood of the Jotun. Their vanguard overwhelms the defensive lines, triumphantly pushing the Imperial forces back. They lay siege to the frozen citadel at Serra Briante, answering the hurled boulders of the ice giants with catapults and trebuchets. For all the heroic defense of the Imperial armies, the grim truth is that without the need to break the enchanted fortress, it would not have been enough to prevent them from claiming the Great Mine of Briante as they have the Damatian Cliffs. In the end, it provides just enough additional support to the Empire to prevent the Jotun from claiming the eastern Serra. In the end, though, it is only just enough. The Jotun stand on the very threshold of victory in Serra Briante; there are even stories that a certain ghostly figures who the Marchers call Jonah Gold has been heard warning the remaining miners to lay down their picks and flee for their lives. Serra Briante balances on a knife edge - an errant gust of wind might be enough to cause it to fall to the orcs. ===Game Information === The Empire is pushed back. Building on their gains last season the Jotun almost - but not quite - conquer Serra Briante and the Great Mine of Briante along with it. For now it remains in Imperial hands. As there are five regions in Kahraman, the Jotun would need to conquer three of them to take the territory and as the Summer Solstice begins they control only one region. ------------------ This one was very interesting - a major component was the presence of a Frozen Citadel on Serra Briante - which made it much harder to claim the region. I am told by my numbers expect that without that castle the Jotun would have taken the region and had a little bit left over to push into ... wherever they are going next. It was also really satisfying to see both sides using a large number of special orders and the Empire working to bring out the flavour and identity of their armies a little more than usual. The photo of Freeborn-in-a-wood is another from Beth Dooner. #toloseoneboursersourceisunfortunate, #whowillmurdertheJotunundertakersfirst?, #honourforthehonourgods! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-10T18:05:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/998786456884001 +++THE MALEDICTIONS OF SPIRAL+++ In Spiral, the Empire drives onward toward Ossuary. The Citadel Guard and Northern Eagle set the pace, smashing into the Grendel defenders with overwhelming force. The Dawnish forces of the Eastern Sky are more careful, with the Green Shield bring up the rear offering heroic support to the two armies on the front line. In the south, the sky is rent assunder by thunderclouds as great waves and torrential rain pound the shores and cliffs ... but do little to displace the magical fog that shrouds the northern Bay of Catazaar. While most of the magical weather is focused along the coast, a tumultuous tempest engulfs the region of Screed in the middle of the season - a roaring maelstrom of thunder, rain, and crimson lightning striking repeatedly down in the vicinity of the Black Plateau. Some scholars of the Plateau believe that dark locale is responding somehow to the violence in Spiral, and that these strange storms over Screed are a manifestation of its rage. It is as well for the Empire that Imperial troops are avoiding that malignant place - for now, at least, the Grendel are welcome to it. The magic of the Urizen takes a further toll on the orcs. The Curse of the Ghosts of Winter has been unleashed to scour the territory, bringing misfortune and tormenting orc and human with equal glee. Things go awry; both sides find their supply lines are confused, and both Grendel plunder and Imperial rebuilding are equally complicated. The spirits unleashed by this magic are rarely visible, but this season in Spiral they are spotted in greater numbers than ever before. Emaciated almost skeletal shapes with twisted features whose lower bodies trail off into smoke or fog or shadow. At night, their eyes burn with an effulgent crimson glow as they greedily fly hither and yon seeking out more opportunities to cause suffering. Superstitious residents of Spiral claim it is the restless hatred of the Black Plateau that empowers them, but astronomancers frown at their words, and look up to a certain place in the night sky, and wonder... In addition to storms and ghosts, scouts report that potent Night magic has catastrophically transformed the coastline of Apulus into a stinking, poisonous, sucking mire of treacherous quicksand and shifting sands. For the time being at least any Grendel naval forces are effectively neutralized - assuming any were present. The fog makes it hard to guess precisely what effect this new development may have had on the outcome of the campaign - assuming any Grendel ships were even present. The power that transforms Apulus is short-lived - as Summer approaches the effects are fading and it is unlikely that the magic can be repeated without the assistance of another potent conjunction. In one regard, however, it will leave a permanent mark on Spiral; the port of Apulus is again reduced to ruins. Between the shifting ground and the thunderous waves, reports say that the entire town has effectively sunk beneath the waves along with the foundations of the Grendel fortifications under construction there. It has also certainly claimed the lives of a large number of orc civilians and human captives - including any of the Urizen children taken as hostages by the Grendel who were being held there. The Grendel themselves are on the defensive, and if they are dismayed by their lack of naval support they barely show it. Even with the appearance of an icy citadel conjured from the realm of the Queen of Ice and Darkness, the Empire must fight for every foot of territory it claims. The Grendel cannot resist the Imperial advance entirely, but with additional support from the south they are able to keep hold of the Ossuary - if only just. There are garbled suggestions that a fresh force of orc soldiers has entered Spiral from the South-East, from Grendel lands. It is perhaps no surprise that magic plays such a large part in the campaign in Urizen - and for the moment at least the majority of the magic is woven by the Empire. Yet for all that, magic can be a capricious tool - and the Black Plateau stands as a stark reminder that there are more things in the world, and in the heavens above it, than are dreamt of in the philosophies of humans, or of orcs. ===GAME INFORMATION=== The Empire has made some gains in Ossuary, but no regions have changed hands. The territory remains in the hands of the Grendel - albeit only just - and they still hold the Legacy. There has been a lot of magic in Spiral as well, even leaving aside the various enchantments on human and orc armies. The curse Winter's Ghost is one of them - anyone in Spiral over the last three months will almost certainly have encountered some of the effects which include crops failing, animals sickening and dying; humans and orcs alike suffering malaise and nightmares (especially in this case nightmares with themes of hate and fear); unseasonable weather that makes the unseasonable weather already created by the storm curse even worse; food and buildings and indeed everthing in between being ravaged by rot, rust, and mould. Misfortune, weakness, hunger, and dread run rampant. Tempers fray, and everything goes wrong at once. You may wish to include this in your individual stories of what you have done since the Spring Solstice if you are in Spiral. Apulian is gone entirely now. Already damaged by the explosive destruction of the Lighthouse during the initial Grendel attack; then damaged again during the Imperial blockade-and-storm combination; finally sunk into the sea by a combination of floods, marshes, and pounding storms. This mostly effects the Grendel, obviously, but may be relevant if the Empire ever retakes Apulus. At the very least we are considering whether to give the region the Ruined quality. While Apulus currently does not have the coastal quality, it will have regained it by the start of the Summer Solstice. The magic used to turn the entire shoreline of that region into a treacherous quagmire is unlikely to work again without another complex conjunction involving the Fountain. ------------- Magic all over the shop! This photograph shows a band of Urizen with General Nicassia Avicia of Phoenix Reach Claire Sheridan front and centre (among others). It is one from Beth Dooner's Spring 2016 album which you can browse here -> https://www.facebook.com/madamelapin/media_set?set=a.10209039804852886.1073741873.1250651518&type=3 #itcaughtfirefelldownandwaseatenbyaswamp, #ascenefromtheDeepbutwithblocksofgranite, #fullfathomfivethymagicianlies SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-10T14:57:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/998691373560176 +++FIVE COLOURS+++ There are grand theatres of war, where campaigns rest on a knife edge - The Barrens, and Sarvos for example. There are also other theatres, places where the war is cooler ... or where things that are not quite war are taking place. ====== GREEN ====== Three days after the Spring Equinox, Reikos is invaded. Not by orcs this time, but by something much more esoteric. A great wellspring of Spring magic pours through the Sign of Tamar. It spreads quickly through Tamarbode, through Broken Tide and Grey Charge. As it spreads, it gathers speed and strength. Wherever it passes, existing Spring regio echo the initial wellspring, and add their own power to the magic. It washes over Longshire and Riverwatch, eddying around the walls of Tabernacle and thence to Haros Water and the ruins of Haros. Finally, it swirls across the ruined walls of High Chalcis, and the Chalcis Mount. With the magic comes a wave of life and transfiguration. At the forefront, mushrooms, fungus, moulds in a rainbow of colours, creeping and consuming everything broken, everything damaged, everything poisoned. Where they have passed, plants grow with supernatural speed, rejuvenating Reikos at the same time as they tear apart the ruins left by war and Druj occupation. The waves of magic are accompanied by a legion of the Children of Llofir. They range in size from little ambulatory toadstools no larger than rabbits, through human-sized pallid heralds, to a handful of immense mushroom-shrouded mammoth-sized monstrosities that move with slow inevitability across the land. Few of them can speak; those that can are unfailingly polite, quiet, patient ... and offer no harm to the Highborn, even in defence of their own lives. Instead, where they encounter resistance, they simply wait, patiently, for the defenders to tire. They congregate in ever increasing numbers, sending clouds of spores before them, infesting everything. Where Llofir's army passes the ruins of Highguard are unmade. Those who had hoped to rebuild their chapters, or recover some tattered reminder of the time before the Druj, must fight for every remnant they wish to preserve. The heralds of Ruin see no difference between a Druj-tainted den and a liberated Highborn village that might be restored. As far as they are concerned, it is all damaged, all sick; it has to go. Luckily for those Highborn who wish to preserve their heritage, several captains had planned to spend this season in Reikos gathering the honoured dead and investigating rumours of dark cults. They quickly adapt to a new challenge - protecting the heritage of the Highborn from gentle unmaking by the servants of the Rot Lord. Yet there seems to be little malice in this magic. Where the servants of Llofir have been allowed to do their work, they leave a land untouched by violence and the hatred of the Druj. Fresh water, fertile soil, healthy growth. Trees sprout with supernatural speed. Where four centuries of Highborn industry had left open land ... little by little the Great Forest that once covered Reikos is being restored. Little by little, any sign that there were ever humans, or orcs, or war in Reikos are being removed. Little by little, the hope that Reikos may be left as something other than a shattered ruin grows ... ====== BLUE ====== In Kallavesa, the great army of the Jotun does not withdraw. It continues to advance along the coast, slowly spreading out across the Westmarsh, forging routes toward Skymark. The orcs come cautiously - they do not seem to relish fighting in the marshes. yet they are here to conquer, not to raid. Where they encounter Winterfolk, they offer the Choice. Take up arms as Jotun; lay down their weapons and become Thralls; or fight and die a heroic death. They come to conquer - but not to despoil. Unlike in Liathaven, they keep their fire tamed. The orc godi determine which pools and lakes hold the heroic dead - and the Jotun endeavour to avoid these places. Yet for all their respect they do not cease in their slow advance. Barbarian scouts are sighted in Wittal Grove, and along the road north of Fisk. They ask those they capture about Rundhal and the great road that links it to the Marches. There is scattered fighting, but the halls of Kallavesa are in no position to offer more than a token resistance. All that stands between them and the conquest of Westmarsh is the magic of Wintermark and the Marchers. The Sussivari Frost Coven and the Circle of the Endless Dark weave the subtle power of Night to raise the marshes themselves against the Jotun. Mists swallow the Rundahl Marshes, and both Kallavesa Marsh and the West Marsh, offering sanctuary to those who flee before the Jotun army - and a base of operations for those who resist. At the same time, the power of the Sherard Hunters wakes the Wittal Grove - the trees themselves resist and entrap the Jotun scouts who venture that far, while protecting and aiding the hunters and warriors who seek to oppose them. Over all hangs a pall of sickness - the fens and pools of Kallavesa become breeding grounds for mosquitos and for disease as the rivers run red. Any serious wound suffered festers, and many orcs die who might otherwise have recovered. The curse is indiscriminate of course - the Winterfolk suffer it's ill effects as harshly as the Jotun do. ======== BLACK ======== On the last night of the Spring Equinox, the dead rise in Karsk. Several thousand casualties of the recent war with the Thule, both human and orc, drag themselves out of their graves and begin to march south. Death has not been kind to them. Many are little more than skeletons - but the magic that animates them fills them with unnatural vitality. Initially at least they seem disinterested in attacking anywhere in particular - they appear to be congregating around the troubled vale of the Dark Heart. There is a hurried exchange of messages between the Thule and the Varushkans, but before any response can be arranged, the shambling cadavers abruptly start to move. An army of Wolves, an army of the walking dead, an army of rotting flesh ridden by flesh-hungry winter spirits movies south-west through Karsk toward Kosti near the shores of the Semmerlak. The inhabitants of the town slam their heavy gates, and take up defensive positions on the wall fearing the worst ... and the unliving host walks straight past them. Without hesitation, they walk into the Semmerlak. Thousands of animate corpses simply walk into the lake and disappear beneath its surface without a trace ... ... only to emerge several weeks later several miles north of Culwich in Weirwater. Panicked yeoman flee south to the safety of the town but again the moribund legion simply ignores them and continues to march south-west. As the Summer Solstice dawns, the army is believed to be moving through Garthmoor toward Applefell. At the current rate they will pass the town during the Solstice ... and if they do not turn aside will enter Semmerholm not far from the Semmerstones a little less than a week after the Solstice. ======== WHITE ======== When the Granite Pillar march to Necropolis to take up defensive positions near the southern coast, the magic of Wintermark supports them. The Sherard Hunters have roused the forests of Highrod to support them. The trees grow thickly around the ruins of the First Sentinel - the broken fortress that once looked north to wild Reikos now serves as a base of operations for those who look south to the waters of the Bay of Catazaar. A second significant force takes positions on Sanctuary Sands, below the bluffs on which the Necropolis itself stands. The coast itself is still shrouded in the unnatural fog that has clung to the shores of the northern Bay for nearly a year now. Of the Grendel, there is no sign. ========= RED ========= On the last day of the Spring Equinox, there is a flurry of activity in the Hierro clan encampment south of Anduz. All Imperial citizens are politely asked to leave, and if they do not take the hint, are physically ejected. Over the course of the next week, Imperial visitors are turned away by uncommunicative orc sentinels. At dawn two weeks after the Spring Equinox, without fanfare, the Hierro break camp. Despite the fears of the people of Anduz, they do not attack the town but instead march west towards the hills of Reinos. Swift-footed scouts dispatched to follow them say they move unerringly toward the red hills. The garrisons at the Towers of Anduz brace themselves, but the Hierro do not even pause. The orcs march out of Segura, and there is nobody to gainsay them. At the very last, a lone orc approaches the Kabalai Palace under a flag of truce. Tall orc, armoured, with braided hair and a proud demeanour, he calls himself the chieftan of the Hierro. His manner is civil, his message is short. He thanks the Freeborn for their hospitality, and the Empire for giving his people the greatest of gifts. They will hold the Way in their hearts, and it will give them strength as they go to face the Choice of the Jotun. And then he turns and follows after the rest of his clan and is swallowed up by the cloud of red dust that trails behind them. --------------------- A lot of words there, I know. I've cut the Game Information sections as they messed with the flow - you can find those on the wiki. The picture is a gorgeous shot of Irina Goodwin taken by Steph Morris on a beach. You can find it, and a bunch of other photos of Freeborn looking cool here -> https://www.facebook.com/Trinkety/media_set?set=a.10153720427586966.518071965&type=3 I picked this shot because it is full of colour, and I can imagine these little snapshots as short travellers tales being told around a Freeborn campfire within earshot of the sea. And also because my efforts to make a collage out of the pictures (most of the colours are there) was just ... it was like the antithesis of what something cool and good would look like. Just so bad. #thinkingofyouGraeme, #onearmyofmagicalweirdoswouldbebadenough, #hurrahformagicalfortresses SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-10T13:13:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/998636296899017 +++THE DEFIANCE OF SARVOS+++ The fog that has shrouded the Bay of Catazaar for the last year or so fades ... and almost immediately is replaced with a *new* fog. Those who saw this eerie mist arrive during the Spring Equinox whisper that it did not rise from the sea at all, but rather seemed to drift down from the sky like a cloak of falling clouds. Thick as Marcher broth, it swirls and surges through the streets of Sarvos, and spreads its pale fingers across Uccelini and Bocche and southern Riposi. It spreads like spilled milk along the swollen Gancio to Foracci and settles across the roofs of Rodez and Trivento and Orphan's Haven as gently as it falls on the jewelled towers of the City. Within the peculiar haze, sound carries strangely - sometimes muffled, sometimes amplified. It brings strange dreams. Visibility becomes ... muddled. It is difficult to tell the difference between orc and human at distances of more than a handful of yards. It is easy to get lost, even for people who have lived in Sarvos their entire lives. How much easier it is, though, for those who do *not* know the city? At the same time, news comes from Anvil that the Mayor of Caricomare and the League Assembly have urged the people of Sarvos to rise up against the Grendel. The word travels fast, and it catches the spirits of the League citizens like sparks in dry kindling. It is not clear who strikes first - the fog makes it impossible to be sure. Did the Grendel send their thuggish enforcers to break up a meeting of angry citizens? Did a gang of furious bravos jump an orc patrol after one attempted intimidation too many? It hardly matters. The flame of rebellion ignites across the city, sweeping through the streets like wildfire from shore to shore, from the docks to the towers, from the poorest alleys to the wide avenues around the Diora University. The Grendel have the advantage of overwhelming numbers ... yet the conflict is by no means one sided. The locals have the advantage of knowing the city, and knowing that they are battling not only for their homes and their wealth but for their Pride. The fighting is savage, vicious, utterly without honour or glory or mercy. In some parts of the city, blood flows in streams into the gutters. The bravos of the League employ all the arts learnt in hard fighting in alleyways and cramped, smoky rooms. The Grendel rely on their discipline and the violence that burns in the heat of every orc. In the narrow streets, the humans have the advantage. In the plazas and squares, and in the wider streets, the advantage is unequivocally with the Grendel. The orcs also have the advantage that it is not *their* city - they do not care how much damage they do to Sarvos. Who throws the first torch is another mystery that will likely never be solved, but by sunrise the day after the rebellion begins, several Grendel ships are aflame ... but so are parts of the city. Given the choice between fighting the invaders and saving their city from fire, the citizens of Sarvos make the pragmatic choice to save the city. After two days of fighting, the Hounds of Glory and the Wolves of War arrive. A heavy pall of smoke mixes with the chaotic mists, tainting everything with the acrid scent of burning wood. As the army prepared to cross the water to the city, scouts bring back only reports that contradict one another and make little sense - the magical mist makes it difficult to get a good idea of the situation on the island of Cigno itself. The Wolves of War enter the city first, cautious and careful. Through the entire march from Reikos, their sleep has been tormented by hideous nightmares of what they may find - burnt ruins, friends and families butchered or carried away to a life of slavery in the Grendel salt mines, a city sunk into the Bay, a city besieged by behemoth horrors from the ocean depths or even a city simply gone - their waking hours beset with doubts. The grim curse of Agramant works its hateful magic against them, but they are defiant. They are here to liberate the greatest city on the Bay, to fight alongside their brothers and sisters against the barbarians who dared to come and steal the jewels of Sarvos. The Hounds of Glory waste little time with scouts. Starting at the northernmost point of the city, the Dawnish knights and witches sweep through the streets heading for the docks. Their advance is slowed by the mist, but it is inexorable, triumphant. While the magical fog muffles other sounds, it seems to offer no resistance to the blaring horns of the nobles of Dawn. The horns call the people of the Empire to the hunt, to the war, drawing the defenders to their banners. The sleek warships of the Freeborn Storm are slowed by the strange fog but not by much. The brazen captains are eager to engage the Grendel navy and many know these waters well. With one eye on the coast and the advancing armies they seek out their ancient enemy - time for payback for the attack on the Madruga shipyards, and for a much older defeat. They expect to face overwhelming odds, a navy perhaps twice their size, even with their own flotilla bolstered by scores of independent corsair vessels, but even so there are no engagements. The advance of the three forces is oddly almost entirely bloodless. No resistance is offered. Indeed, no orcs are encountered until the Imperial forces converge in Caricomare, on the waterfront. There at last signs of invasion. A dozen, unfamiliar, low-lying ships are anchored at the quay. Arrayed along the docks are a little over a thousand troops - orcs with heavy tapered shields and heavy greensteel chain. Orders are given, standards raised ... the orcs prepare to receive the charge ... no quarter is offered or given ... the horns are raised to lips eager to at last set loose the dogs of war ... At the last moment, desperate messengers manage to get the attention of the captains. Orders are barked. Confusion reigns. These are not the orcs the armies were expecting to face. They are a battalion of orc soldiers from the Iron Confederacy, a mercenary band known as the Black Swords Jannissaries, just disembarked from blocky Suranni vessels. Tense negotiations begin; the Imperial commanders meeting with the human captains of the Black Swords. It quickly transpires that these foreign mercenaries were secured by the military council to help with the liberation of Sarvos, to "fight alongside General Tancred de Rondell with the Hounds of Glory" at the behest of Lukash Biessek von Temeshwar, Ambassador to the Iron Confederacy. A major diplomatic incident has been avoided. Thanks to the discordant fog, the Empire could easily have attacked a force of soldiers here to help. Avoided? Well ... perhaps only delayed. It slowly becomes apparent that by Imperial definition these thousand soldiers of the Iron Confederacy are not free. They are property - slaves - raised from birth to unquestioningly obey the orders of the humans that own them. There are tricky legal implications here. The Suranni officers appear to be a little disgruntled - they are very aware of the Empire's laws on slavery and claim that they were hired to fight the Grendel in territory *outside the Empire*. But the Grendel are nowhere to be found and now there are a thousand slave soldiers in the heart of the Empire ... Once it is clear there are no Grendel, the Black Sword Janissaries return to their ships and depart, before a magistrate can be found to make a clear ruling on the legality of their presence. Perhaps for the best - there are warriors on both sides who would have relished the opportunity to test the mettle of their opponents, and people who have personal reasons to wish to shed orc blood regardless of whether it belong to barbarian or foreigner. There is a great deal of work to be done in Sarvos, and the presence of foreign mercenaries would simply have complicated the situation. The uprising has left hundreds dead on both sides, and while the destruction has not been widespread the city has been permanently marked by the revolt. Fires raged through the streets during the fighting; it is only down to the Courage of the citizens of Sarvos fighting the fires that the city itself was not lost. If the Grendel had continued to fight, if they had attacked the bucket-chains and firefighters, then it is likely that key parts of the city would have been consumed in the inferno - especially given the chaos and confusion caused by the magical fog. Instead, the Grendel used the confusion to withdraw to the docks in an orderly fashion and it was the better part of a day before anyone realised they had fled. The only signs of the Grendel that remain are a handful of warships burned down to the waterline, and the bodies of those slain in the uprising, many still floating in the bay. Along with their ill-gotten gains, they have fled the city en-mass shortly after the rioting began. The story is the same in Uccelini - the Grendel have left, disappearing into the fog that cloaks the shores of the Bay of Catazaar beyond the borders of Sarvos. All that the Empire can be certain of is that their ships have not sailed south-west towards Madruga - even with the magical fog, they would not have been able to sneak past the Freeborn Storm. =============== Game Information[edit] The Grendel have stripped Sarvos of a large portion of its wealth. Practically nothing has been recovered. The two armies quickly sweep the city, and the surrounding territory restoring Imperial law and order. Sarvos is now unequivocally Imperial again. The uprising took the Grendel off guard and has inflicted an unknown number of casualties on the armies and navies that had attacked Sarvos. Unfortunately, it has also lead to some loss of Imperial life and damage to the city such that everyone will need to do some rebuilding (a term reduction of the taxation provided by the territory, and to the personal resources of the residents). Any citizen of Sarvos is encouraged to create their own story of what they did during the two days of confused fighting in the city ahead of the Grendel withdrawal. A number of Grendel were killed, and several ships burnt. A small amount of stolen artwork and wealth was recovered, but not enough to restore the collections of the University or the Cathedral, or the personal connections of the prominent citizens. Finally, there is no sign of any construction in Cigno - in the city proper. While an area of land was cleared with the apparent intention of building a fortification, no actual work has taken place on such a structure. ================ Okay! Not a short one. The photo is another from the Birthday Boy but the mask makes it hard for me to guess who it is :) The little wolf I nicked from Wikipedia (Lokal_Profil and Delta-9 [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons) and I agonised over where to put it because in the bottom right it covers up the ribbon ... I guess you'll just have to go look at the original if you want to know what it says ;) #whatisitwiththenightrealmsandfog?, #confusiontotheenemyandalsoallourfriends, #youmaywanttogooglejannisaries, #itsJohnPamwhoisoneoftheLeagueegregoresifyouwerewondering SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-10T11:11:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/998580690237911 +++THE CONQUEST OF THE BARRENS+++ The Golden Sun keep their banners flying over Dawnguard, and the Golden Axe fight beside them. The Towerjacks are gone, and in their place marches the reborn Gryphon's Pride at last. Five thousand Dawnish men and women in polished armour, marching under snapping pennants bearing the image of gryphons, a grand profusion of leonine-aquiline beasts rampant, couchant, raring for the chance to lay to rest the tattered spectre of the past. To finally, with the full sanction of the Empire, bring the Barrens under Imperial domination. The glorious core of the army is supported by several cadre of questing knights, each with a wealth of practical experience of the Barrens and its savage inhabitants; and by grim-faced knights-errant ready to risk all for the chance to catch the eye of a noble house. Supported by the garrison of the Towers of Dawn, the Imperial host launches a series of crushing strikes against the orc outposts around Dryhaven. The Golden Sun fight defensively, ensuring the heaviest armoured and best-shielded troops take the van, slowly grinding their way across the territory toward victory. The ironbound Golden Axe keep pace with them, demonstrating the adaptability and pragmatism that make them rightly feared. Between them, the Gryphon's Pride, methodically ensure that not one inch of Dawnish land remains in the hands of barbarian orcs. The free orcs of the Barrens stand firm, at first. Scouts bring scattered reports of magical defences - potent nexi of Spring and Night magic scattered across the wild places of Barrens, roused to support the savages. From dripping fen and forest fastness, the orcs fight with savage vigour, inspired by the defensive enchantments. This is not the only sorcery at work in the Barrens. For another season, the red waters flow in rivers, streams, marshes, and in the shallow bitter sea. Wounds fester. The arts of the physick, the apothecary, and the witch are tested; it is a challenge to keep the injured alive even with the many resources at their disposal. When the rain falls, it tastes of copper and despair. Yet the blight harms the orcs more than it does the humans: the Imperial generals have planned their strategy carefully. Their advance is slow, but it minimizes casualties in the face of the baleful sorcery at work in the Barrens. The orcs are overmatched. Despite the potence of their magical defences, they are slowly pushed back. The gains they made in Dawnguard over the last year are lost, the households fallen under their yoke liberated, and the remaining nobles and yeomen free to join the battle. By the Summer Solstice, Dawnguard is free, again, of orc influence. Overmatched ... but not overrun. The Imperial armies continue to push, but their slow advance leaves little opportunity to gain new territory. They begin to slowly force the orcs out of the Carmine Fields, but the barbarians do not yield easily. hose who battle under the banner of the Black Wind seem particularly hard to unseat, especially once the battle presses beyond the borders of Dawnguard. It is as if a new passion ignites in them when they fight to defend the Carmine Fields. As a consequence, the Empire makes only slight inroads - perhaps a handful of villages captured, their population fleeing before the steel-and-mithril of Dawn and the iron-and-fire of Varushka. By season's end, the warhost of the Empire has recaptured Dawnguard, and established several well-supported outposts along the northern borders of the Carmine Fields. It seems the conquest of the Barrens has finally begun. ======================== Winds of War for Summer. There are more of these than I was expecting. There's a lot going on ... So here we have the Barrens. Dawnguard liberated, and small gains in the Carmine Fields. Not a bad first-outing for the Gryphon's Pride. More to follow, today and possibly tomorrow. -------------------------- The photograph is from Mr Oliver Facey who is having a birthay today it appears. It shows a doughty yeoman played by Arun Ferguson with a bow. The little inset gryphon I nicked off the flag of the Utti Jaeger Regiment a Finnish special forces unit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utti_Jaeger_Regiment) ------------------- #ohitsonlikedodokong, #deathtothedruj, #leeeeeeroyjenkins SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-07-02T20:25:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/993921650703815 Don't forget that midnight tomorrow is the early booking deadline for the next event. If you've not already booked then you need to send payment before that date to get the event at the early booking price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-06-23T17:49:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/988444904584823 +++PATCH NOTES : SPRING 2016+++ Evening folks, Raff here. I assume you're all back from participating in Demoncracy, and I know some of you have already spotted some of the wiki updates, so I'll dive straight in. For full details you can take a look at http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016 – the first three cover everything relevant I think. ========================== THE BIG ONE : REALM LORE ========================== The big change is Realm Lore and what the skill means. We've been vaguely aware of rules inconsistencies for a while now (some things did the same thing in different ways) and decided to try and neaten things up a bit. This lead to slightly more change than we were expecting, but to sum up: * You *have* to used character points to buy a rank of the appropriate Realm Lore skill to participate in a ritual. We're calling these “innate” ranks to distinguish them from the ranks you get from enchantmets and items and potions and the regio and the like. * You *have* to have an innate rank in the appropriate Realm Lore skill to gain any additional ranks from enchantments, potions, regio and so on. * You can *only* add extra ranks up to the point where you have tripled your actual Realm Lore skill. Anything beyond that doesn't count. We've laid these changes out on the Magical Skills page here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Magical_skills#Realm_Lore. For me, this change places a lot more emphasis on actual character points and choices. Previously, there were a number of ways to turn a non-ritualist into a ritualist, and those methods no longer work. Someone has to have spent at least one point on a realm lore to help perform a ritual, and someone who has spent only one point has less potential to perform powerful rituals compared to someone who has invested six or ten (or fifteen,, or more) points. This looks like a nerf, and to be honest it is a nerf, but its also the first of a numer of changes we're implementing. At the moment, all the ways you have of boosting your skill are relatively minor – usually +1 is the largest boost you can get from any one source – but we intend to increase some of these bonuses and make more available. If we did this without the new rule, the most optimal expenditure of character points would rapidly become 1 in each of the six realms and we were keen to see specialization remaining a viable option. The Boss covers this in more detail on the rules update page. ============================== SHIFTING FOCUS : RITUAL MASTERY ============================== We've introduced a slight buff in the form of the ability to change mastered rituals. Essentially, mastery is a product of practice and focus and it is possible for a magician to shift their focus. The details are here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Realm_Lore#Mastery but what they boil down to is that any ritual magician can swap one of their mastered rituals for another ritual that is in Imperial Lore. This is mostly about helping characters and covens who have found themselves with rituals they literally cannot cast – but it also helps people changing covens, as well as people who have discovered that a given ritual was less interesting than they were expecting. The basic change only allows characters to swap a ritual they have mastered for another ritual in Imperial Lore – but we plan to make some tech available to characters to give them other options. It just won't be free. ============================= LEGACY OF FEAR : NEW POTIONS ============================= We've added six new potions to those available to apothecaries. Anyone who currently knows how to make the Realm-based ritual potions can know how to make these if they wish. The story is that these are a result of recovered Highborn apothecary lore coupled with captured Druj secrets. You can assume you've learnt to brew them in since Spring, or you can decide to roleplay them in the field. The roleplaying effects and appearances may get tweaked a little – I've not checked that they fit on potion cards for a start – but the recipes and effects will be as presented. They're the first wave of our ritual lore buffs – they're also something we cut from the recipes when we were designing the game because we were worried they were too powerful so I'm pleased to see them back. A quick shout out to Jonathon Rampling and Steve Cook who threw some ideas at me for the visuals and roleplaying effects – I promise to try and get The Mysterious Bee Keeper inro the game somehow ;) =========================== THE OTHER BIG ONE : CITADELS =========================== The final change in this pass of the rules is to the three enchanted citadels – specifically we've increased the magnitue of Frozen Citadel, Dripping Echoes, and Wooden Fastness from 64 to 80. It'd become increasingly clear we'd set their magnitude far too low, mostly due to the fact that when we created those rituals we actually had no idea what fortifications would actually do or how powerful they would be. As it is, the new magnitude means that they are much more in line with out other large-scale campaign effects … and when you absolutely, positively need something between an army of Druj and an orphanage and none of your forces can get there they are still absolutely the best tool for the job. ======================== GOING FORWARD : PRIESTS ======================== The other thing we are actively working on at the moment is a revamp of the Religious Skills. We're about halfway through finalising the effects, and we are working flat-out to get them completed by the Summer Solstice. This review is well over due, to be honest, and we really should have done it over Winter. Don't panic! All the skills are still there, and they still work roughly the same. For the most part we've just expanded their usefulness and tightened up the rules, as well as looking at ways we can make using the skills smoother and more impactful. ============================== A TINY, ALMOST IRRELEVANT BUFF ============================== Oh before I forget … we buffed Sift the Dreamscape's Sands so it now lasts a season instead of 24 hours. So that's something, right? ------------------------------------------ Remember if you want to discuss this or anything else to do with Empire we maintain our own forums here -> http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ The photo is by Oliver Facey but I scrawled on it a bit. I'd never *actually* train a high powered rifle on Maurice de Gauvin, you understand. #therethatwasntsohard, #nerfsforthenerfgod, #thepotionsaregreatyoushouldmakesome SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-06-11T10:35:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/980988058663841 This is a quick update to let everyone know that the PD website is open for downtime submissions for all players who were at the last event. The deadline for submissions is midnight Wednesday the 15th June. Please make sure you get your downtime done by then, as the servers will be closed for our Odyssey event after that. Following a very successful second event, we've been inundated with emails, so we are experiencing a small delay in responding to them. If you are waiting for a response, please be patient, we'll reply as quickly as we can and as always we'll make certain that no player loses out while waiting for a response from PD. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-06-06T10:39:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/978163292279651 +++INTERLUDE+++ Good morning! The Boss has put Downtime live! You can pick your options, for those of you who have them, or just nosey around the effects if you like. It's your Downtime, it's up to you. There are also a number of effects, or outcomes, from actions taken at the event. We've put together a roundup of those effects here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune Included are such gems as: * New Throne! * Army orders! * Trade winds! * Reikos! Spiral! Sarvos! * Magical ritual of immense power unleashed across whole Empire! * And here's Jan with the Weather (hint:its mostly cursed)! As always this is *not* definitive - it's a list of things that we thing are relevant to downtime and it misses out a lot of flavour in favour of mechanics. As always we will do a proper Wind of Fortune for several of these effects as we get closer to the event. If you have any queries, please to direct your e-mails to empire.plot@profounddecisions.co.uk The photograph is obviously a beautiful Beth Dooner Photography portrait, I believe from the Pledge winter event. You should go and poke around her galleries there are some real gems in there (https://www.facebook.com/Beth-Dooner-Photography-148460791866549/?fref=ts) I'm tempted to slap a filter on this and then print out a bunch of copies and frame them so the Throne can peer Imperially down at people *even when not physically present* #othersideofthehedgeisawhollyownedsubsidiary, #Illmissthecursemongersandtheircursemongeryways, #tothepriestsectionofthewikiminesraff! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-25T12:39:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/971527449609902 From 2017 onwards we will be implementing more stringent safety standards for arrows. While arrow safety has continued to improve, we are still not fully satisfied with what we have achieved. By implementing safer rules from next year onwards, we will continue to improve safety while minimizing the inevitable impact on existing archers. We realize that it's always a PITA when event organizers change safety standards, but we need to make sure that everyone is using weapons that are safe and suitable for a battlefield with a thousand people on it. We're also very aware that a bunch of players bought the "golfball" style arrows when we banned the IDVs. To try and ensure the least possible impact for our players, we'll have an amnesty on any golfball arrows you have left at the start of 2017. Bring them to GOD and we'll *swap* them for £6 of credit on your PD account, usable against any PD event. If archers have any queries about the new rules - and whether your current arrows will pass, then you can check with a weapon checker on site. Regrettably we cannot confirm whether arrows (or indeed any weapon) will pass weapon check by email - it has to be done by an approved weapon checker examining the item in the field. These new changes will take effect from the first event of 2017 onwards. There are no changes to the existing rules for events this year. These rules start at Empire One 2017. Next year. Not this year. Next year. We're telling players now so that they can plan accordingly - and suffer the least possible inconvenience before these new rules come into force NEXT YEAR. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-24T19:05:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/971104292985551 +++SPRING EQUINOX, 380YE+++ Right then! I think that's your lot! I'm sorry we slipped our deadline by a few days but it's been that kind of month ... Here's a quick recap: * The Winds of War are here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_war and you can listen to them read aloud by the inestimable Ian "I've got a shed in my studio" Horne here -> https://soundcloud.com/winds-of-war-fortune/sets/winds-of-war-spring-380-ye * Winds of Fortune are now complete here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_fortune and again Ian has recorded a summary of them here -> https://soundcloud.com/winds-of-war-fortune/winds-of-fortune-spring-380ye * There's also a little section about stuff that is ongoing, mostly to do with senate motions and the like, here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_fortune#Ongoing_Events_and_Resolutions which we might add the odd update to as we work through last events senate commissions in more detail * Finally, this page here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Spring_Equinox_Imperial_elections will have all the titles we know of that are available to be elected this event, who can get involved in appointing them, and what they do. Keep an eye on it, and talk to your egreogre or one of our civil service if you want to know more. Remember - hats are for *everyone* ;) Right that's me done. I look forward to seeing you all inna field in ... gosh is it that time already? #weatherreportspositive, #bestspringeventeverincoming, #ialsolikepies SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-24T16:53:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/971048966324417 +++THE SACK OF SARVOS+++ Celi and Gill ducked into the side street and pressed themselves against either wall, panting slightly. "I think we've lost them," said Celi. Gill quickly peered back round the corner. "No they're still coming. Come on!" she set off full-pelt down the alley, leaping athletically over a pile of crates. Celi was right behind her. They had moved not a moment too soon. A half dozen angry orcs rounded the corner behind them. Rough, vicious looking thugs from the Broken Shore in the front and behind them an exceptionally angry looking Grendel. They smashed through the crates, roaring and bellowing imprecations after the two women. Gill risked another look behind. The orcs were slowly gaining. As they sprinted along a relatively straight alley, Celi unslung her crossbow, and just before turning the next corner spun round, took barely a moment's aim, and let loose. The bolt shattered against the wall near the lead orc, who let out an explosive oath and leapt back. "That will slow them down," she shouted to Gill who was now a short distance ahead. Her partner slowed her pace to let Celi catch up. "We don't want to slow them down too much," she muttered. "Trust me," said Celi winking. "I'm getting them good and angry. We don't want them losing interest." "After them you idiots!" the Grendel orc clearly did not need much in the way of encouragement. The two women, breath caught, started running again. A few minutes later, they turned left into a dead end. "Oh no!" shouted Celi dramatically - perhaps a little too dramatically. Gill rolled her eyes. "Quick - through here!". They timed their dash through the door to make sure that the orcs got a good look at where they were going. The invaders thundered down the dead-end alley and through the door after them, weapons at the ready. Well, most of them did. The Grendel leader hung back with his bodyguard - as he had at each of the buildings he had cleared this past week. "Take them alive if you can!" he shouted through the door after his troops. "I want them to sweat out the last of their days in the mines of Vorlach!" He turned to his bodyguard and in a quieter voice said "Stay alert - something about this is beginning to ...." he trailed off. His bodyguard stared blankly ahead, and then dropped to his knees, then crunched down onto the pavement face-first. Six inches of crossbow bolt protruded from between his shoulder blades. The Grendel spun, opening his mouth to shout for assistance, but he barely got time to do more than draw breath before his assailant was on him. With expert skill she smashed his blade out of his hand with her mace, and laid him out with swift blows to the face and gut. Sabrina caught him as he fell, lowering him to the ground, and then quickly closed and barred the door into the warehouse. Two ropes dropped down on either side of her and she was joined by Gill and Celi. They paused long enough to expertly tug the ropes loose. "You took your time," said Sabrina as she grabbed the unconcious Grendel. She and Celi supported the orc between them. "We've got about three minutes to get him under cover," fretted Gill. "If he bleeds out we'll learn nothing, and we'll never find out where they're holding John and the others." As they fled the scene with the dying orc between them, smoke began to billow out of the high windows of the warehouse. "There was a lot of merchandise in there," said Celi conversationally. "Even assuming none of the orcs manage to batter one of the doors down, someone somewhere is going to be very angry with us." Sabrina shrugged as best she could with one arm of a bleeding Grendel captain wrapped round her shoulder. "The battlefield is our canvas" she quoted mildly, and despite the seriousness of their situation, all three women burst into laughter. ------------ Sarvos ... city of jewels ... crushed by the Grendel juggernaut! No gilded flamingo is safe from their avarice! You can read about what the conquest of Sarvos means for the Empire - and especially for the citizens of the southernmost League city - here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_sack_of_Sarvos I stole the picture from the cover of a book called The Mermaids Madness by Jim C Hines - the art is by Scott M. Fischer (http://www.fischart.com/home.html) I feel kind of guilty about it but it will pass. ---------------------- #theystolemygran!, #Onceuponatimetherewerethreellttlegirlswhowenttothebravoacademy, #thaaatsmostlyallfolks SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-24T16:10:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/971033446325969 +++STRANGE FRUIT+++ "What did you say it was again? A breadfruit?" "Yes, try it - they're delicious. The Lasambrians used to grow them in the hills. Well gather them I suppose, I'm not sure they did any actual cultivation. Too much like hard work!" Valeria chuckled to herself, clearly amused by the joke at her host's expense, but Darko winced, clearly mortified by the new arrival's sarcasm. "Be quiet - you'll be heard! It's crucial we don't offend these people, we've been working on these people for weeks. Even the simplest joke is dangerous - it could undermine the whole thing." Valeria smiled again as she dismissed her rivals' words "You don't need to convert everyone, you just need to convert the right someone. Allow me to introduce the right someone - Kenza of the Lasambrians." She gestured to the orc that accompanied her. The orc - Kenza - stood stiff-backed staring at the gathering of Lasambrians who were waiting for them inside the tent. He seemed lost in contemplation but finally turned to face the two human priests "It would be best if you let me speak with the warlord first. He will not listen to you." Darko disagreed and an argument quickly broke out between him and the Urizeni. This was a crucial meeting, with the warlord and his followers - the new "priest" might be Lasambrian but it was too dangerous to risk such an important meeting on an untried mediator. "Cleave to what you know is true, even where others wish you to doubt." someone whispered. The warring priests turned to see that Kenza was already walking into the tent, forcing them to abandon their argument and scurry after him." Kenza strolled confidently past the guards, into the centre of the tent. "Warlord Dayna, I have come to talk to you about the Virtues." "Talk makes me hungry. Fruit?" The warlord threw a half-eaten breadfruit towards the newcomer, but Kenza made no attempt to catch it and it hit the floor. A hush fell over the tent, at this obvious insult. "This fruit is not yours to give warlord. Your warriors stole it from an orchard belonging to Santa i Carri i Erigo." The tent went deadly silent, hands fell on swords. Darko flashed a venemous glare at Valeria but the other priest simply gestured for him to wait. "They didn't steal it. They took it. It was my ambition to eat breadfruit today. So my warriors were prosperous and worked hard to bring me breadfruit. The Freeborn are armed with bows - but they courageously dared the risk. Now I am filled with Pride! For I have the breadfruit I wanted!" The warlord voice rose as he delivered his response so that it was loud enough to be heard over the rising laughter. Kenza paused for a moment, to let the tent fall silent again, so that everyone would be certain to hear him. "Bullshit! Self-serving bullshit. Pride? What have you got to be proud of? Your warriors snuck in under darkness to steal the fruit. Was their Courage to dare the wrath of the trees as they plucked the fruit? It took years of hard work to grow these fruit - how much hard work was required to steal them? Ambition? To eat breadfruit? That's your ambition? See the mighty warlord Dayna, an inspiration to us all - today he will eat a breadfruit! All - by - himself!" Dorka warily eyed the exit to the tent, as sword after sword slid clear of its scabbards. A moment ago he was worried that their attempt to convert the Lasambrians would end in failure. Now that failure was off the table and disaster was looming, the prudent thing was to check for escape routes before everyone was murdered. Vaguely he was aware that the Lasambrian was still talking - presumably he wanted the hole deep enough for all of them. "You have twisted the Virtues to justify a life of petty banditry. You see something, you want it, you take. You're a child without restraint, a bully with a sword, a thief with an opportunity. The only thing you have learned from the Empire is to justify it by chanting the virtues like a dog barking to warn off a stranger." "I am a warlord! I have two hundred warriors. Who the fuck are you to judge me, you insolent prick. This faith you have clearly swallowed is nothing but words. Who says what is virtuous? Who gets to judge it? It's all meaningless - it's a pack of lies so you lot can sit on your moral high ground and preach at the rest of us." The warlord was on his feet now, his hands waving in fury as he gestured at the priest. The others in the room were silent, weapons drawn, waiting for the command to act. Kenza seem serene, untroubled by the obvious threat and his voice was calm as he responded. "From what I have seen of them, the best of the Imperials let others judge what is virtuous - not them. Truly virtuous actions can be seen by others - seen to be courageous - seen to be wise, to be ambitious, to be proud. The truly virtuous inspire those around them by their actions." He stopped for a moment to draw a breath and then spat out "But I am not Imperial! I am Hierro. The blood of my people flows through my veins, the Hierro ancestors speak to me. They will judge whether my actions are virtuous. Just as they will judge your actions. Perhaps they will return for you Warlord Dayna - perhaps they will choose to carry another petty thief across the Howling Abyss, perhaps they will not." "What the fuck are you talking about - the ancestors don't talk about the virtues. They tell us to fight - to conquer - to defend what is ours, to take what we need! You think you're so fucking special, you and your little Imperial friends. We've always been bandits! That's who we are - you pompous self-righteous prick. That's who our ancestors were!" "No. Our ancestors were not bandits. And if you come with me... I can prove it." -------------- Success in Segura! The Lasambrian orc clan of the Hierro has been converted to the Way! Tensions between Freeborn and Orcs have largely ceased! You can read all about this monumental development here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Strange_fruit The picture is a breadfruit By © Hans Hillewaert /, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7893338 #everythingisgoingtobeabsolutelyfinenow, #thewaysolvesallproblems, #iftherewerewater SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-23T01:32:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969998279762819 We have updated the wiki with the site layout for the next event. I'm pleased to say we have managed to push the road down past the toilets towards the camping only field, so if anyone wishes to camp in this field at the event then they can drive to the edge of the field before and after the event to load and unload. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spring_Equinox_2016#Site_Map We have also updated the rules for the conjunctions for battles - so that the generals can now pick any viable combination of sides that produces roughly equal numbers for the two battles. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Conjunctions) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-22T22:07:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969928786436435 +++RECLAIMERS+++ Thom Sullivan de Tassato Mestra froze in place. The two massive black dogs between him and the door snarled and slavered, revealing deadly looking fangs. He held up his hands and tried to soothe them while desperately scanning his surroundings for an exit. From inside the house, a mans voice called out. "Sun! Storm! Down! Leave Master Sullivan alone!" The dogs immediately dropped prone, tongues lolling. Jonas Quayle entered through the doors of the conservatory, with a disapproving expression on his face. "This is not the front door, Master Sullivan." He said coldly. For all his years living in Holberg, his Upwold accent was still noticable. Sullivan smiled disarmingly but it was lost on Quayle. He gestured for the investigator to follow him, and lead the way through into the main part of the house. "I trust you and your companions were successful, Master Sullivan?" He asked as they walked. Sullivan nodded. "A nice place you have here," he said conversationally as they passed along a short weirwood-paneled hall. Quayle's frosty attitude did not thaw. "It is not my house, Master Sullivan. I am merely looking after it for a ... for a friend. Mind where you put your feet, please. That rug is not for walking on." Sullivan stopped, looked down at the brightly coloured carpet, and stepped pointedly round it. It looked expensive, he mused. But then everything in the Nest looked expensive. And probably was expensive. Quayle lead him into an open-plan study, and closed the door behind him. Despite the warm Spring evening, there was a fire burning in the grate. His host noticed him noticing it. "I am over sixty years old, Master Sullivan. I feel the cold. Shall we get down to business." Sullivan nodded, and swung his satchel round. Carefully, he withdrew the oilskin wrapped package. The three of the had risked a great deal to acquire this prize from a ruined villa in southern Rebeshof, right on the edge of the stinking Morass. Or at least, the villa used to be on the edge of the Morass. These days, the marshes were well on their way to drowning the entire estate. Not that there had been much of the estate left to swallow. "Here we go," he said, unwrapping the bottle and placing it on the low table. "I have to say though that it was a good deal more difficult than you'd lead us to believe. There were rats ..." Quayle cut him off. "Don't worry, Master Sullivan. You will be well compensated for your time and that of your team. I assume master Calvin and master Wright are both still alive?" Sullivan cracked a grin. "It'll take more than some rats, a nest of marsh vipers, a couple of orcs, and a lot of mud to slow us down." He nodded towards the bottle "I take it you're happy?" Quayle just looked at it. His face was unreadable. "The Kröger '21," he said in a quiet voice. "We always planned to drink this when the orcs were finally driven back. It looks like it's just going to be me, now." Sullivan turned away and made a show of examining one of the dragonbone statuettes on the mantelpiece, to give his host time to collect himself. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. He looked sharp in his new red and gold coat, even if he did say so himself. He smoothed his bushy moustache, and winked at his reflection. Mr Quayle cleared his throat. Sullivan turned back round to find that the dapper, older man was now quite calm. There was no sign of his earlier emotion. The taller man noticed that the bottle had vanished, however. Jonas Quayle was all business. "You've exceeded expectations, Master Sullivan, you and your little gang. I am cautiously impressed. I'll have your money brought through in a moment. But before I do ... I don't suppose you might be interested in another commission? I've recently heard rumours about a certain ring that I'd be quite interested in having in my possession. But it might be dangerous - very dangerous. And the kind of rats you're likely to run into if you start looking for it walk on two legs and are more likely to shoot crossbows at you than to scurry away." Thomas Sullivan made a show of thinking carefully about the offer but he already knew the answer - and he knew that while Calvin and Wright might make a great show of wanting no part of it but he could talk them round. He treated Jonas Quayle to his broadest, most convincing smile. "I think I would definitely be interested, Quayle - the only problem is that with the Towerjacks in Dawn, I find myself in need of somewhere to stay." Quayle didn't catch on immediately, and then his expression became mildly horrified. "You say this isn't your house? Will the real owner mind if I stay here for a few months. I mean days? Days, definitely ..." -------------- The angry trees that have been battering the walls of Holberg for the last year have finally subsided, and it is time to focus on rebuilding the easternmost League territory. You can learn about the opportunitiest to reclaim Holberg here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Reclaimers The picture is By Dwight Sipler from Stow, MA, USA [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons --------------- #Iknowwhatyourethinking, #andyoureright, #presentforyouUlricyouowemeapony SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-22T14:45:05+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969719859790661 +++A FUNDAMENTAL STRUGGLE (TRADE WINDS)+++ "I'm not very happy about this," said Captain Gerralt. The orc in front of him shrugged, and spread his hands, but there was nothing apologetic about his gesture. "I apologise. You are absolutely free to depart now, if you wish. We will end the inspection and you may seek another port. But if you wish to do business in Leerdam, you will do so only once I am reassured that your cargo is legitimate." The orc commander made a curt gesture and rattled out a series of instructions in the Gesamemeinsprache. The uniformed orcs began to spread out across the deck. Captain Gerralt could see that the crew did not like it. Being boarded by orcs, even orcs in the uniform of a Commonwealth force, did not sit well with them. The Dawnishman wondered if it was a studied insult. It seemed unlikely. This was Leerdam, after all, not Kavor or Nemoria. "My earl will be very unhappy if your warriors break anything." "My soldiers." the orc stressed the word. "My soldiers will be thorough and careful. If anything should be damaged during our inspection you will of course be reimbursed - assuming that is that no contraband is found of course." The orc paused for a moment, leaving a space for Gerralt to speak. When the yeoman did not immediately interject, the commander continued. "Now can I ask what you are carrying in your hold today?" "Wood," said Gerralt carefully. "Hardwood from the forests of Weirwater. Also wine and brandy. Fine quality merchandise as well, from the vineyards of Astolat. We also have some pots of True Vervain - healing salves, yes?" Gerralt mimed smearing something on his face. He was rattled, and on the verge of babbling. The orc commander did not quite roll his eyes but it was clear he knew what True Vervain was for. "That is good. Now I must ask you this. Are all members of your crew free citizens of your Empire? If any are not you must tell me now. If you do not admit it now, and it is later found that you are using slaves, then you will be charged with a serious crime and your vessel will be confiscated." The Dawnishman was beginning to get angry, but strove to control his temper. "No of course we have no slaves aboard! We're Imperial, by the Paragons! This is an outrage!" "Nevertheless, I will need to speak to each member of your crew before they disembark. Die Stahlhalle is concerned that some Imperial ships may be relying on the labor of people who are not free. Such a thing is not acceptable in the Commonwealth. I will also need to review a copy of your cargo manifest and match it against the contents of your hold. Again, if it is found out later that you have attempted to deceive me you will be taken into custody and face at a fine and expulsion from Commonwealth waters." Gerralt sputtered. "You have no reason to -" he began but the orc commander cut him off. "Please do not waste your breath on outrage, Captain. Your Empire's commitment to the dignity of sapient beings appears to be waning. Your primary trading partners are the Asaveans and the Jarmish. Even without the denunciations of the Sumaah, it is clear to us that your ethics are flexible. You will not set one foot on Commonwealth soil until I am certain that you are not someone who prospers from unjustly denying the liberty of other people. If you have nothing to hide, you will have nothing to fear. Although I must warn you that since your last visit Die Stahlhalle has placed additional restrictions on what goods may be freely traded with Imperial captains." The yeoman looked around, one hand on his money pouch, and opened his mouth to suggest that perhaps they could discuss it further somewhere quieter. The orc soldier narrowed his eyes and interrupted. "While we are talking, I wish to mention that attempting to bribe an officer of the Common Law is also a significant crime which may result in the confiscation of all goods and potentially up to five years in prison. Was there something you wished to say, friend Captain?" Gerralt shut his mouth again, and shook his head. "That is excellent news. Now, may I see the papers that prove that you are the legitimate captain of this vessel, and record your port of origin?" -------------------------- Trade and politics; diplomacy and economics. The world canvas is covered in broad strokes, but some of the details jump out. You can learn about international diplomacy here-> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_fundamental_struggle_(Trade_Winds) Of particular interest to ship captains and senators, it is here you can leanr about the anger of the Republic; the eccentric subtletly of the Principalities; the suspicion of the Commonwealth; the langour of the Delves; and the warmth of the Archipelago. There are even some hints of larger things - new opportunities that might be exploited if approached cautiously, tools that might be used to improve the status of the Empire in the Grand Game, and so on. There should be between three and five more winds of fortune to go up tonight; I'll let you know when we are done. It might be late but we are dangerously close to the event for making major revelations. ----- The port is the port of Seville in the 1500s By Alonso Sánchez Coello - [2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1713560 #youknowitsagooddaywhenyouhavealegitquotefromamaniac, #thisistantamounttobullyingyouknow, #thereisnosituationsogoodiplomacycannotscrewitup SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-21T23:35:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969381593157821 +++SEVEN LORDS OF VIRTUE+++ The portly Asavean priest glided across the marble flagstones of the courtyard toward Tomas. Olybrius Pancratius, High Priest of the Outer Temple of Baddu, Initiate of the Three-fold Angle, Acolyte of the Weltsilver Chisel. The Asaveans did love their titles. He wore a long, formal tunic under a polished mithril pectoral inlaid with tiny pieces of white granite that matched the statues flanking the portico. The little man beamed ear-to-ear, and enthusiastically welcomed the (slightly embarased) civil servant. "I am very pleased you have come, Tomas." he said in thickly accented Imperial. "Very pleased. Are you ready for the grand tour?" Tomas disentangled himself with a little difficulty. "Yes, I thought I would take you up on your offer to have a look at this temple of yours. You made it sound like a wonder of the ages. I have to admit, you were not exaggerating as much as I had thought." Olybrius beamed even wider. "Thank you, thank you. It is exceptionally beautiful as you can see - but then it would never do for us to honour the God of Builders with anything less than the finest, most splendid building mortal hands might construct!" Tomas winced inwardly. Despite nearly two years in Nemoria, he still found talk of gods and their temples discordant. Olybrius gestured for the civil servant to accompany him, and lead the way through the stone statue garden that surrounded the temple. It was indeed impressive - great white columns soared at least forty feet, supporting a great fresco showing the Asavean god engaged in various activities, primarily to do with construction and building. The craftsmanship was exquisite, Tomas could tell. Every angle perfect, every straight line immaculate. From his reading, he knew that the proportions of every element of the temple were carefully calculated to some esoteric geometry handed down by the priests of the god - the false god, he reminded himself. They skirted a deep rectangular pool that occupied much of the central courtyard, where delicately calculated gets of water launched themselves into the air in a mathematically significant fashion. The great stone doors that lead into the temple halls stood closed, which surprised the merrow civil servant a little. He expected Olybrius to lead him to a side entrance, but the priest quickened his pace slightly, and came to a halt at the bottom of the steps that swept up toward the portal. There was already a small crowd there. The priest placed one hand on Tomas' elbow to stop him, and the pair waited. "It is beautiful," whispered Tomas. "Imposing. Impressive." Olybrius smiled indulgently. "For the fane of a heathen god, you mean? What would your dour priests say!" Tomas was used to being teased by now. It never ceased to amaze him how lightly even a powerful and influential priest like Olybrius seemed to take his professed faith. Since their first meeting in the hot steam room of one of the bath houses near the embassy, the rotund little priest had regaled his Imperial guest with tales of political maneuvering and scandal rather than with parables or homilies about Baddu, God of Architects. "I can appreciate the beauty, the art, without worrying about the state of my soul, you know. I'm surprised you haven't making more of an effort to convert me." said Tomas, only half joking. Olybrius attempted to give his guest a frosty look as he pretended to be affronted. "I would not dream of such a thing! A woman or a man's faith is sacrosanct! Our temples exist to give aid and succor only to those who seek it out - we do not go looking for followers like a beggar seeking alms! The most sincere petitioner is the one who comes of their own accord. Or because they want something, as my father would often say. All we priests can do is demonstrate the many ways in which Baddu can help those who are truly deserving." "According to the texts I have read, your Lords of Virtue are very ethereal - they provide aid for your soul as it departs this life. For us the gods are beings of this world - so the rewards for devotion come in this life. This temple was built to the glory of Baddu - and to show those who are curious what rewards might befall those who pledge their life to Him. We priests are here to demonstrate the wonders of Baddu - not hawk his secrets on the street corner!" The priest shuddered, and then seemed to regain his composure. The smile returned, serene but with a conspiratorial look to it now. He leaned closer and whispered "Would you like a demonstration of the wonder of Baddu?" "A demonstration?" Tomas asked, obviously intrigued, despite his concerns. Olybrius did not answer. Instead he gestured for Tomas to stay where he was, and stepped through the crowd to mount the shallow steps. He turned to face the assembly, who fell silent. He had positioned himself in such a way that the peaked roof of the temple behind him was directly above his head - as was the noonday sun. A beam of light illuminated Olybrius - probably directed by concealed mirrors Tomas thought. The priest raised both his arms and in his native tongue spoke what Tomas took to be a blessing. Several times, the crowd around Tomas murmured a few words - a catechism of some sort, he thought. Then, after only a few minutes, the sermon was clearly over. Olybrius lowered his arms and turned to face the portal behind him. He raised one hand, his fingers spread, and shouted a single word at the top of his lungs: "Aberto!" Nothing happened for a moment and then suddenly the pools behind Tomas exploded - seven jets of water burst upward, spraying the crowd with a fine mist that smelled strongly of jasmine. At the same time, a great gong sounded somewhere within the temple and the massive portals - each one apparently made from a single immense slab of white granite, weighing more than Tomas could imagine - began to swing smoothly open of their own accord. The crowd began to stream up the steps. Olybrius beckoned for Tomas to follow him. The priest was rosy-cheeked, sweating a little. "Was that magic?" asked Tomas in an undertone, curious. Olybrius shook his head, amused. "No, not at all." "Slaves then? Pulling the doors open on your signal?" Olybrius looked even more amused. "No. Why go to all that trouble just to have slaves do it?" "How then? Those doors look as if they weigh a tonne!" "Quite a few tonnes, actually," the priest said, a little primly. They had reached the top of the stairs and Tomas was again stricken by just how massive this structure was, and how cunningly the proportions worked to create a feeling of awe in the approaching supplicant. "Would you believe me if I told you it was the power of the god of builders?" "I ... well ... " Tomas floundered slightly. He did not wish to risk his new found friendship, but he was uncomfortable lying about something so important. "No. No, I'm afraid I can't believe that." He said at last. Olybrius' expression became beatific. For the first time since they had met, there was no suggestion of slightly sardonic good humour, or world-weary cynicism, about the priest. His eyes shone with something else, something entirely different. "Nevertheless ..." he said in a quiet voice, his expression serious for a change. "That is exactly what it was." And then he turned and lead the way into the immense columned hall of the temple of Baddu. ------------------- The Asaveans are offering the Empire an opportunity to build a temple dedicated to the Seven Lords of Virtue (or whatever ethereal principles it is the Imperial worship - the Plenum seems a little vague on the details). All they want in return is permission to build a temple of their own on the Bay of Catazaar. They're approaching the Senate ... but the newly established civillian commissioners (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Create_titles_of_Civilian_Commissioners) might also decide to get involved. You can learn about the opportunity, and about the two potential temples and how they would work, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Seven_lords_of_virtue Missionary work, wealth, hearts-and-minds ... what's not to like? (This one might get a mild edit in the morning to see if I can make how it works a bit more explicit) ----------------------- #praisetheblackbull, #areyoupayingtoomuchforyourfleetinsurance?,#itsnotalloctopussesyouknow SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-21T22:42:25+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969357186493595 +++A THRONE OF BLOOD+++ The soldiers came out of the snow to the barricade. Clad in long chain hauberks, their round shields slung from their backs. They flew the banner of Dogri Thulebane, he reminded himself. These were dangerous people, they had made it very plain that they would do what they felt was right whatever the cost. "Got mail for yah here mate." The Navarri shouted jabbing a thumb at the oxen train behind him loaded with supplies and letters. Surrounding it were more Wintermark families, solders’ and traders. "And some hangers on" The Crowskeeper at the front smiled, her face was covered in scars and her eyes had a twinkle to them that was either playful or a threat of violence. "Got a message for you too boy, take it back to the Empire for us eh?" she laughed patting him on the cheek. "That’s the job" the Navarri nodded as he rubbed his cheek. The other Crowskeepers allowed the caravan to pass. "Tell ‘em Dogri will talk. Crowskeep, Crowsridge, Skarsind. You come to us - we're not coming south. Piss on Anvil." The Navarri started to scribble frantically, his fingers fighting stiffness in the cold. "Tell ‘em, Kali of the Saker and as many Skarsind, or those that was, as can travel with Kali. No Kali? No meeting. Look at me boy." The soldier snapped. "It had better be Skarsind folk only - and that frayed prick of an ex senator isn’t invited. Break these rules and the meeting finishes. There is no negotiation, no misunderstanding. That is how it is and how it will be." The Navarri nodded, as she continued "These are the terms, if you break them Dogri walks out and we are done. That means we defend our own borders from here on - from anyone who tires to cross them." Then she turned and followed the baggage train into the snow singing an old Skarsind battle song cheerfully to herself. He shook his head, put the note in his pocket and pulled his mittens on. It was a long walk back. ------------ Thane Dogri Thulesbane continues to occupy Crow's Ridge in Skarsind. Attempts to resolve the situation by the Wintermark assembly during the WInter Solstice have largely failed - but now the Thane is reaching out to his cousins in Wintermark and offering an opportunity to meet with him to discuss the future. You can learn about this opportunity here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_throne_of_blood (and review the details of his grievances with this wind of fortune from last event -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Falcon_in_winter) ----------- You can probably guess where I stole the picture from ... the salty words is by John. #therewasatimewhenIsearchedforsteel, #contemplatethisonthetreeofwoe!, #andifyoudontlistenthentoHELLwithyou SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-21T10:41:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/969012973194683 +++TREE OF ICE (CONJUNCTION)+++ Jacova stood beneath spreading boughs of translucent ice, and turned her face toward the east. As dawn broke across the trees below her, she began to move in a slow circle around the prone Pietro. As she moved, she touched him on the forehead; on his lips; on each shoulder; on either side of his chest; on his navel; on each shin. As the sun peeked above the horizon for the first time, she began to sing a quiet bubbling song weaving nine words of power over and over in time with her flowing gestures. Iosca leaned close to Yani, and whispered reassuringly: "Jacova is evoking the power of the Tree of Ice," she told the boy's father. "It will purge the last of the sickness from your son. You must not become afraid at what you see - the venom must flow out of his body. It may look as if she is hurting him, but she is not." Yani nodded jerkily, his face pale, his eyes red from crying. "Is she powerful enough to do this by herself?" he asked, haltingly, not wanting to appear ungrateful, but concerned nonetheless. "Yes, you need not worry. She is a master of this magic, she has performed it many times. The Tree of Ice will melt and flow through little Pietro, and where it has passed there will be no more poison. Trust us. In this place, at this time, before the Tree, there is nothing so corrupt that Jacova cannot purify it." The magician's song had become louder as the onlookers whispered among themselves, her gestures wider, swifter, and more joyous. The sun was nearly above the horizon when her bubbling, liquid song was rudely interrupted. A shudder ran through the Tree of Ice, and then cracks began to appear revealing the mithril framework beneath. Before either magician or father could move, great chunks of ice began to slough off the Tree, like calving glaciers. Jacova desperately tried to maintain focus on her ritual, but was knocked to the ground when one of the boughs snapped off completely, striking her face. She disappeared from sight behind the bier. Iosca ran to her aid, arm raised to protect her own face from flying shards of ice. She stifled a whimper when she saw that Jacova was not moving, blood pumping from a ruined face and madly twisted shoulder. Whispering a line from the Rhyme of the Bear to steady her nerves, she swiftly began a healing invocation. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Yani covering his son's prone body with his own, shielding him. Immediately she knew something was wrong. Her stomach twisted in her belly, and a freezing chill ran through her. There was an unspeakable taste in her mouth something ... impossible to put into words how ... like bile and salt and rotten milk. She clamped her teeth tight and rasped the last few words of the spell, sending healing energies through Jacova. She was able to prevent her gorge rising for long enough to see the bleeding slow and the torn skin and flesh begin to knit before she was forced to turn aside and vomit her early breakfast onto the flagstones of the Izlechivaya Dvor. Pausing only to wipe her mouth, she called for Yani to come help her move the heavy length of ice and metal that pinned Jacova to the stone. She spared a glance for the broken tree, and for a moment in the early morning light it appeared to run with thick, rotten blood. She swore under her breath, but this was a problem for another time. For now, she had lives to save. ------------------- A major conjunction of the stars! Reflecting (or causing) a shift in the tides of magic! It's been a while since we've had one of those. You can learn about the conjunction here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Tree_of_ice_(conjunction) Unlike most previous conjunctions, this one has implications for spellcasters as well as ritual magicians - especially spellcasters who use heal, swift heal, purify, purge, and restore limb. But it has significant implications for Spring ritualists, and for a few Day ritualists as well. The opportunity to work certain rituals more easily ... for a price. I'll be interested to see who chooses to embrace the taint and who avoids it like the plague. Either way ... all you magicians get practicing your "I don't feel well" expressions, and all you apothecaries lay in some Epsom Salt and Tums ;) The picture is By Dajohnson6000 “David Johnson” (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons and was taken during a 2007 December Ice Storm: that inch of ice covering the tree is apparently quite real. #embracethetaint, #nicksaysitsoundsrude, #letshopeitstemporaryey? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-20T15:01:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/968582346571079 +++HANDFUL OF MAGIC+++ The Summer Magician made an arcane gesture with one hand and with a loud crack angry black storm clouds spiraled into existance. They hovered six inches above the surface of the panorama laid out on the table before him, and tiny bolts of lightning struck down into the soupy pale-coloured fog beneath them. "And what else?" he asked. "Another, similar storm rages on the coast of ..." his apprentice double-checked his notes. "Madruga? No! Feroz. It's one of the coastal ones in the ..." "I know where Feroz is," said the Golden Magician mildly. His apprentice fell silent, looking stricken, Meraud ignored him and made another gesture. Another tiny tempest snapped into existance on the other side of the Bay of Catazaar. He crouched down, bringing his head down to the level of the table, and watched the little maelstrom churn for several moments with a pleased smile. Then he stood up and grabbed a tall, thin glass of iced apple cordial from the tray that floated effortlessly in the air nearby. With another absent gesture he sent the unseen servant away to fetch another pitcher. "Now we have two of That Damn Woman's fortresses in Kahraman, I see. And one in Spiral. Were there any others?" "No, master. Not as far as we are aware. Not even one of the twisted mazes in the marshes." Meraud nodded several times, studying the panoramic view spread out before him. The table was nearly a dozen feet across, beautifully sculpted to mirror the territories, rivers, mountains, forests, and cities of the Empire. Yet rather than mundane stone or water, each feature was picked out in precious materials, some of them unknown in the mortal realm. Here and there, tiny phenomena were picked out in the form of clouds, diamond towers, tiny marching golden soldiers ... here and there entire sections of the map were covered with undulating black shadows, scattered with tiny moving stars. The air above the table was alive with magic. The Lord of Summer Stars absently trailed his fingers over the Bay of Catazaar, then made a face as they came away sticky with liquid quicksilver. "And we're sure this thing is still there?" he asked, not looking at his apprentice. The golden-skinned youth nodded quickly. "Yes master. Agamen went to make sure with his own eyes. The entire northern part of the bay is still mired in the stuff. The Empire appears to have little interest in removing it - its just possible that they made it themselves for some reason. It could be an attack on the Grendel, says Agamen." Meraud had stopped listening. He moved round the table to where silver and jet mountains towered over great jade forests, each tree carved with exquisite skill by tiny hands. "And this aura, it is certainly magic with the tang of Spring you say?" His hand hovered over the forests of central Varushka. Tiny green sparks danced and twirled around his delicate fingers. He took an absent sip of cordial. "Yes, master. As is ..." The apprentice looked back to his notes. "The curse on the Barrens, both storms, and the healing waters in western Freeland, and eastern Urizen." "The people call it the Brass Coast," chided Meraud. His apprentice looked confused. "But they are called the Freeborn, so I just assumed ..." "I understand it is a long story. You may want to go and read about it before you accidentally call it Freeland and outrage one of their hakima." Meraud straightened up. "Is that everything?" "As far as we know, yes master. Only ... Lytemna has not returned yet. She sent word that she would be delayed with the deCasillon - apparently they have some fascinating guests she wants to get to know better. Should I have word sent to her to ..." Meraud laughed, a sudden bark of amusement. "By no means! If Lytemna fancies a dalliance with the Navarr, then it would be rude to interrupt her. That will be all, Cassa." The apprentice tucked his scroll under his arm, and inclined his head while clasping his hands together, and withdrew. Meraud barely noticed. He continued to prowl around the table, peering at some drama only he could see. He finished his apple cordial, and placed the empty glass on the tray that had slipped up to his elbow in anticipation of his needs. From somewhere among his robes, he withdrew a golden-skinned apple. He polished it on his sleeve for a moment, inspected it, and took a bite. As he ate, a broad smile spread across his face, causing his eyes to dance, and he began to chuckle. "Well, that is an interesting development," he said to nobody in particular. ===================== A probably-not-as-exhaustive-as-I'd-like round up of magical weirdness across the Empire including (but not limited to) storms and magical life-giving waters in the Brass Coast and Urizen; strange births in the Marches and Varushka; fog on the brine; warped skies; and a crumbling castle. You can learn more about these phenomena here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Handful_of_magic #allthisSpringmagicisgoodforyouright?, #theresalsoaloadofwarmagic, #MeraudhasabiggerbudgetthanSadoguadammit SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-20T13:59:43+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/968555046573809 ++DARK SKIES++ "What is going on here?" Papiria demanded, furious. The representative of the Imperial School of Medicine bobbed in her wake, a disapproving frown creasing his features. The patient continued to writhe on the floor, despite the best efforts of the two sentinels attempting to restrain her. Cella of Imperus had been slight even before her sojourn at the Spire of Twisting Shadows, yet the two muscular orderlies struggled to keep hold of her. She arched her back, spit, tried to sink her teeth into the hand of the woman desperately trying to keep her from tearing her own eyes out. Cella's face was a mask of blood - Papiria could not tell if the damage to her cheek indicated she had succeeded in destroying the left one. "I don't know, ma'am," Healer Escius wrung his hands, hovering on the other side of the struggle, pale and obviously beside himself with worry. Splashed dropelts of fresh, crimson blood cut across the front of his pastel yellow robe. "Please," he implored the orderlies. "Be careful. She is very weak." Belying his words, Cella of Imperus managed to tear free from one of the two sentinels, and ranked her fingernails across the face of the man holding her right arm. To his credit, he kept his grip, turning his face away from her to protect his eyes. Fresh bark began to knit across the gouges in his cheek as a third warden dashed past Papiria and grabbed Cella's flailing legs. With the three orderlies working together they finally managed to restrain Cella. Healer Escius immedately knelt beside her, laying his hand on her damaged face and speaking healing words with a confidence that did not match his wretched expression. As naga woman ushered her guest back down the corridor, she could hear Escius attempting to soothe his patient. "I'm very sorry," said Papiria turning back to the visitor from Anvil. "But you must understand that some of our patients have been badly damaged by their experiences, and the risk of violence is unfortunately not one we are unfamiliar with." The chirurgeon nodded, but his gaze lingered on the confused jumble of bodies behind them. The Anvil Hospital and Imperial School of Magic was grateful to the Spire of Twisting Shadows for the regular donation of herbs that Speaker Origen had helped arrange ... but it was clear he did not approve of the treatment of their patients. ------------ Three celestial phenomena outlined that are of special interest to magicians and to people who live in Holberg and Skarsind. You can learn about them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Dark_skies One that is worth calling out is this bit which may be relevant to anyone wishing to create an arcane projection at the next event: The creation of an arcane projection has become a little more difficult. This does not change the mechanical details of how an arcane projection is prepared or used, but anyone who creates one during the Spring Equniox experiences a roleplaying effect: they are tired and drained, as if they have spent several hours performing strenuous physical and mental exercise. This condition persists for at least an hour unless removed in some fashion (such as by the boundless energy of the briar lineage). The exception to this is the people of Witnermark who can create arcane projections without additional effort. There's also something about naga but I am not going to tell you what it is. Why are you asking so many questions? #TheHiveiscoming, #hasanyoneseenourgiantfireycelestialbird, #thegrandunveilingisthehottesteventoftheseason SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-19T16:55:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/968061009956546 +++UP ON WHITTLE HILL+++ On the craggy hill, William Watcher sits, eating his luncheon, staring out across the empty valley. (And thirty years ago, his grandmother Joyce Watcher sits in the same place, eating her own lunch. On that day, the valley comes alive with brutal shapes, savage orc warriors, who fill the air with guttural voices raised in rough song as they march. Joyce runs down the hill, lunch forgotten, shouting a hue-and-cry, raising the pikes to the defence of the Whittle Hill.) William Watcher stares across the empty valley. It is never empty, or shouldn’t be. You can always see some Jotun patrol or other, marching this way or that. But they haven't been seen for a few days, called away perhaps and not yet returned. He eats his lunch in silence, lost in his own thoughts. His brow furrows - he sees something that confuses him. Two patrols, but the orcs look strange. They march under the flag of a boar’s head. They move closer, about a mile away now as the crow flies, and he realises that they aren’t orcs at all. Are they ... humans? Not all of them: some of them have horns, antlers, mottled skin, scales - like what Joyce had always told him the Lineaged looked like, back when you used to get them round the Whittle way. How could they be here? What were they going to do? Young Watcher has always heard tales, of what'd happen when the Empire came back for the Whittle. But his generation has always treated them as jokes, you know, just jokes. No-one really believes it’ll happen… and now it has. William doesn’t quite understand, and he looks down upon the people he doesn’t know, strange folk, strange faces, and his gut fills up with a powerful force of apprehension. What’ll happen now? He knows he has to tell the steward, and the friar. They'll know what to do: they always do. He runs down the hill, his lunch forgotten, shouting a hue-and-cry, calling the pikes to the defence of the Whittle Hill. ----------------- The village of Whittle, in Freemoor, reaches out to the Empire. Still living on the edge of Jotun-controlled territory, the folk of Whittle have been separated from their cousins in the Marches for three decades. Cautious, suspicious as only Marcher-folk can be, they seek an opportunity to connect with their nation, and with the Empire that for them exists only in the stories of their grandparents. You can read a little more about these people and what they want from - and may have to offer - the Empire here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Up_on_Whittle_Hill The picture is the wooded valley below Banhadlog Hall in Powys because I couldn't get a good resolution picture of any of the villages from Robin of Sherwood. Text is from new plot-writer Wren Robson . #theliberationcontinues!, #youbaintfromaroundherebaintyouson?, #nothingisforgotten SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-18T19:14:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/967518456677468 +++BLOSSOMS A ROSE IN THE DEEPS OF MY HEART+++ Startled, the woodsman looked up at the creature in front of him, his hand going to his axe. Then he relaxed slightly. Not a creature. A person. One with strong naga lineage. Why did he think creature? ‘Hello there.’ he said. The naga cocked its head. It moved closer. Naga said his eyes. Creature said his brain. It was dressed in the manner of a Freeborn, in deep scarlet and ... black? Not Freeborn then. It had a shock of bright red hair, and the scales on its face and neck glittered in the forest gloom like rubies. It reminded him incongruously of a fanciful image of an exotic beast of distant lands - a flame salamander they called it. As it closed with him, he realised it was much taller than he had at first thought. It seemed to thrum with nevous energy. ‘Hello?’ he was less certain. There had been some idle conversation about the forest recently, about it being darker. A few reports of strange fires starting from nowhere and burning out just as quickly. "You smell of fear but also are curious and bravery and just a little excitement" said the naga in a sing song voice as it came still closer. ‘Look….’ he replied, backing away. The naga cut him off. "I like you! You are funny! I will keep you!" Its voice was deep, almost purring, and its eyes narrowed until they were litttle more than slits. The woodsman found he could not look away, could not move. The "naga" reached out long nimble fingers to trace the curve of his jaw. ‘Enough,’ came another voice. Whatever spell the naga was weaving broke. A figure emerged from the shadows beneath the trees from the same direction the naga had approached. Clearly a warrior, it wore breastplate, greaves, and gauntlets of blackened steel, and its eyes burned like living embers. Flames danced and wove across its body where its skin was visible between the plates. Over one shoulder the woodsman could see the haft of a great two-handed sword. As it emerged from the shadows, its appearance shifted and changed. Its features resolved into those of a striking woman, dressed in long black and red robes. It addressed the naga with a firm voice full of conviction. "Freedom, the Shadowed Flame does not constrain, but this is neither the time nor the place." The creature that was in truth nothing like a naga shrugged its shoulders langourously, stretched like a cat, and pointedly turned its back on the woodcutter. Feigning disinterest, it began to gather spring flowers. The newcomer considered the woodcutter carefully. "I am the first of the knights of Janon." it said. "The fire that dances in the dark desires that the night magicians, the artists, and the priests of the Empire come to it here beneath the trees to attend court with it and its brother the prince of toads. The Muse of Fire will open the way, and pledges safety for any who come with honest intention and open hearts. Do you understand? Will you take this message?" The woodcutter stammered something and backed up. Another armoured figure stepped from the forest, and a little more of the late evening light drained away as it came. Then another. And another. Through the branches of the trees, the woodcutter could see stars. He could hear music. He turned and fled as the darkness gathered around him. "Pretty" hissed the creature that was not a naga, as the posey of snowdrops she had collected withered and turned to ashes in her hands. ------------------------ The eternal Janon appears to be throwing a party in Astolat. Unlike a normal audience with an eternal, the Shadowed Flame appears to be throwing open the doors of a regio near Laroc and inviting anyone who wishes to visit. Assuming the Sentinel Gate opens in the vicinity on Sunday night, that is. You can learn more about this opportunity here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Blossoms_a_rose_in_the_deeps_of_my_heart There's also a rumour the "PRince of Toads" will be there too. Hurrah. #bringyourownfirejugglers, #thisistheopportunityforcaketastingyouhavebeenwaitingfor, #dearjiminyIhopeitdoesntrain SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-18T16:22:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/967426323353348 +++THE COURAGEOUS PRIEST+++ "You seem troubled sister, why so? The liberation of Reikos is nearly complete, the Druj are scattered and defeated... Share your burdens with me, Mariamne?" The Unconquered sighed heavily and shifted the weight of her armour across her shoulders. She glanced back and smiled wanly at Boethus before returning her gaze to the horizon. "It's probably nothing" she demurred, but her grim face told a different story. "Good - it would not do to share a weighty matter while we eat - it might spoil our repast!". The wayfarer carefully spread a blanket over the crude table and begin to unpack a simple meal of bread, cheese, cold meats and wine. He decanted a little water into a hand bowl and generously offered it to the soldier first. He waited until she had washed before continuing to press his old friend. "Now, what has your daughter done to trouble you this time?" he smiled to lighten the tone, but his tone was as sincere as his guess. "It might not be about Sal!" Mariamne laughed despite herself. Boethus' ability to read her mood always made her smile. "Mariamne, if you were a hundred miles over the border with no food and no way back... you'd be worrying about your daughter." "I'm no different from any other mother" she protested. Despite her refusal to be drawn, Mariamne could feel she was losing the battle. Boethus always knew what to say to get her to relax and once her guard was down he would wrestle her concerns from her. Her priest said nothing... just smiled that infuriating smile that indicated that he was not going to give up until she opened up. She sighed again, and then accepted the inevitable. "She's... she's... got herself caught up in the First Empress heresy. I always hoped you'd help her find Wisdom, but all she's ever wanted to do was become an unconquered and now she's got this crazy idea in her head that Courage is the only virtue worth having. We.... we argued... but she's passed her tests now and I can't stop her." "What caused the argument?" "She's been going to listen to Yael - that priestess who claims she is the First Empress reborn? I tried to point out that it's just possible that she might not have told the truth about what happened in her vision... and that's when Sal exploded. She said if we'd all been more Courageous, Reikos would never haven fallen and Noah might still be alive. And... that's when I lost my temper." "Have you tried to reason with her since?" "Several times - I even took her to see that young priest - Nina of Cantiarch's Hold - you know... the priest in Reikos who isn't preaching anything crazy or heretical at the moment." "And?" "Pointless. She's articulate and knows her virtues, she's clearly got the backing of the Synod - but she isn't convincing anyone who isn't already convinced. The problem is the Synod - fundamentally if the Assembly of Courage are right, if the First Empress was an exemplar of Courage... then why should anyone follow a different virtue? Sure the other virtues are important - but this Golan isn't preaching that there is only one virtue - just that there is only one important virtue. It's not even clear it is heresy. Unless the Synod are prepared to gainsay the claim that the First Empress was devoted to Courage, then good priests like Nina are going to be helpless to stop this craze from spreading." "And now your daughter is caught up in it?" "Yes! Sal is talking of founding a new chapter - to follow the Empress reborn! She's 15! She passed her citizenship test a few years ago... and now she wants to found a chapter. It's ridiculous." "She never lacked for Courage." "It's a bit of bloody Wisdom she needs right now, frankly she can save her Courage for fighting the Druj." "I hear Golan has been summoned to Anvil - for Inquisition. If they resolve the heresy - would that help to heal the rift?" Mariamne snorted and shook her head. "I doubt it - it's been one mad idea after another ever since her father died. She just needs to grow up a little." "Would you like me to talk to her?" Mariamne finally relaxed "Would you? With Noah gone, she won't listen to me anymore. I wouldn't ask but..." "You didn't ask." Boethus cut her off - "I offered. Consider it done." ===================== When the Courage Assembly announced that the First Empress was an Exemplar of Courage, they set in motion a sequence of events that lead to the formation of a movement calling itself the *Courage of the First Empress* which has swept across Highguard and shows no signs of losing momentum. You can learn about the recent developments, and why the congregations of Priests who are part of the Courage Assembly are gaining converts at the expense of their fellow priests, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Courageous_Priest Also included in this wind of fortune are further details of the confusion created by the Imperial Synod at the WInter Solstice, along with notes about ways this situation could be exploited, and the painful actions that may be needed if Golan and his supporters are to be opposed. As well as how the support of the Synod could change the face of The Way forever. #idunnoboutyoubutiwould, #COURAGE!, #theempressrebornleadstheway (Oh and for some bonus content, why not take a look at some new material on previous exemplars and paragons including http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Marked, http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Gilda_Ashwine, and http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Kethry?) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-18T13:17:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/967349510027696 +++SNOW AND RAIN+++ "Do you want to build a snowman?" shouted Wyl enthusiastically. Maedoc shook his head. "It is too damn cold for snowmen!" he shouted back. Wyl laughed. "You should have bought some mittens! I told you you should have bought mittens!" He waved his own mittened hands for a moment, then squatted to begin rolling snow into a ball. Maedoc raised his eyes to the heavens. "He's your son," he grumbled to Baed. His wife patted him on the arm. "I seem to recall you were at least slightly involved," she said archly. They shared a private smile, and then walked on, linking arms. "Have you ever seen so much snow!" asked Baed, rhetorically. Maedoc puffed on his pipe for a moment, thoughtful. "Nothing like this, not even when the Thule sent their fimbulwinter down before the attack on Skarsind. I'm wearing two extra layers under this coat and I am still feeling the cold!" "That's not the cold, that's just you getting old," laughed Baed. Then she became serious, looking up toward the Northpines, towering above the forest to the north-west. "The winter is bad enough, but it is the Spring that I fear. All that snow that has fallen ... it is not going anywhere. It's going to come down the mountain one way or another." Maedoc nodded. "I hear that some of the Pridestalkers have been talking about creating an avalanche on purpose, with just that in mind. I think they are mad. It cannot possibly help but go horribly wrong. Still, you know Pridestalkers ..." Baed was only half-listening. She was staring off to the north. "You're thinking about the orcs?" "Aye. Their first winter in Skarsind is going to be a bad one. If it is this bad here, imagine what it will be like along the northern peaks." "Not much we can do here," said Maeddoc. Both Navarr wore Suaq snowshoes and had covered quite a distance despite the deep snow. They turned to look back along the trail to where Wyl had been joined by a handful of children and several youths his own age. They were already on to their second snowman. Laughter drifted on the still Winter air. They watched in silence for a few minutes. "No ..." agreed Baed, her face lost in thought. "No much we can do here but ... there might be something we can do if we go there, don't you think?" Maeddoc smiled broadly at his wife. "I'll speak to some of the others and see what we can bundle together. It's the least we can do. The Winterfolk have been our neighbours for generations and without the Imperial Orcs ..." His voice trailed off. Unconsciously he touched the stump of his left arm, his expression twisted by remembered pain. Baed touched his shoulder, concerned. Her husband shook himself, breaking the grip of the past, and grinned at Baed. "Without the Imperial Orcs our Wyl would be working in a mine for tablescraps instead of trying to impress young Tarhad with his snowballs. Come, I'll race you back to the camp!" He set off without waiting, sliding quickly cross the snow with expert ease, his grin widening as his wife's voice raised in faux-outrage as she berated him for his cheating ways. --------------------------- This one is chock-a-block of interest. You can read about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Snow_and_rain#A_Risk_of_Storms and it covers such topics as: * The lingering effects caused by the failure of the Marcher harvest * The dreadful winter that hits Skarsind * The potential dangers and opportunities caused by all that snow melting and pouring into the Vassa and the Scorrero in particular And yes, I am trying to use reverse psychology in the hope that by describing the weather as "dreadful" it will perversely decide to be "lovely" just to make me look foolish The photo is by David van der Mark - originally posted to Flickr as Quiet, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5184180 #wecannamehimBoborwecannamehimBeowulf!, #whatabouttheworkers?, #Ishouldprobablyhavepaidmoreattentiontogeographyatschool? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-17T21:13:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/966971843398796 +++OF TRIBUTE+++ The grim figure pulled itself out of the water. Peripherally it resembled a draughir, with long dripping hair obscuring its face. The figure was pale and somewhat bloated, its skin a patchword of livid scars, its only visible eye milky white with cataracts. On its back it wore a large leather satchel which bulged in ways that made the creature look even more deformed. Rather than stand, it pulled itself along the floor with muscular arms, dragging its limp and broken legs behind it as it approached the wooden throne in the centre of the chamber. A servant moved forward, offering to help it up. It scowled at the girl, baring its broken teeth at her. She backed quickly away. The creature heaved itself and its heavy load onto the wooden Throne, squirming around to face the other inhabitant of the ritual chamber. It's voice was hoarse, unmusical. It wheezed from time to time, as if labouring for each breath. “Greetings to Zamashka ... Prince of Votika. The Bound King ... sends to you his ... personal greetings. He thanks you for your ... generous tribute. In recognition of ... your gift ... he offers a hope that you may ... live long. He also offers you ... gifts ... in the surety that you will ... use them wisely.” The herald slid the satchel from its back and fumbled with the clasp. With thick, malformed fingers it withdrew a selection of items, offering each in turn to the the Magician Prince that stood before it. First a fine shield; then a crude cauldron; an orb of polished and engraved bone; and finally a glass vial of crimson liquid. The Prince inclined his head as each item was presented, and gestured to the servant who took each item gingerly and placed them on the low table to the left of Zamashka. They were treasures, indeed. He was pleased with his success - but especially anxious to take custody of his final prize. “Finally ... O Prince Zamashka ... Lord Sorin has granted you ... ten more years ... of life. You shall not die ... when your life would run out ... provided you ... avoid the spite ... of your ... enemies.” The creature made a ghastly rattling, coughing noise and its body convulsed and shook as it slid down off the chair onto the floor of the ritual chamber. Prince Zamashka realized with a combination of disgust and uneaase that the twisted creature was trying to laugh. ====================== During Winter, the eternals of the Wasteland convened a winter court to which they invited many peoples (you can learn about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_fine_and_private_place ) At the end of winter, the heralds of Tharim went forth again to announce who had won the favour of the rulers of that bleak bourne which mortals call the wasteland. You can learn who won what, and in whose name, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Of_tribute There's a few surprises in there, if you read carefully. ------------------------- This is the last one for tonight I'm afraid, I got waylaid halfway through sorting some more out. There'll be a few more tomorrow, I don't doubt, and more after that leading to the late booking deadling on the 20th. --------------------- #imsurenothinghasgonewrong, #bewaretheblackwind, #tharimtharimhesourman SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-17T16:14:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/966807620081885 +++ACROSS THE SEVEN SEAS+++ Varushkan and Navarr fleet owners who have been privateering and trading have encountered all sorts of challenges - and rewards. You can read about them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Across_the_seven_seas, along with a small opportunity to get a second chance at the Lure of Adventure ritual if they have the old scroll. ---------- First Winds of Fortune. They will go up as they get signed off, so I am not going to commit to a specific release schedule. As promised, I've tagged them with the nations and houses they might be of interest to. There's also a section at the bottom that rounds up ongoing events and mentions some of the resolutions from last event's opportunities. ------------------- The picture I have ruthlessly stolen from the internet, It is by the exceptionally talented Jeff Dee and comes from the back of a certain old school D&D adventure module. ---------------- #nobodysayAAAAAAR!, #summerdaysdriftingouttosea, #notopqualityRPGswereharmedinthecreationofthisWoF SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-16T15:47:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/966150383480942 We have updated the wiki with new information for the forthcoming event - the Spring Equinox. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spring_Equinox_2016) We are pleased to announce that we are in the process of laying out a temporary wood-chip road to run through the site for the rest of the season. This means that vehicles will now be able to drive through Anvil, provided they stay on the road. We have also been able to locate some additional parking close to the OOC camping fields for players who want to come and go during the event. Finally we have moved the crew camp, so that GOD, monster and other facilities will no longer be in the IC field. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Dadford_Road_Campsite We'll have a pair of 4x4s with large trailers to help move heavy equipment a long distance from the road before and after the event. The website is now open after the downtime - so if you want to move anything from your inventory or submit any arcane preparations before everything is booked out and put into packs for the event, you have until Friday to do so. We look foward to seeing your all at the event! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-11T09:12:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/963041783791802 +++ SALT AND GLASS +++ Shortly after the WInter Solstice work begins in Bocche on the College of the Liberated. There are rumours that the decision to build the college near Trivento, rather than in Sarvos proper, is due to some desire to help "revitalise" the fading town. Others suggest more cynically that it is an attempt to prevent too many incomprehensible orc slaves arriving in Sarvos. A little over six weeks ago, the first ships arrived on the shores of Sarvos bearing orcs. Unfortunately, they were not the orcs everyone was expecting ... Out of the blue, the Grendel launch a naval invasion of the island of Cigno. Their ships disgorge thousands of orc troops into the streets of the city. There is almost no warning - the ships are cloaked by the sinister fog that has covered the bay of Catazaar for the last six months, and they seem to have little difficulty avoiding - or sinking - any Imperial ships between them and their destination. They strike with absolute confidence, and it is clear that they seem to know that there are no significant forces in a position to prevent their conquest of the islands. Chaos ensues. The city of Sarvos itself falls to the overwhelming force of the barbarians within a little less than a week - although scattered resistance continues. The citizens fear the worst. Some try to flee to the mainland ... and the Grendel make little effort to prevent them from doing so. An anticipated wave of murder and destruction does not materialise. Indeed, those Grendel captains who come ashore seem almost cordial. Not so their savage troops, especially those fighting under the banner of the snarling dog. Having secured the city, they ruthlessly set about plundering the riches of Sarvos. The libraries of Diora University are not spared, nor are the treasures of the Capodomus cathedral, nor the businesses of the rebuilt Caricomare. Galleries are raided, museums looted, banks stripped of their valuables. Special care is taken to pillage the remains of the Alvetti estates, and the tomb of Empress Giselle. Observers (which includes a few magicians) are certain that the Grendel looters are under the effect of a potent spell, most likely a day magic enchantment, that allows them to effortlessly coordinate their merciless looting. No treasure, it seems, is safe from their avaricious gaze. Only the embassies are left alone. The Suranni barricade their gates but the Grendel make no effort to breach them. The Asaveans are much more sanguine. Their ambassador meets one of the Grendel captains in the formal gardens and makes it clear that any attack against the embassy will be considered an act of war. The ambassador and the orc discuss the matter politely over iced tea while outside the walls the orc warriors help themselves to the riches of the jewelled city. Anyone who tries to resist the Grendel is either executed and their bodies left where they fall, or clapped in irons and dragged away to languish in the hold of a slave ship. Those who do not try to get in the way of the orcs are largely left unmolested. The Grendel appear much more interested in securing as much of the wealth of Sarvos as possible, than in slaughtering its people or burning its buildings. With their control of the island of Cigno secured, some of the Grendel forces expand their interest to the isles of Uccelini. They avoid many of the fortified estates and go straight for the docks of Glass Point. There are pitched battles in the streets, but the smugglers and captains are no match for the disciplined Grendel forces. As the Spring Equinox draws clear, the sea-serpent banners of the Grendel snap and dance above the bejewelled spires of Sarvos. ----------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ------------------------------ The Grendel have attacked Sarvos, conquering the island of Cigno - where the jewelled city stands - and claiming it for their own. They have also made significant headway towards conquering Uccelini, although most of their attention there has been focused on controlling Glass Point. This unexpected attack has taken everyone by surprise; it is likely to have a profound impact not only on the League but on the entire Empire. Further information about the implications of the Grendel occupation will be revealed in Winds of Fortune. -------------------------------------- Just to clarify for the non-Leaguers: Cigno is the name of the island that Sarvos city proper is built on, in the territory that shares it's name. The Grendel control Cigno/Sarvos city - which includes the docks of Caricomare among other things. The orcs have also made inroads into the region of Uccelini which include capturing the town of Glass Point. The Grendel have used naval vessels to transport ground troops into the city, and supported the attack with those vessels. They are not going out of their way to kill people ... but they are doing a remarkable impression of people who intend to see how much of the League's valuables they can fit into the holds of their ships. We know people who live in Sarvos (or worry about Imperial budgets) are going to be excited and keen to know what this means for them, but we will absolutely be providing more information during Winds of Fortune, so please don't e-mail in asking for further details right now! This is the last Winds of War. Plenty of surprises, I hope you'll agree. The Roll of Honour should go up shortly, and as I said during the brief Intermission our plan is to roll into Winds of Fortune in the next few days and try and get as much as possible up before the late booking deadline on the 20th. The photo is by Stefan Thiesen (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons #surprise!, #arttendstobedelightfullyportable, #thatstatueofthesnakeheadedguywilllookgreatbymypool SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-10T23:39:05+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962828800479767 ++AAAACTUALLY+++ Actually, I'm not quite done. Oh, I'm done for tonight so you can toddle off to bed. Sadly, my editor has gone to bed himself so I'm not going to put any more stuff up until he gives me the go-ahead. That's probably all of the Winds of War though. Surely. So no need to fret your precious wee heads about *that*. Going forward, our rough plan is to start on Winds of Fortune fairly soon, and spread them out a bit. You'll be pleased to hear that we're hoping to do less than the ridiculous 28 we did last event ... although how *much* less I can't say. We're looking at what we can do to cut down the sheer wall of text that confronted people last event, but frankly they're just too useful a game-delivery-service for us to not want to use them to their fullest. So I'll see you in the morning; whether there will be a post to replace this dull little intermission card I cannot say for certain. We'll see soon enough. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-10T23:28:32+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962825607146753 +++THREE SWORDS+++ ------------------------------- THE WESTERN FOREST ------------------------------- Jotun forces secure Liathaven. They do not do so entirely without opposition. There are some reports of pitched battles in the north between orcs and what appear to be a force of pale, grim, human (?) legionaries who show no signs of Navarr allegiance. They do little to stop the orcs recovering the territory the Freeborn claimed before the Winter Solstice, and there is little reliable information about who they were or where they came from. There is some Navarr resistance in the south, but again how much and how effective is not clear. The entire territory is in the uncontested hands of the Jotun. No more Navarr refugees come south into Kharaman. A grim silence has fallen over Liathaven. Perhaps the Navarr and the Freeborn scouts deep in the lost forests of Liathaven know more; but if they do they are not telling. Not yet. --------------------------------- THE NORTHERN MARSHES --------------------------------- On the shores of the Westmere stands Westerhal, home to the small fleet of Kallavesi boats that keep the coast safe from Jotun raiders. Shortly after the Winter Solstice it becomes clear that Westerhal is not entirely up to the task. What works against a few raiders is no match for a significant force of Jotun .The decades-old call of the people of Westerhal for a fortification on the shores of the Gullet seems almost prescient in the face of the orc troops marching out of the west. They come cautiously, but implacably, spreading south and east from a beach head on the western coast. With them march several warbands of Jotun champions, proud and terrible, who seek out the bravest of the Winterfolk defenders to test their mettle. Each time they come to a hall, they offer the inhabitants the choice - to join the Jotun as warriors or to lay down their arms and become thralls. Few take their offer. Those who do not are honoured with a warrior's death, buried, and then the Jotun move on. In three months, the Jotun have conquered perhaps half of the West Marsh and show no signs of stopping. Westerhal is their target, but after that nothing will stand between them and Rundahl should they wish to strike at the heart of the Wintermark nation. --------------------------- THE SOUTHERN HILLS --------------------------- A massive force of Jotun strikes into Kharaman from the forests of Liathaven. Estimates vary, but it is believed that as many as thirty thousand orcs have poured out of the forests into the Cinnabar hills. They strike with great force, targeting first Serra Damata and then Serra Briante. They do not offer the Freeborn who stand between them and their prize the Choice, but neither do they slaughter those who flee before them. Those who try and stand against them are shown no mercy. Their treatment of those who try to fight is very different to their treatment of the Navarr - they are treated with a modicum of respect and buried, at least. In Serra Damata, the Jotun encounter the first of three fortresses. A great squat tower of smooth glacial ice and rough black iron appears amidst the hills above the Damatian Cliffs. Hulking inhuman soldiers garrison the walls, each appearing as an eight-foot-tall orc wrapped in thick fur. From head to foot they are marked with dull blue tattoos and spiral scars, and their eyes are the vibrant blue of a clear winter sky. Each is armed with a twelve-foot barbed spear of polished bone, and their voices rumble like a tide of snow in distant peaks. They are knights of Cathan Canae drawn along with the tower from her frozen realm by Imperial magic. They give the Jotun pause - but only for a moment. Then the barbarians smash the citadel to pieces, send its defeated guardians back to the Lady of the Frost, and claim the Damatian Cliffs and the hills and orichalcum mines of Serra Damata for themselves. The Jotun are not focused entirely on their attack. Some of the orcs from the northern Jotun kingdom are more interested in plundering the Freeborn mines and the white granite quarries of Damata. Others stay behind the establish a camp within the broken walls of the town of Damata, while the rest push forward into Serra Briante, aiming straight at the Great Mine. Here they encounter a second citadel, a monolithic fortress of ice and granite supported by troops from Fort Braydon, blocking their approach not only to the mithril mine but also to the town of Briante. The force of the mighty Jotun charge falters a little in the face of the glacial walls, and their attack eventually falls back to defensive positions above the valley. Without the two magical citadels, it is likely that both Serra Damata and Serra Briante would have fallen to the Jotun in a single stroke. In a tragic twist of fate, several of the settlements inhabited by Navarr displaced by the original Jotun invasion lie in the part of the valley claimed by the Jotun. The orcs treat these settlements as they have the steading and stridings of Liathaven. Without mercy. ---------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ---------------------------- The Jotun have uncontested control of Liathaven, and have made significant progress towards establishing supply lines into Kallavesa. Their southern force has claimed Serra Damata, the town of Damata, and the Damatian Cliffs. They have also plundered an undisclosed amount of the white granite that might otherwise have gone to Jeremiah of the Cenotaph (the Highborn seat holder). They have captured the frozen citadel raised in this territory, but luckily it will have returned whence it came by the time the Spring Equinox rolls round. The Jotun have also taken perhaps a fifth of Serra Briante. The photograph is of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sverd_i_fjell a monument in the Hafrsfjord neighborhood of Madla, a borough of the city of Stavanger in Rogaland county, Norway. #bishbashboshjobsagoodun, #youcangotobednow. #thatsprobablyallofthem SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-10T18:27:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962692950493352 ++UNDER A CRIMSON SKY++ Crusade! Say the word softly, and see the banners raised in the Dawnish mind's eye. With the Hounds of Glory and the Eastern Sky fighting in distant Urizen, and the Gryphon's Pride not yet ready to march, it falls to the Golden Sun to raise those banners over Dawnguard. Into the Barrens they march, the first Dawnish army in the Barrens in generations. Alongside them come the Towerjacks of Holberg, and the Varushkan Golden Axe. They strike their camp in the shadow of the Towers of the Dawn and prepare to defend the Dawnish territory. The crusade has had the desired effect, it seems. The armies are joined by some six thousand Dawnish troops lead by independent captains, and one band of Imperial Orcs. The auxilliary forces are split roughly half-and-half between directly supporting the Golden Sun and garrisoning the Towers of the Dawn. The armies are ordered to avoid engagements with the barbarian orcs as much as possible, merely attempting to slow their advance. There is some dissent from the Dawnish captains outraged by the inglorious defensive strategy, but the orders are clear. Give ground, do not engage except where necessary, let the enemy come to us. And come they do. The armies of the indigenous orcs attack with passionate zeal, throwing themselves into an all-out assault against the Towers of the Dawn and the Imperial defenders. Even though they are significantly outnumbered, they fight desperately; one last-ditch attempt to try and claim Dawnguard. They are still doing their best to avoid unnecessary casualties; in some ways the presence of the Imperial forces makes this easier. It is much easier to tell the civilians from the warriors when they are arrayed in a crusaders panoply. Just over a fortnight after the end of the Winter Solstice, just as the fighting is beginning to heat up, the unexpected occurs. A malign miasma falls over the Barrens. It comes without warning; one morning the twilight before sunrise is tinged with a deep, malevolent crimson. The rain that falls is oily, heavy, thick with the implication of sickness and dread. Corrpution creeps into the water. A thin film of foulness covers everything from breakfast wine to garden ponds to fountains to the bee-painted waterskins of the Varushkans. The rivers run with death, and uncleanliness. Blood flows sluggishly; injuries do not heal. No wound is suffered save that it festers, turns black. The soldiers of Holberg mutter with grim certainty. They have had a great deal of experience with these conditions, having fought for decades under the periodic taint of this particular curse. It strikes both sides; the knights of Dawn and the barbaric orcs feel its sting in equal measure. Yet it is the barbarians who suffer the lion's share of casualties. The Imperial tactic of withdrawing back to the defences in the face of orc aggression minimizes losses, at the same time as the twisted enchantment causes the deaths of so many who might otherwise have survived. The orcs fight on as best they can, but they make little progress against the Imperial defenders. As the year draws to a close, the noble estates of Dawnguard are littered with the corpses of dead orcs. As the Spring Equinox comes closer, rumours of fighting in the south begin to percolate through the ranks in Dawnguard. A force of Navarr have attacked the orcish supply trains, burning several villages belonging to the Great Forest orcs, slaughtering their inhabitants, then fading back into the woods. Speculation suggests this is the work of special forces attached to the Quiet Step. Whatever else it acheives, it almost certainly puts paid to any suggestion of an alliance between the Navarr and the Barrens orcs. The Imperial forces in Dawnguard have held off the orcish attack, but it was a close-run thing. The presence of the malign magic spread across the Barrens has resulted in significant casualties - to the orcs. The defensive orders of the Imperials mean that they have suffered perhaps a fifth as many casualties as the Barrens orcs, and a significant amount of the damage inflicted has been absorbed by the white granite and weirwood of the Towers of the Dawn - the fortification takes damage that might otherwise have killed over six hundred Imperial soldiers. ---------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ----------------------------- Nobody has gained any ground - the Barrens orcs still have control of a portion of Dawnguard. It is possibly worth pointing out at this time that one of the things that has saved Imperial lives has been the damage to the Towers of the Dawn - damage to fortifications tends to represent broken walls rather than dead soldiers - and the apparent reticence of the orcs to murder unarmed civillians. #gloryetc, #underabloodredskywastaken, #damnyoubono SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-10T11:00:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962813473814633 +++THIS FAR, NO FURTHER+++ This winter in the Marches is harsh. In the wake of the disastrous harvest, spare food is in short supply. Belts are tightened. Compromises made. Nearly forty-thousand Imperial soldiers fight in the Mournwold, supported by perhaps another five thousand troops lead by independent captains. They outnumber their barbaric opponents nearly two-to-one. The Jotun have a fortification at Southmoor - but the Marchers control a fortification of their own on the Greensward, and work has already begun on a second castle in Ore Hills. The Valiant Pegasus prepare to unleash hell against the Jotun fortification in the ruins of old Sarcombe, in Southmoor. They bring up catapults, siege towers, and ladders. The Seventh Wave is ready to support them, the Tusks and the Strong Reeds ready to exploit any weakness the engines reveal. The Fire in the South, fleeing Liathaven, join the rampaging Summer Storm and the more cautious Winter Sun in attacking Jotun positions across the Mournwold. At the same time their fellow Freeborn of the Red Wind Corsairs set about gathering as much wealth from the Jotun encampments as they can, being reasonably cautious not to steal too much from the human farmers and "land owners" who labour under the orc yoke ... although it is not always easy to tell who is an oppressed Imperial citizen and who is a treacherous collaborator with the barbarian forces. There are still more human warriors fighting alongside the Jotun than anyone on the Imperial side is comfortable admitting to. The Empire's strategy is straightforward. While the Highborn and the Marchers attack the castle at Sarcombe, the rest of their forces strike at the Jotun in Freemoor and Alderley. The outcome appears predetermined. Unfortunately, the Imperial strategy does not count on the rage of the Jotun. Orc reinfocements have marched uncontested through the forests of Liathaven to join the Jotun armies falling back before the Imperial advance. After their stinging defeat in Ore Hills, the barbarians rally under a banner surmounted by the masive skull of an elder mandowla. These new forces do not fall back. On the contrary, they draw a line, and then they hold it. For three months, the Empire throws everything it has in the Mourn at the Jotun armies. For three months, they take everything the Imperials have to offer, and hand it back to them. Lead by a mountainous orc wielding a two-handed warhammer the Empire batters itself against the Jotun defences and makes absolutely no headway. The barbarians fight without quarter. This is unsurprising, perhaps, given that the Winter Sun in particular take special pleasure in murdering any Jotun that fall in their hands, and the Summer Storm slaughter any enemy - orc or human - who gets in their way. And there is more than enough blood spilled for even the thirstiest Imperial Orc. The Jotun seem to burn with an absolute confidence that they cannot be defeated. Oh, their warriors fall in battle but those who do not fall soon return to the fray. As near as the scouts of the Seventh Wave can tell, the new Jotun forces include many thralls - human and orc alike - trained in the medicinal arts, and even some magician-healers. They do everything they can to help the Jotun hold against the Imperial advance. The Unconquered also deliver unsettling reports that the Jotun appear to have a surprising amount of intelligence of their own, at least as regards the composition, positioning, and strength of the Imperial forces. The Jotun armies are further supported by perhaps two thousand elite champions - warbands drawn it seems from across the western jarldoms. They take risks that even the bravest orc soldier might eschew, and time and again they seek out the heroic captains of the Empire, seemingly to test their mettle on the field of battle. Thousands of Jotun orcs fall. On some days, the Imperials must practically wade through orc bodies and blood. The moors are stained crimson with sanguine excess. Even the clarity with which the Valiant Pegasus and the Tusks plan their strategies cannot overcome the Jotun defence - perhaps because it is so straightforward. Nothing brilliant, nothing complex, is being attempted. The Jotun have simply decided that they will not move and their glorious stand against the Imperials meets no counter. The fields are scattered with the dead and the dying, and between them pick the chosen of the Black Dog. They are untouched by the warriors of either side, walking with the protection of the military council when they are among the Imperials, and under some protection of their own when they walk among the Jotun. Now and again they stop, and speak to one of the fallen. Sometimes, they raise up one of the dying and escort them from the battlefield. Only if someone tries to impede them in their strange duty do they fight, revealing a ruthless, supernatural skill. The Jotun make no attempt to bar their way, and after the first Imperial Orc tries to stand between one and the Jotun she has chosen, no Imperial gets in their way, either. Those who leave a battlefield with the black-clad, pale-skinned emissaries of the Queen of Silence are not seen again. As the Spring Equinox draws closer, the leaders of the Imperial forces must face the cold fact that they have achieved nothing in this cold, bitter winter ... nothing save a slaughter on an almost unprecedented scale. Nearly three thousand Imperial troops will never fight again. Yet the Jotun defence has cost them at least twice that many of their own forces. Was it worth it? Was it heroism, or insanity? It hardly matters. Those who fought under the mandowla banner have paid a heavy price, but by the end of the harsh winter, the Empire has gained not one square-foot more of Mournish soil than they had when the Winter started. ================== GAME INFORMATION ================== The glorious Jotun forces have held firm in the Mournwold. Both sides have taken significant casualties - but the Empire has not made any gains in the territory this season. The photo is from Tom Garnett, and is *actually* a picture of Jay Thompson on the Senate Roof. But what the heck. I needed a picture. #oncemoreuntothebreachdearfriends, #alinehasbeendrawn, #glory! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-09T19:12:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962161047213209 +++ THE RUINS OF GRAY CHARGE +++ Three armies march to Reikos via the mountains of Redoubt. The Granite Pillar, the Wolves of War, and the Quiet Step. Their journey through Urizen is not uneventful. The remnants of a Grendel guerilla force in the southern hills and mountains target Imperial forces, arranging ambushes and destroying bridges and roads in an effort to restrict travel through Redoubt. Yet their impact is blunted by the potent spring enchantment laid over Redoubt, which heals all save the most lethal of injuries. On reaching the Highborn territory, the Empire's armies focus their attention on clearing out the barbarian orcs who still inhabit the westernmost regions. There is some resistance, but it is scattered and disorganised. Without the influence of the Stone Toad, the orc warriors seem incapable of proper coordination. Still, clearing them out is not a straightforward task - they have had plenty of time to prepare their defences. The Quiet Step lead the way, launching an overwhelming assault against the scattered orc settlements built amid the ruins of the fallen chapter houses. The Granite Pillar are a little more cautious - at least compared to the Navarr. Accompanied by wagon raiders, the Wolves of War focus on plundering stolen Imperial wealth from the defeated orcs. The tactics of the League do not go unquestioned; there is little doubt that the wealth they are claiming from the scattered orc strongholds was stolen first from the people of Reikos. There are a few scattered reports of angry exchanges between champions of the Granite Pillar and the looters and wagon raiders supporting the Wolves of War. As in Spiral, there are supernatural agents in Reikos. Wherever the Imperial armies fight they are accompanied by quiet, dour-faced agents of the Queen of Silence. They lurk patiently around the outskirts of the battles, watching. Now and again there are reports of them approaching a fallen orc and speaking in quiet tones with them. The fallen orcs disappear shortly thereafter, taken by the emissaries of the winter realm for their own purposes. Over the course of the campaign, the Imperial forces clear most of the orcs from Gray Charge, and make significant headway in Tamarbode ... but they do not complete the liberation of Reikos. Parts of Tamarbode, especially the mysterious Sign of Tamar, are still in barbarian hands. It will take at least another season to completely remove the lingering barbarian presence. Partly the slow progress is a result of the ever-present aura of fear the Druj have left behind them. Partly it is a result of the more cautious tactics employed by the League and Highborn armies - had they followed the Navarr lead there is no doubt that the last of the orcs would have been driven out of Reikos. -------------------------- GAME INFORMATION -------------------------- Imperial forces have conquered Gray Charge and made some progress in taking Tamarbode. All three armies have suffered some casualties for passing through Redoubt, although they are reduced due to the presence of the Rivers of Life enchantment on Redoubt. ====================== Reikos is pretty straightforward, but the remnants of the Grendel forces in Redoubt cause a few problems for the armies moving up to Reikos. The picture is Holyrood Abbey near Edinburgh, Scotchland, taken by Kim Traynor - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18394583 #lootforthelootgods, #damnthatdrujmiasma, #theempirecannotlose! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-09T17:42:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/962117973884183 +++ FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS +++ It begins - as so much does - with storms. Vicious winter storms raised by magic that roll in off the Bay of Catazaar and lash the coast of Spiral. Great waves bound the coast of Apulus, and beat against the cliffs of Ateri. Thick, black clouds race across the horizon, and the frozen winds whip the hail and the sleet into stinging icy missiles. Yet for all their fury, the storms do not touch the thick preternatural fog that cloaks the bay. It undulates like a blanket as the waves rise and fall, but it does not break up. When a bolt of lightning strikes the water, the mist seems to catch fire burning with a crackling effulgence that races hither and yon before fading to nothing. The waters of Spiral are further infused with life-giving essence. The hail, the sleet, the rain, the salt-water and the fresh; Spring healing magic flows through them all. It ripples across the icy walls of the frozen citadel raised in the hills of Ateri, where a garrison of one-eyed giants watches both east and west for Grendel aggression. Only the most calamitous of wounds are fatal; rarely do any of the soldiers fighting over this mountainous land die save through malice. Both human and orc benefit from the benediction of the life-giving waters. Fighting past the adventurous Grendel forces in Redoubt, Dawnish forces come to join the campaign in Spiral. The Hounds of Glory charge north and east through Cinon and Ankra (avoiding Screed, and the black behemoth that lurks at it's heart). Alongside the Dawnish march a host of eternal soldiers in crimson-and-gold livery. Sharp ears, spreading antlers, flowing manes, mithril-and-gold chain, and deadly spears. The cyclopean warriors defending the icy citadel curl their lips as the elfin host passes. The knights of Eleonaris glare back at the warriors of Cathan Canaea, not bothering to conceal their anger. Imperial soldiers who fight alongside them can attest to their rage. The Imperial Conclave has declared their Queen to be an enemy of the Empire, after all. Bound by ancient oaths, they must fight when they are called forth. But they do not have to be happy about it. More than one of their human "comrades" is concerned about the legality of what they are doing; the knights of glory are inseparable from their mistress and the power of the ritual that calls them proscribed by law. It is likely the magistrates will investigate the situation that has lead to three thousand of Eleonaris' troops marching alongside those of Dawn. The knights of glory have ample opportunity to express their anger; the Hounds of Glory charge triumphantly down on the Grendel whenever the opportunity presents itself. The army unleashes its collective wrath against the orcs, seeking victory whatever the cost. The Eastern Sky strives to match their glorious example, engaging in their own overwhelming assault against the defences of Spiral's occupation force. The Citadel Guard, the sentinels and war-magicians of Urizen, follow close behind. Wrapped in a mantle of supernatural power, they fight almost recklessly taking caluclated risks to gain great rewards. They actively seek to be at the heart of the fray, and despite the danger in which they place themselves, their magic protects them. Wounds that might have been lethal even with the protection of the Spring enchantment turn out to be flesh wounds. Forces that might otherwise be overwhelmed by Grendel counter-attacks hold out until they can be relieved. The Citadel Guard fight valiantly, but inexplicably they suffer not a single fatality in three months. The Northern Eagle, and the Green Shield can barely keep up with the other three. The Grendel have taken up defensive positions throughout the territory, readying themselves for the hammer blow of Imperial forces, but again and again they are driven back. The Empire does not have everything its own way; the Grendel forces expertly coordinate their defences with supernatural clarity. While their forces are spread out and outnumbered, the orc troops possess an almost instinctive intuition for what their fellows are doing, and their armies move with cool precision to slow the Imperial advance. Some of the most brutal fighting of the campaign takes place in the valleys below Ossen's Spire in Ankra. At the gateway to Damakhan's Forge the Grendel have prepared makeshift defences and meet the Imperial forces in a pitched battle. At the height of the fighting, with the Citadel Guard in the vanguard, something unexpected happens. Whether some long-forgotten magic is disturbed, or whether it is some trick prepared by the Grendel is unclear, but a great wildfire sweeps across the battlefield consuming orc and human and elfin knight with equal hunger. Thanks to the healing magic in the waters the casualties are somewhat reduced, but nearly a thousand men, women, and orcs are slain or permanently maimed in the eldritch flames. The flames burn for a day and a night, and nothing dampens them. Only when they have run out of fuel do they flicker and die. The next day, the wind is full of choking ash and burnt cinders. The fire was hot enough to melt stone and even metal, powerful enough to buckle and warp even mithril armour and weapons. Ossen's Spire is consumed by the flames, and there is significant damage to Damakhan's Forge as well. The slopes of Cinion are swept clean of trees and even the dark purple heather is reduced to blackened ruin. Paragons preserve those who were caught in the woodlands when the river of flame poured down the mountainside. Only the Citadel Guard are untouched by the fire. It marks the end of the battle for Cinion - the Grendel forces flee east toward Ankra, and after a short respite the Imperials follow. First Cinion falls to the Empire, then Ankra, and the Empire makes significant headway towards recapturing the mithril mines at Ossuary. There are casualties, of course, despite the power of the healing waters. Perhaps two-and-a-half thousand men and women and orcs fall, all told. While their wounds too severe even for the potent healing magic to save them, not all those who fall die immediately. Indeed, some of them do not die at all. Stories from the battlefields and the field hospitals of Northern Spiral speak of pale figures who move among those whose injuries place them beyond help. Wrapped in black or white robes over blackened armour they speak in quiet tones to the dying. Sometimes they offer a swift and painless death. Sometimes, the fallen rise from their deathbeds and accompany the pale figures into the darkness, never to be seen again. The Military Council has given leave to the servants of the Dark-Between-The-Stars to walk their battlefields and choose among the fallen those who might find a place in their mistresses' Grim Legion. The healing Spring enchantment means there are not many for them to choose from ... but there are enough. Only among the Citadel Guard do these grim harbingers find no opportunity to claim the fallen for their cold-hearted queen. Where the Urizen sentinels march, the heralds turn to watch them, their faces bleak, empty, but above all patient. ----------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ----------------------------- The Empire has captured the regions of Cinon and Ankra, and made some progress into Ossuary. The sea-storms will cease shortly before the Spring Equinox, but they will mean that any fleet based in Spiral will have suffered a small penalty to its production or fighting strength. ======================= Oi oi! First Winds of War and it's quite a long one due to the various complex factors that are at play in Spiral, several of them supernatural. I'm expecting at least one more tonight - hopefully two - and then the rest of them tomorrow. Then straight into Winds of Fortune as we move towards the late booking deadline on the 20th. The photo is nicked from wikipiedia and is apparently the torching of trees in Roosevelt National Forest. By U.S. Department of Agriculture - Flickr: 20120620-FS-UNK- 0009, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20063129 #wherestheharpofgold, #discoinferno, #iwonderifwecanrebuildDakahansforge, #thesevalkyriearenotwhatIexpected SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-04T02:41:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/958879224208058 Just a quick reminder to all players to get your downtime submitted if you haven't already done so. We know a lot of players were away roleplaying over the weekend, so we've pushed the early booking deadline and the downtime submission back a few days to make sure everyone has a chance to access their account. The early booking deadline for the next event and the deadline for all downtime submissions is midnight tonight. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-05-02T11:01:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/957951417634172 Luca Da Ré has created one of his short video galleries for Empire 13 with a kicking sound track. Enjoy! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-04-23T18:20:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/953002901462357 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-04-23T06:41:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/952681098161204 ++WINDS OF FORTUNE : INTERLUDE++ Good morning! Just before midnight last night, the Boss put Downtime live. This means you can log in to your account and sort out your downtime options, upgrades, and what have you. The basic guidelines for downtime are here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Downtime. As with previous seasons, there are all sorts of effects applied to peoples' resources. I've created a short summary to give some context to those effects which you can find here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_fortune. This isn't a detailed summary - just enough information to explain to people what the effects they are seeing on their personal resource mean. We'll replace that content once the Spring Event Winds of Fortune are ready to go live - in each case we're likely to have a specific wind of fortune offering a more detailed explanation of what is going on with each of these incidents. As I understand it, we're leaving Downtime open for a little over a week and we'll be closing it just before the early booking deadline to give us enough time to process battles and the like. If you have any problems or queries, you can fire off an e-mail to empire.plot@profounddecisions.co,uk. ================= ETA: There's also an e-mail that will have gone to anyone who receives e-mail. One important section I think is worth repeating: We have been running events on the Easter bank holiday for a long time - in fact I have been involved with LRP events running on that weekend for the last eighteen years! It seems odd then, after such a long time, to admit defeat. The reality however is that our events have grown steadily larger - imposing an ever greater physical toll on the site all while we have been forced to make do with sites with less and less in the way of dedicated facilities. The net outcome is that the first Empire event of the year has become a byword for bad weather. Therefore I've taken the decision that as of next year we will no longer run an event on Easter. I shall miss the sense of continuity, I shall miss having an extra day to fill with plot, politics and battles - but LRP in March I will not miss. We are still considering all our options, but currently we are looking at running the first event of each year on the last weekend in April from 2017 onwards. This also means that we won't be able to run an event in late May - it will be too close to the first event. We are going to look for a date in June for the second event - after the student exam period is over at most universities. Ironically Easter is late next year - but frankly it is never late enough. It is important to appreciate that what causes many of our problems is not just the bad weather on the weekend itself, but the wet weather before it. There were major floods throughout the Midlands just weeks before this recent event - and that after one of the wettest winters for decades. Running later in the year gives the ground time to dry, and that will bring benefits on the day whatever the weather . I appreciate that some players will miss the Easter bank holiday event - but we promised players that we would do something about the bad weather. There will always be a risk, but this gives us the best chance of having better weather at the events next year. ===================== ... and I nearly forgot to credit Beth Dooner for the lovely night shot that makes the event look deceptively peaceful. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-04-03T11:39:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/941076042655043 If anyone is able to come to site today - event for a few hours - the help would be much appreciated. The sun is shining, it's a lovely day - but we've a lot of rubbish to gather up and throw in the skip, so every extra pair of hands is invaluable. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-04-02T14:36:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/940542919375022 Another Ian Horne special - the judgements of the Imperial Synod at Winter 379YE. Something to keep you going until the wiki is back from the field. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-31T15:31:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/938940069535307 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-31T13:20:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/938844862878161 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-29T22:21:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/937289219700392 There will be a delay of around one week in getting the website and wiki and everything up and running as we try and drag ourselves out of the mud and deal with everything. We're still on site at the moment, but ready to wind down, but we're going to be back on site this weekend to get the tents down and try and pack everything away. Once that's done we can get back to the office and get everything up and running. If anyone is free to join us and lend a hand Saturday or Sunday it would be hugely appreciated. While the weather and the site were marginally less awful than event one last year, the difference was pretty slight, so unfortunately there is still plenty to do. Any help is hugely appreciated. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-21T15:56:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/929338983828749 Last week one of our players - Judith Dawn Taylor - very kindly offered to do a site visit for us and walk the site. Her goal was very much to assess the site from the point of view of players with accessibility needs - to give players with mobility problems a better idea of what to expect from the new site. Below is here report pretty much verbatim (I've corrected the text references to the pictures) with the pictures in the folder here I hope. ---- As an attempt to be helpful to the other members of the Profound Decisions player base, who like myself struggle with mobility I made a suggestion to Matt that perhaps someone could walk round the new site with a camera and take pictures or a movie showing some of the strategic areas that would have an effect on people Unfortunately... there wasn’t anyone available to help.. Because well, there literally wasn’t anyone free to physically walk round and do it. So, as I live only an hour form site and with kind permission from Matt and Alison at PD I was given permission to go on to site and do a site walk with my camera – please note, I was granted permission before hand and site crew were informed of my arrival. Please do not go onto site without permission there is a lot of heavy machinery and equipment being moved around. For context, of people with various medical issues. I have hypermobility, arthritis in knee and spine and suffer from fatigue. I struggle on uneven and slippy surfaces and generally walk with a stick. Although I don’t personally use a wheelchair myself, members of my family do and we have been in other field festival situations – I am using this as my basis for my point of view. This is based solely off my personal point of view and is not necessarily the view of Profound Decisions. It is intended as an informative guide only. I am not a medical professional and cannot make comment on any specific medical condition. My visit was on a dry sunny day with a light breeze, Just for information, these are the “mules” (see picture) These are the designated “stuff” transportation vehicles for on site. Off the road area. Anvil field, part of the OC field etc.. I have experience of these in other places, they can be a little rough on the bones if you are sensitive to getting bumped about. But it does give you some idea of how delicate the topsoil layer is and how close the clay layer is to the surface. Dadford is a working sheep farm, the surfaces for the various fields are actually quite well kept, the farmer has harrowed and re seeded so the surface of the Anvil Field in particular is relatively flat and free of long snaggly grass. However I personally did find that because sheep had been on the field the surface is pockmarked with hoof prints close together which made it a little interesting for balance, at one point I did slightly roll my ankle. Even with the full ankle supporting army boots and walking stick. I think that after a few hundred feet and vehicles have been over it will flatten out a bit, for easier movement but it might be a two stick or real wooden staff situation until the ground settles. The road between the OOC quiet camp and the main Fields of play is not too bad, it is everything I expect from a farm track. It is well ballasted and firm and very flat in the camping area up until the main farm houses, once you get past these the road becomes your typical farm track (very similar to the main run up to the Anvil gate at Tournament Stud), it is deeply rutted in areas which may be a bit of a problem for carts or wheel chairs – I didn’t get a chance to measure the ruts but the underside of our car (a Citroen Passat) did scrape a little in areas. The actual distance from the OOC Quiet area to the main entry to the IC Anvil Field didn’t seem too far to walk. If you walk gently What might cause a struggle if you have mobility impairment is that the farm is on rolling hills, the track rolls down in to the edge of one field and then up onto the next. Which will tire you out if you have to go between the camps a number of times. The ground either side of the road is solid while dry, but isn’t ballasted like the road so is likely to become mushy and unstable if wet. Our car’s drive wheels did fact sink when we parked off the road. As I mentioned before the site is on rolling hills so isn’t Flat perse, but the surfaces of the fields are well kept have been harrowed flat (so no annoying ridges caused by ploughing) and so tents will be flat. (albeit at an angle in some cases, but, (apart from the track up to the site from the OOC Quiet area which could be a trek) all the gradients are slight and I think fairly manageable. The site looked fairly dry, there are the usual areas of water run off that you get with heavy clay based soils. I think the usual spots (i.e. the gates) will become muddy and hard to traverse when wet so I will be taking extra sticks and my sports knee supports and my wellies because I have found that they seem to grip better in wet mud than walking boots (much to my surprise). I walked around the site for an hour. It was slightly tiring, but no more than usual. I would contact PD if you struggle to carry stuff because the fields will be difficult to cross on your own with your arms full, the soil will be okay for wide wheeled trolleys but narrow wheels will struggle if the surface gets any softer than it was when I visited. But overall I got a good feeling about the site. It didn’t feel too much more difficult to get around than Tournament Stud when it became that sludge-fest. The camber is going to make things a little more tiring because of the pull on your legs, but it does feel less of a gradient than the Sentinel Gate side of Anvil at the Purity site. Which is definitely an attractive prospect. Having walked round it I actually look forward to playing it. I hope the images help to show the general layout of the ground and the area. I hope my general musings are helpful to you to decide on your logistical set up. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T22:24:47+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928768033885844 ++WHISPERING WINDS++ Some said the breeze started in Feroz, blowing on-shore all along the coast from Fontargenta to Oranseri. Others said it came down out of the mountains of Kahraman racing down the passes between Serra Briante and Serra Damata. At first it seemed to be a wind like any other wind... but a wind that speaks to you is an unusual thing to hear, even in the Brass Coast. The wind blew day and night. Some heard it in the morning while they were getting ready to sail. Some heard it at noon as they took shade from the midday sun. Some heard it in the evening as they sat down their family to feast. Lovers said they heard it in the night between the first and the second sleep. Some said it was a zepher, some said it was a gale. An old man claimed the wind blew the tiles from his roof. It was different in different places, but the words were always the same. As it blew by it whispered a warning - and an invitation. "Jotun in Liavathen. Lasambrians in Segura. Grendel off the Coast. Challenges on all sides. A hard time for any to be Free Born. A good time for all hakima to talk. I call council - meet at dusk on the first full day of the summit. I will bring olives. Cande I Riqueza." ========== Cande i Riqueza has sent out a whispering wind to call a council of hakima for the Winter Solstice, the first since the death of Empres Britta. It's primarily of interest to hakima and kohan. You can learn about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Whispering_wind This is the last one for now. The boss will likely be along to put up a picture of a cartoon character drawing down the curtain. Tomorrow I'll move all these into a folder, and probably do a bit of an edit around http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune to make them a bit easier to navigate. So! See you all in a field soon! ============= http://ishes.org/en/happy_news/images/i_news_20141107.jpg ============= #upthewoodenhilltobedfordshire, #Ihopethebossrememberstobuyolives, #loadsofhakimaandkohaninatentwhatcangowrong SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T22:13:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928763507219630 ++THE TROVE REMADE++ Punam dropped down the side of the bank into the ditch. There was a figure in the bushes that she could just make out in the twilight. Grasping her staff firmly she stalked towards the figure. It was no orc by the silhouette - its cambion horns were unmistakable in the half light. “Comac?” She said hesitantly. The cambion turned round and grinned. His bow in one hand and a half eaten rabbit’s leg in the other. He offered it to her, but she shook her head. “Nice staff,” He said. “You didn’t have that when I saw you in Ateri” She smiled back at him. “We had a shipment.” She indicated her silk mantle. She had been reluctant to fight alongside the Navarr, but apart from the lack of respect for personal space and their tendency to overshare, they were a lot friendlier than she had expected. “You’re lucky. You have no idea what I had to do just to get a bottle of ale. The Military Council must favour you, I can’t remember the last time we had anything nice delivered." He grinned and finished eating the rabbit, throwing the bone over his shoulder. Punam wondered how nice it must be to live so carefree. She had spent the last three evenings practicing with the other sentinels. The cyclic magic wasn’t versatile, and they would need to master six different sets of tactics if they were to get best use out of the equipment they had been given. She actually enjoyed the problem solving involved, although fighting during the day and theorising at night was taking it toll on her, leaving her tired and aching when she finally collapsed into bed. “You don’t still have that bottle of ale?” she said. The cambion grinned, pulling out a small leather wrapped bottle. “Swap you for your mage staff?” He said, laughing as he passed it over. Punam accepted it and poured some of the bottle into a small silver cup before passing it back. “No, but I’ll buy you a pint when we get out of Spiral, I have a feeling that I won’t be getting a rest any time soon.” ============= The Citadel Guard has finished incorporating the Unmade Trove (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Unmade_trove) into their army, and begun harmonizing the ilium-infused mage armour and weapons with the resonance of the realms. This means their Magic quality has advanced to become the *Cyclic Resonance* quality - they keep all the advantages of magic, and gain the ability to take certain unique orders depending on the cycle of the realms. Once the cycle is set in progress, they have no control over it - the advantages will come and go in a predictable pattern. You can learn all about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Trove_remade ========== A fat man who has not had enough sleep made the picture in paint. Dave Young wrote the text. ========== #Citadelguardhasusedopportunityanditssupereffective, #yesidoenjoythefactthecycleisnotlogical, #ireallyhopesomeofthecrazygetspastgraeme SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T21:26:37+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928744967221484 The first two minibus runs on Friday for the event are now booked - there is still spaces left on both Thursday minibuses and on the final Friday run. The final Friday and the first Thursday run have plenty of people booked - but currently nobody has booked for the second Thursday minibus - so we will cancel that run if nobody has indicated they want to catch it by 11:00am Tuesday. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Dadford_Road_Campsite#Minibus_from_Banbury SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T19:01:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928665527229428 ++ROAD TO BRAMAR++ Fara yawned, covering her mouth with the hand that wasn't holding a telescope. She'd been watching the slow approach of the wagon train along the road for the better part of an hour - Fortagenta was flat as a board, and from her vantage point she could see for miles in every direction. There were nearly a dozen wagons, each pulled by four tired-looking oxen. Most of them were open to the elements, and she could tell they contained miserable looking passengers. Human passengers, in mud-coloured tunics for the most part. Also in each wagon sat two soldiers in chain, wearing dark coloured surcotes and exotic-looking helmets. Travelers from the Iron Confederacy. Fara was a little concerned about why they seemed to be transporting people, though. She fervently hoped there was not going to be any sort of international incident on her watch. She scrambled down the ladder from the watchtower, and collected two more soldiers to accompany her, then walked out along the road to meet the newcomers. Ahead of the slow-moving wagons marched a man and a woman, deep in conversation. Where the soldiers wore simple chain and undecorated surcotes, both of these travelers wore find chain infused with weltsilver, and their surcotes were beautifully embroidered with what looked to be the heads of birds. Ravens, or crows. Both wore the marks of naga lineage. The man actually waved when he saw Fara approaching. They met up a few hundred yards from the farm. Pleasantries were exchanged. The two Suranni appeared relaxed, unconcerned. Both were armed - he with a pair of vicious looking short stabbing blades at his side, she with a heavy great hammer slung over her shoulder. A bec de corbin, with a literal crows-head. After the initial greeting, Fara got straight to the point. She pointed to the wagons. "What's in the wagons then?" The woman spoke. "Slaves," she said easily. "Imperial slaves." Fara opened her mouth to say something explosive and the male Suranni shook his head exasperated and rolled his slit-pupil eyes. "Forgive my companion, she is being whimsical. It would be fairer to say they are ex-slaves. Each of these is someone who could make a credible claim to be from the Empire, enslaved by mistake. It's unfortunate but sometimes people who would otherwise be our friends end up in the mines, or working in someone's kitchen. As we agreed with your ambassador, we are returning them to the bosoms of their families. Free, without charge. Each one can name all seven of your "virtues" and swore convincingly that they are of Imperial blood." Fara shut her mouth again and raised her eyebrows. "What are you going to do with them?" The Suranni woman smiled broadly showing sharp fangs. "As far as we understand your law, they were free the moment we crossed out of the Kalino hills. We are simply giving them a ride as far as the port of Bramar. Once they get there ... they are no longer our problem." The first of the wagons came level with the conversation, and Fara watched as it moved slowly past. None of the slaves in the wagons looked at her as they passed. They looked worn-out, broken, shattered by lives of hard work and little food. She felt angry, and turned around to give the Suranni a piece of her mind. "You should think before you speak," hissed the naga woman, all pretense of good humour gone. "Your people know that our mines and fields are worked by slaves, yet they still welcome our goods and our coin. We, at least, are not hypocrites. Can you tell me that when we reach Dramar nobody there will sell me a bottle of wine because of **this**?" She jerked her head at the wagon. Fara said nothing. "We are keeping to the spirit of our agreement with your ambassador," said the man, more evenly. "Even though the Empire has seen fit to refuse our offer of a treaty. Now that we have a border with your Feroz, there was no reason not to deliver the first of the freed slaves ourselves. After all, it seemed like the neighbourly thing to do." All smiles again, the Suranni asked if there would be anything else. Fara shook her head, and watched them walk past and continue on along the road beside the wagons. ============ Almost done now. The Iron Confederacy have delivered nearly a hundred slaves to Bramar in the Freeborn terrtiory of Feroz ... and simply dropped them off. Apparently this was part of an agreement with the Iron Confederacy ... an agreement they are quick to point out that the Senate appears to have refused to ratify for some reason. You can learn more about this development here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Road_to_Bramar ============ This picture came from https://www.flickr.com/photos/imageme/3189274533 I put a border round it. ========== #neeeeeearlydoneandthenIcangetsomesleep, #theSuranniarelovelypeopleandnowtheyreyourneighbours, #gosixmaidensandadwarf SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T16:05:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928544030574911 ++CRUSADE++ Jessica stood on the orcs chest and took a firm grip on her great two-handed sword. She had hit the little bastard far too hard. She wiggled the weapon back and forth slowly working it loose from where it had lodged in his chest. Sir Jory stomped up to her, and smacked her on the back with the loud "clang" of bloodsteel on mithril. He was covered in blood, and she could tell from the way he was favouring one leg that at least some of it was his own. "That's the last of them," he said grimly. "What about the ones that made a break for the tree-line?" asked Jessica. finally getting her sword free. She checked he blade carefully, then kicked the orc corpse in the head. "Notched the blade, dammit." "They didn't get far." Sir Rory inclined his head to a Navarri archer picking among the dead for unbroken arrows. Jessica looked skeptical, but held her peace. Like many Dawnish she considered the bow-and-arrow a poor choice for a warrior's weapon. "None of them made it into the trees, then?" Sir Jory shook his head. "It was strange, mind. Three of them made it to the edge ... and then ... they came back." Jessica began to wipe her sword clean. Sir Jory put his hands on his hips, breathing heavily, and leant forward slightly. He looked pale under the blood. "Are you alright?" Sir Jory waved her concern away. "Right as rain once I've had a sit down. One of the brutes dinted my helmet for me. That'll teach me to turn my back on a desperate Druj, even if it's cause two of his friends are trying to disembowel me." The two Dawnish looked towards the forest. A wall of green, stretching as far as the eye could see. Not just a metaphorical wall, not really. "How far does it go do you think?" asked Sir Jory. "All the way to the Barrens, obviously." Replied Jessica. She sheathed her blade, now clean, and looked speculatively at the dead orcs around her. Sir Jory made a sound halfway between a grunt and a snort. "They've attacked Drycastle, I hear." he said to nobody in particular. "And set one of the Towers aflame to boot. Bloody vermin." Jessica, a questing knight, had more experience fighting the orcs of the Barrens. She chose her words carefully. "You know they brought Lord Agravaine back? I remember telling you - the questing knight?" Sir Jory nodded. "I remember you saying that all the talk was that the Barrens was **ripe for the conquering**." "I know that with a fourth army, with the Druj out, with Spiral Castle admitting they're part of Dawn again, there won't be a better time to strike in the next decade, if ever. Once we get bogged down in Urizen, or on the west side, we'll not get loose again easily." Sir Jory shrugged. "I don't know if I agree with you ... but I do know that right now there are orcs shooting arrows into Dawnish yeomen and the only thing between us and them are some trees." They looked at the Forest of Peytaht again. Jessica forced a grin - and the Paragons knew there had been few enough of them in the last few months. "Spooooky trees," she joked. Sir Jory met her gaze. "Well, you know what a Dawnishman such as myself says when told that a forest is full of things even the Druj are fightened of?" They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Jessica's grin become stronger, more natural. "I assume it's the same as this Dawnishwoman says - let's go and see what the Druj are so afraid of ...." She slapped Sir Jory on the back with a clang of mithril on bloodgold, and the pair of them went off to report the destruction of another orc encampment. =========== A fourth army, and a series of attacks against the people of Dawn. Time to sound the horns and raise the standard of war over the Barrens, claim the troubadours. You can learn more about this opportunity here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Crusade ========== The picture is a banner design by Kate Lee which some monkey has scrawled the word "GLORY!" on ineffectually. It's embarassing, frankly. ============ #IreallyhopehewascalledLordAgravaine, #strikewhilethebloodishot, #GLOOOORY! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-20T11:17:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/928386037257377 ++CONVICTION++ "Reikos is no more. Our home - the cradle of our virtue - has been steeped in the noxious bile of our enemies. What grows here now is only misery and despair. The land has turned against us - those who have survived the Druj will find only death here now." The wild-eyed preacher stood atop the mound, his clothes ragged and torn, his hair and fingers stained with dirt. His pronouncements of doom had angered some and they have moved on quickly - but a large crowd remained - gripped by the fervent preacher's words. Many bore physical marks of their captivity, vivid weals and scars at wrists and ankles. The Black Thorns had moved through here only days earlier driving the orcs before them and freeing the slaves from the Druj camps. "The Druj are but one part of our destruction. Our Senate barters away the Empire to the northern orcs to buy peace from them - but the horns of war blow on every border of the Empire. We are beset on all sides. Besieged - we cannot hold. Death is come upon us. She is inexorable, the hound that pulls down the hind. Not the little death - not release into the Labyrinth. I speak of true death! Our souls themselves lost as our Empire is torn down!" A drop of spittle ran from the preacher's lips. His hands continued gesturing even when he stopped speaking, moving back and forth abruptly as if animated by a will of their own and seeking to underpin the threats the priest warned of. "It is time now! Just as our souls enter the labyrinth and are reborn - so must our Empire be reborn. Reforged, the nations of humanity will come together as they did only once before. Only once have we been truly united - when SHE walked the land. When SHE led us into war. When SHE brought the Way to all humanity." "On the day SHE entered the Labyrinth we lost the Way. What virtue did SHE follow? Lost - lost to us - lost to the darkness of the Labyrinth. That is why we have squandered HER legacy. That is how we have fallen so low. We have forgotten the faith SHE used to carry all before her!" "No - not lost... hidden. Hidden by cardinals and gatekeepers who could not stand the light of truth that shone from HER! Buried by the priests who could not bear to submit to HER path. They destroyed the truth! These cowards stole the Way from us. By their actions they doomed us all!" The crowd groaned, there was no-one left now who was not swept up by the preacher's words. Starved and beaten by the Druj, they had grown used to the hunger in their bellies - now they were reminded of the hunger in their soul. "But the truth is reborn just like our souls! There are still priests in the Synod brave enough to speak the truth. Not all our silenced. Listen to the wind - there you will hear the truth. SHE was an exemplar of Courage!" "Courage is what we need now. Courage to withstand our slavery beneath the Druj. Courage to turn their fear back on them. Courage to send the orcs crawling on their bellies back to their mountain holes. Courage to unite our great Empire beneath HER will." "I am sent to bid you to Courage for I have seen and SHE will be reborn! Long has she laboured in the Labyrinth, but now SHE prepares for her final journey into life. Now SHE prepares to lead us in war against our enemies - to unite us once more. But only if we have the Courage to follow HER." "We must make the Empire ready for HER! This is why SHE has not returned to us - because we are not worthy! Traitors and silver-tongued schemers have taken HER dream and twisted it into something SHE never intended. We must set it back on the right path, must have the Courage to return to HER way - and then SHE will return to lead us!" "Our Empire must be reborn! The Way must be healed! Not seven virtues equal and the same. How can that be? A feeble lie we tell our children - a lie that suits the flatterers of every virtue in the Synod well. But if SHE was an exemplar of Courage as they finally admit - then the truth is revealed. Courage - beyond any other virtue - is what we need to follow HER through the Labyrinth. Courage above all other virtues to defeat our enemies. Only Courage will remove the fear from our hearts - only Courage can save us." "Courage was HER virtue. This is the truth the Synod has kept from you for centuries. That is why we have fallen. That is why you laboured under the whips of the Druj." "Courage was HER virtue. Set aside the others - and turn at the last to the truth. And you will be reborn, our Empress will be reborn, our Empire will be reborn." "Courage was HER virtue. Who now will follow another virtue when you know that the greatest human who ever walked the earth chose this for HER path?" "Courage was HER virtue. Who among you will step forth and be reborn. Step forth and I will anoint you in HER Name - in HER virtue." The speaker stood, silent at the last, his hands wide, imploring the crowd to accept his words. For a moment there was silence and then a young woman stepped forward, her eyes full of fervour to receive the priest's blessing. And then the tide burst. ================ In Reikos, a visionary preacher has started spreading the word of the First Empress, Exemplar of Courage. With the Synod in agreement, he claims, it is time for the Empire to admit that Courage is the Truest Virtue and everyone should admit that the other virtues are simply less important and get to work rebuilding an Empire fit for HER to return to. You can read about this event here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Conviction (You might have seen this pop up briefly last night. I pulled it because I wanted to discuss some elements of it. It's now up proper-like) =========== The photo is By Urmelbeauftragter (talk | contribs | Gallery) (German Wikipedia) Deutsch: Gesamtzahl meiner hochgeladenen Dateien: 866 English: Total number of my uploaded files: 866 Jürgen Heegmann (juergen.heegmann@web.de) (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons ========== #savingthefiresermonforlater, #reflectionandrecognitionmofos, #courageisdefothebestvirtueFACT SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-19T21:08:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/927981250631189 ++A HEAP OF BROKEN IMAGES++ Amira i Haour i Guerra stood her ground, arms folded, in the face of the three orcs. The one in the middle, who had been doing most of the talking was watching her closely. The other two were looking anywhere but at her - scanning the farm, the house, and the surrounding hills. He tried again, changing tack, narrowing his eyes as if concentrating hard on trying to remember something. "We have offered you coins, because we want to buy the food from you. It is not Prosperous for you to refuse to reward our hard work in this way." She stared at him, in much the same way she might stare at a goat that had stood on its hind legs and started to sing the Fire Maringo. "What?" She hated how stupid she sounded. "It is not Prosperous. We have gained these coins by ... by hard work." One of the orcs flanking him grinned, the nasty scar across her face twisting the expression into a snarl. "You must recognise our hard work by rewarding us with the goods we desire." The orc looked triumphant, allowed a smirk of self-satisfaction to spread across his face. "I told you, that is not the price. I told you the price, which is what the beasts are worth. I am not going to sell them to you for less than that price - and by rights I don't really want to be selling them to you at all. Lasambrian." The orc scowled. All pretense of pleasantry disappeared. His voice was flat. "It is my ambition ..." he tasted the word and found it to his liking. "It is my ambition to eat goat meat for my supper, and there is no price too high to pay to get what I want." He took a step forward, and the two burly orc warriors stepped up with him. She held her ground, even though the warriors towered over her. They were wrapped in heavy leather straps and buckles, with sheep- and goat-skins thrown over their shoulders to give them even greater bulk. She did not doubt that they could kill her before she could do more than cry out once. But she still held her ground. "Well, Lasambrian, that threat means that the price has tripled. Because you have been rude, and because it is clear to me that you do not have the first idea what the words you are using mean. If you won't pay, then you can get out of my farmyard, and take your attack dogs with you." The scarred orc warrior rested her hand on the pommel of her scimitar, and leered at the short Freeborn woman. Before things could escalate further, Jorge and Reisa came around the side of the farm house. Her husband had his vicious bhuj slung casually over his shoulders, and his sister Reisa already had an arrow nocked in her short bow. "Is everything well, Amira?" asked Jorge, ignoring the orcs. "Everything is well, husband." she replied. "These gentlemen were just leaving." The two warriors eyed the newcomers. The scarred one locked eyes with Jorge and tried to stare him down. He held the orc woman's gaze easily, and it was she who looked away first. The third orc - the ringleader - put one hand on her shoulder and shook his head once, sharply. "It seems we have failed to agree on a price, Freeborn. We will go away and consider the best course of action, and then we will come back and see if we cannot leave with your goats another time." There was a naked threat in his voice. He made little effort to conceal it. "After all, you should never accept defeat. You should adapt your strategy and try again." He inclined his head to her curtly, spun on his heel, and began to tromp back toward Anduz, his guards falling into step behind him. Reisa raised her bow slowly, and Jorge put his hand on her arm. "Not in the back, Reisa." He walked over to stand beside Amira. "Do you think they will come back?" He asked. "I don't know." she replied, not taking her eye off the shorter orc who had clearly been doing his homework. She had pegged him as a nasty piece of work, regardless of the fact he was a Lasambrian. "But I think that we should prepare for malice ..." Her husband's sister, joining them at the gate, caught this last and grinned grimly. She rested one hand on Amira's shoulder and completed her sentence. " ... yet thwart malice before it strikes against us." The three of them stood in silence then, watching the orcs stomp back the way they had come. ====== The Senate is supporting the Hierro clan orcs in Segura. The Synod is showing the the Way ... with mixed results. The orcs are quick to embrace its teachings, but also quick to put their own spin on what the priests are telling them ... You can learn more about these events here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_heap_of_broken_images There's several options for the Synod in particular, and also some things for the Senate to think about. Oh yes. One of the outcomes is that the Hierro clan want to become the Eleventh Nation of the Empire. That might cause a bit of a fuss. ============== Clouds reflecting high wind conditions from orographic lift in the Mojave Desert (Jessie Eastland uploaded by Pocketthis at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons) I know I'm probably the only one who thinks Segura looks like the Mojave ... but I think Segura looks a lot like the Mojave. ==================== #giveusSeguraorgiveusedeath! #orMadrugaactually, #ideallyMadrugatobehonest, #Justbecausetheyarvirtuousdoesnotmakethemnice SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-19T19:01:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/927908110638503 The inestimable Ian Horne Cattes has done some more recordings - a bulletin reporting the highlights of the Winds of Fortune so far in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek fashion. You can even touch the screen if you want to know more (and by touch the screen I mean click this link which takes you to the main wiki -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune I have been promised a special extra bulletin when all is finished, and I'll edit this link when that appears. We have a few more to do tonight, and maybe tomorrow night, and then all done - my plan is to tag each of those WoF with the nation or nations they are most relevant to, if I have a moment. Remember - you don't *need* to read any of these. It's nice to know about stuff, but you can totally get away with asking people things in the field if you like. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-19T16:15:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/927826127313368 ++TEARS IN THE RAIN++ Barnabas stood under the awning gazing out into the rain. It had been raining since just before sunrise and showed no sign of letting up any time soon. Just like yesterday. At least the rain was clean. He reached out, his hand cupped, and let the creases of his palm fill with water for a few minutes. Then he tasted it. Fresh, pure. He rubbed his hands together, and then went back to staring across the ruins. He'd lived here once, as a boy. He realised hollowly that it had been twelve years since he had played ''hunt the orc'' with Aaron and Abigail. He had been away from here for longer than he had lived here, but he still thought of it as home. It was foolish. Sentimental. It didn't look much like he remembered it anyway. The Druj had smashed the gates of the chapterhouse, slaughtered everyone inside, and then tried to re-fortify it. Then the Dawnish knights had come and smashed the gates in, slaughtered everyone inside, and then moved on to their next challenge. He and his cadre were charged with protecting the civil servants bringing up the rear, assessing the situation. He wasn't sure why they were bothering. There was no point. Everyone was dead and - He stopped himself and closed his eyes, his hand going to the circular medallion at his throat. He recited the litany of Courage under this breath. "''I shall despise the cowardice that steers me to weakness and inaction. I shall face unwelcome truth as boldly as any barbarian charge. I shall not fear to act; only be shamed by inaction. I shall never accept defeat; I shall adapt my strategy and try again. I shall cleave to what I know to be true even when others wish me to doubt.''" It helped. The Druj had done something to the air, with their squat black pillars. Something that tainted everything with a fug of despair. With the fall of High Chalcis, the sadness was lessened but it was still there. He did not know how the Dawnish endured it, and yet kept on fighting with such fire. Everyone found their own way of coping. For him, it was the litany, and the amulet. But sometimes it was hard to realise that you were being influenced, and that's where the danger lay. He opened his eyes again. Tabitha had come to shelter under the awning with him while he was meditating. Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes distant. She had been searching the remains of the village below the chapterhouse. He remembered that she had grown up here also, although she would have been a little younger than him when her family fled. He remembered she had left a mother, Naomi, and an older brother, Timothy, behind. She was still looking for signs of them. In his heart, he quietly hoped that she would never learn what had happened to them and hated himself for it. "I have a report, if you want to hear it?" He nodded. He didn't want to hear it, but he knew she wanted to give it. He listened quietly to another litany, a list of suffering and atrocity. He was crying silently when she had finished, her own eyes full of unshed tears. It had been the same across Longshire, and across Chalcis Mount and Haros Water. He did not - could not - think of what they had found in Riverwatch, at the 'Swan. Even now, when he tried to think of it he was just left with impressions. A puddle of bloody water. A discarded bowl. Images that haunted what little sleep he could manage. In time they would fade, he knew, but never completely. He wanted to reach out to Tabitha and offer her some comfort, but he feared that if he did it would break something, some dam inside one or the other of them, and then there would be no going back. He would not allow the Druj to claim another Highborn soul, not today. "There is some sign that a couple of the orcs escaped the attack and the sweep. I've sent a patrol out to look for them." Barnabas nodded. Killing the orcs helped sometimes to assuage the emptiness, at least for a little while. The feelings of frustration and helplessness crept back in again after the blood cooled, however. He spotted movement then, out in the rain. "Who's that?" he asked Tabitha. She shaded her eyes, following his finger. "I don't know, it's nobody I recognise." It was a human woman, running through the rain toward the camp. She ran with an easy, practiced stride despite the mud. There was nothing panicked about her, no indication she was fleeing. Barnabas was struck with the certainty that this was a woman who, when she ran, always ran ''toward'' something, never ''away''. He considered ruefully that he needed to get some sleep. The running figure spotted them, and adjusted her path slightly to bring her into the camp. Neither Highborn drew weapons - as soon as she was close enough to see clearly it was obvious she was Navarr. She was drenched, covered in mud, obviously tired but still she moved with the smooth muscular agility of a hunting hound. She gave every impression she had been running for hours, and could run for hours more without concern. She slowed, came to a halt in front of them, and inclined her head first to Tabitha, then to Barnabas. "I am Enys Stormrunner, of They-Outrun-The-Storm Striding. I am looking for the soldiers of Towercross Chapterhouse? And maybe a hot breakfast? I was told by the warriors of Eli's Hand that they were in this area?" She was barely past her citizenship test, but full of seriousness. So young. Barbabas wondered when he had become so ''old'', when being twenty-three made him a tired veteran. "You have found us. I am captain Barnabas, this is my lieutenant Tabitha. You are one of the Black Thorns? Under General Foxden?" She nodded. "I've been sent down from Broken Ride to tell you that we have taken the camps below the Great Forest, and to ask that you and any other Highborn soldiers join us there as quickly as possible. There are a great many survivors, and they are in dire need of succor from their kin." She frowned and cocked her head at Tabitha. "I am also instructed to bring a message to a woman named Tabitha, which I am hoping is you? Tabitha daughter of Naomi?" Barnabas held his breath then. He felt like he was standing on the edge of something. Tabitha nodded. "I have a message from Timothy, son of Naomi. It will be hard for you to hear, but he says first to tell you that he lives and ..." Barnabas turned away, and stepped out from under the awning, giving the women some privacy. He looked up to the clouds as Tabitha caught Enys Stormrunner in a rough embrace. Something broke inside him, but he did not care. Whatever was washed away, he no longer needed. For the first time since he had crossed the border, he allowed himself to think about the future. He had hope now, that there might ''be'' a future for him and for his home. He felt hope flutter in his heart, let it fill him ... and then he took a firm grip on it and began to forge the weak voice that said "it will all turn out for the best" into an iron-hard Ambition. He would make the Garden of Highguard blossom again, and he would live to see it, and guard it, and in a decade from now he would play ''hunt the orc'' with his own children, here, in his family home. And while he planned, he wept; and the cold rain washed the tears away. ============ Reikos is Imperial once again, as touched on in the Winds of War (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_war#The_Rains_of_Reikos). Now the rebuilding can begin. There's assignment first, of course; and questions of allocation. There's the decision about what to do with the dead, and all the villages and chapters that have been broken or defiled. It's not all bad new though and there are a couple of opportunities to explore - as well as Spoils of War (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spoils_of_war) to divvy up through the Military Council (there might be a ten minute delay on these as I have to sort them out seperately and occasionally make pointy haired boss changes to the excellent work of Liam Spinage). Anyway, you can learn about the rebuilding of Reikos here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Tears_in_the_rain I was going to save this one until last and go out on a positive note but some of the others have gotten mired in edit hell. Only a few to go. =============== #ivesenthingsyouwouldntbelieve, #itsnotallgloomanddoom, #alotofit*is*gloomanddoommind SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-19T03:18:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/927441270685187 Last year, while we were idly musing over options for the next year, I happened to come across a picture of a LRP crossbow made by Umbra Armoury. It looked cool, and I couldn't help but imagine a line of heavily armoured Grendel advancing in formation, crossbows firing at the Imperial line... A few months later and Umbra Armoury have the order complete and ready for the first event. Now I just need to chase Twisted Flax to ask for some bolts... Thanks Brian - every Imperial who gets impaled is a free drink down in the bar! https://www.facebook.com/UmbraArmoury/?fref=ts SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-19T03:06:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/927432557352725 ++Handcarts++ The redcap eyed the strange wheeled contraption warily. There was a pair of handles protruding from the back, which the player was using to steer the primitive trolley with. She wasn't the only player with a trolley of course, there were plenty about, but this one was made of wood and looked totally in-character. Where had she come by such a thing he wandered... and were there any more where that came from? ============= The wonderful Sean Maguire - proprietor of Skian Mhor and Mhorish has very kindly offered to bring several wooden hand carts with him to the event so that players with a modest amount of kit can use one to quickly move their stuff onto the field. Please be careful not to overload them though Sean says the carts are really sturdy! But take care to load them from the back (the handle end) or they will just tip over onto their nose. Mhorish is back at this event and bigger and better than ever. Look for them in the centre of the market place next to the tavern, with their Skian Mhor trade tent facing them. Happy carting - and thanks Sean! https://www.facebook.com/mhorish.goodfood/ https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=skian%20mhor%20lrp%20suppliers SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T23:33:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926652524097395 ++VERMIN AND TOWERJACKS++ Tiago Alto di Holberg had no friends, only acquaintances. Right now, he wished he had brought almost any other acquaintance than Big Erbér von Temeschwar with him into the ruins. "What are we doing here Tiago?" Erbér was not happy outside the walls of a city. And there was no way this place counted as a city, not in any regard. The ruins of Holmauer stretched around them - they were creeping cautiously along the rubbled line of what might once have been some Merchant-Prince's summer home. Years ago it would have been an impressive barrier against the jealous gaze of the Prince's rivals. Now, it barely came up to their shoulders. What hadn't been destroyed in the fighting had been cannibalised by one side or the other to shore up makeshift barricades. Tiago shushed Erbér, paused briefly to unshield his lightstone for a moment to check the ground ahead, and continued to creep forward. The flash of dull red light made Erbér nervous. There were said to be vyig in Holmauer - and perhaps worse, priests of the Vigilant and militia searching for those same vyig. He was painfully aware that he and his friend looked a lot like thieves in the dark, and some of the Vigilant shot first and asked questions at their leisure. They didn't even need you to be alive, he had heard. He wanted to stay alive very much. After a few more minutes of stealthy movement, they reached the ruined house itself. Tiago gestured for Erbér to precede him, and drew a wicked throwing knife. Erbér steeled himself and slipped through the door, crossbow at the ready. The hall of the ruined building was empty. Now they were inside - for a given value - Tiago unveiled the lightstone. "My contact said to meet him here," he said. "Not in the usual place. The Vigilant are making it too dangerous to meet in the city. That's why we're out here. I brought you in case he tries something, see?" He frowned and looked around him. "I expected him to be waiting for us. Come on, let's find him. I want to be back inside before anyone notices we're gone, if you know what I mean." They explored the lower level of the ruined house. It might have been opulent once, long ago. Now it was little more than weed-crowded pile of rubble with walls round it. it felt ... haunted. Oddly as if it were inhabited, despite the ruin. Erbér found himself jumping at shadows. When Tiago tapped him on the shoulder, he nearly cried out. His finger convulsed reflexively and sent a length of razor-sharp metal and wood into the ceiling. Rotten plaster cascaded down on both of them. Tiago swore in a hoarse whisper. "Idiot!" he hissed. "You could have shot me! Have more care - who walks around with their crossbow loaded in a place like this?" he smacked Erbér round the ear, and the bigger man blushed furiously, grinding his teeth. "I said, I think I have found him come this way." Tiago lead the way into what had once been the kitchen. It was thick with unruly vegetation that had overflowed from the garden. There was a bedroll, and a little campfire on the near side, away from the undergrowth. Tiago made a satisfied sound - next to the bedroll there was a sack. He looked around cautiously, then knelt down and opened it. He whistled through his teeth. "Here we go, here we go. Mithril. Raw mithril. Fresh from the slave pits and almost certainly not haunted! Enough to keep me -us - in brandy and cheese for a year, if not two the way the markets are right now.” “Where's your friend?” Asked Erbér. He was eyeing the door in the wall not too far from the little camp site. It seemed to open onto some stairs. It looked a lot like a cellar door. And it was open – well half of it was. The thick wooden door hung off it's hinges, but only the top half was present. The bottom half was missing entirely. There was an odd smell coming from it. Tiago was unconcerned. “Not a friend, a contact. I don't have any friends.” He seemed to be weighing the odds. They both heard it then, an odd scraping noised from the cellar. Tiago and Erbér froze. “Hello?” called out Erbér in that strained whisper people use when they want to be heard and at the same time do *not* want to be heard. Tiago was more forthright. He stepped across the the cellar and held the lightstone out across the threshold. “Are you there?” he said. “We were not stealing from you, I was just looking.” There was no reply. “Maybe he is hurt?” suggested Erbér. “Maybe.” Tiago narrowed his eyes. He drew a short blade from its sheath and stepped forward onto the stairs, testing them. “You had better stay here, you are too heavy for these stairs.” said Tiago. Erbér shrugged. He did not want to go into the cellar anyway. He turned to look around the roofless kitchen again as Tiago stealthily made his way underground. Erbér felt a little sorry for Tiago's contact if he was hurt; the little murderer would not hesitate to kill him and keep both the mithril and the payment. Seconds stretched and then suddenly the silence was shattered by a high-pitched shriek and the sound of someone running up the stairs. Erbér whirled round, to see Tiago desprately scrambling up the cellar stairs, his eyes wide. In his haste he missed his step, fell forward onto hands and knees, dropping the lightstone. It bounced down the stairs … illuminating horror. Three immense black rats, the size of attack dogs, were close on Tiago's tail. They were the biggest rats Erbér had ever seen – dire rats he thought, they look like dire rats. Their fur was muddy with fresh blood and he suddenly knew beyong a shadow of a doubt what had happened to Tiago's contact. Tiago pulled himself up, desperately, managing to thrust himself forward up the stairs just ahead of the snapping jaw of the lead rat. He scrambled up, kicking back as he did so. One of the rats took his boot to its head and was sent squealing, tumbling away. He used the momentum to lift him the last two steps … … and stopped. Froze in place. He gaped stupidly down at the length of wood-and-metal protruding from his chest. A moment later, a second bolt blossomed beside the first, and he gently toppled backward, sliding down the stairs, landing on top of two of the rats. They didn't bother to wait for Tiago to bleed out before they started to feast. Erbér quickly reloaded his crossbow, He looked briefly down into the cellar. Tiago was sprawled halfway down. One of the rats had it's head buried in his stomach. Another, the largest of the three, met his gaze with its crimson eyes and it reared up on its haunches and *hissed* at him like a cobra. It took a step up towards him without fear. He considered shooting it but knew that if he missed he would not get a second shot. Instead, without taking his eyes off the rat, he hefted one of the heavy sacks over his shoulder. He could come back for the others. During the day. With some friends. Because unlike Tiago Alto di Holberg, Erbért von Temeschwar *did* have friends; it was just that Tiago Alto di Holberg was not *one* of them ============= Holberg! City of engineers and massive walls! And also coincidentally ruined suburbs infested with vermin; hungry swamps; killer trees; and something else, something a bit new, thriving in spoiled earth. You can learn about all this and more here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vermin There's even a tiny flag with the word "Towerjacks" on it being waved. Wheee! ========== The picture is the overgrown ruins of Kopice Castle in Poland. Probably a bit more intact than I imagine a lot of the Holmauer ruins, but there must be at least a few like this or there'd be nowhere for low-level adventurers to explore. =================== #ratslairdomainohmy, #rodentsofunusualsizeIdontbelievetheyexist, #someonemakemesomedamndireratcostumes SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T21:14:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926587220770592 ++PRICE OF PROSPERITY++ "Vassa" mopped his brow with a handkerchief. Two brawny soldiers stood at the bottom of the gangplank.They wore orichalcum breastplate, gauntlet, and greaves over cotton tunics. Their hair was braided with red and yellow feathers, and each held a heavy orichlcum pole-axe easily in one hand. They watched the old man impassively. "How much longer?" he asked, exasperated. One of the soldiers shrugged. Neither spoke. Looking back along the quay, Vassa could make out a small knot of people. Four soldiers, a präst of the assembly of Courage. And what looked suspiciously like a ... surely not. His heart fell. This was bad, very bad indeed. Even form Zemeh. Vassa could see that the soldiers formed a tight square around a woman he recognised. She looked bruised, and her hands were shackled. Olivia Burano di Sarvos, barely off the boat six months. As the group approached, Vassa's initial suspicion was confirmed. The two figure in emerald and green robes was a Representative - effectively a Senator, one of the representative body that ruled Sumaah in the name of the people. The reality of course was more complex - the House of the People did little without the support an approval of the präster. Yet they maintained the division between their two houses fiercely. Religiously, almost. As always, when in a tight spot, Vassa found it hard to avoid making little jokes in his head. He discarded his early assessment of very bad, and replaced it with exceptionally bad. The knot of figures stopped at the bottom of the gangplank. The soldiers stepped aside, forming a semicircle around Olivia, and two of them persuaded her to climb the gangplank with their spears. She had little difficulty making the climb with her wrists manacled - she had a dancer's grace - and when she reached the top she turned called back demanding fluently that the manacles be removed. The courageous präst snapped back that the manacles would not be removed until they were out of sight of land and if she tried to swim back then she would be food for the mososari and it would serve her right. Vassa noted with interest that the präst had a black eye, and a recent one at that. She did not look happy. "Go below." he snapped to Olivia, who looked set to start shouting back. She turned to Vassa and opened her mouth to argue but he met her gaze and growled low in his throat "I am not in the mood, di Sarvos. Go. Below." The younger woman shut her mouth, and stalked across the deck. He ignored her. He turned his attention back to the Sumaah on the quayside. The soldiers had stepped back, allowing Representative Puala to stand at the very bottom of the gangplank, gazing up at him. At her side coiled a vicious looking lizard the size of a dog, its brightly coloured scales polished to almost mirror sheen. He had encountered such nasty little brutes before - they were capable of delivering a painful bite, and while their venom was not lethal it could cause nasty hallucinations. That Puala favoured one as a companion did not surprise him. She was a savvy, dangerous woman who knew the value of making a powerful impression. She could smile while delivering the most egregious insults, and Vassa respected that. She was not smiling now. She spoke quickly, fluidly. Her voice was steady but her words were full of suppressed anger. "You are all hereby exiled from Zemeh, and from Sumaah. If you attempt to return, you will be tried as the agents of a hostile power, a criminal offense for which you can be hanged. The assembly of Vigilance as permitted you to remain so long only because there was nothing that you could learn that would harm our people. Do not believe that courtesy will be extended to you again." He nodded his understanding. He was a little surprised at how thorough the Censors had been. Every Regarrio agent he know of in Zemeh had been rounded up and put on this ship. He had known that they had recognised him years ago - had enjoyed the lazy tolerance with which he was treated by the Vigilant präster. He would miss the heated debates about the nature of virtue, and the threat of Asavea. He had not realised the entire network - such as it was - had been compromised and wondered idly if there was a traitor among them. "Furthermore, you are to tell your Imperial masters that as of sunset today a state of war exists between the Republic of Sumaah and the Empire. Any attempt by Imperial ships to enter our territorial waters will be treated as an act of piracy and dealt with appropriately under the law. Likewise, any of your vessels encountered in the waters of the Archipelago by our warships will be treated as Asavean vessels." "You have treated us with contempt. Our requests of fair conduct have been ignored. You have insulted us again and again, and even in the face of our final warning you still refused to give us the same respect you show to the tyrants of Asavea. You have refused to acknowledge that we seek the same virtuous life that you claim to seek. You have sought to trample our pride, and that will not stand." "Furthermore, you have made an inhuman creature an exemplar of the faith, demeaning the Way, placing one who does not possess a soul in the company of the exalted. You have befouled all those who should be treated with respect, and you have ignored our pleas to engage in discourse regarding this decision." "We - who should have been united by faith - are now at war." "We are not the allies of your enemies, nor the enemies of your allies. We will not come to your benighted lands as conquerers because that is not our Way. Yet whatever friendship might have existed between us is over." "We cannot overlook the crimes you have committed against out shared faith. Our assemblies are in agreement. They denounce your entire Synod as heretical. We do not doubt that your people will ignore our judgement for they are lead in their faith by hyenas. Yet we issue this warning. We will not keep our judgement quiet. Within the month, every other nation will know that you mock the faith you claim to hold. We shall ensure that all those who look to the seven virtues for guidance are aware that you are insincere in your beliefs. You may consider this a little thing, but believe me when I say that it is not. Our faith is without question. Yours is without substance." "Go now, and return to your Empire. When your actions demonstrate that you have repented your unvirtuous deeds, and finally deign to speak to us as equals, we will send an ambassador. Until such time no Sumaah citizen will come to your Empire. These are the words of the House of the People." "You may go now." Before Vassa could do anything more than open his mouth, Representative Puala had turned on her heel and was already striding back up the quayside towards Zemeh. Her companions hung back for a few moments, talking in quiet voices; then the präst raised her voice and called to the captain, telling him to cast off and not return until his cargo had been delivered. Vassa lent on the railings as the ship began to glide down the river towards the ocean. He chewed his beard for a few minutes, as he thought through the implications of what the Representative had said, the implications for the Regario Dossier - and the implications of several weeks at sea with an angry Olivia Burano di Sarvos. "Well, bugger." he said, with some feeling. And then he turned and went below to explain to the others that they had some bad news for the Empire. ============== Trade winds roundup! You can learn more about international affairs that will be of especial interest to fleet captains here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Price_of_prosperity To summarise in a TL;DR that will miss all the nuances: SUMAAH - Declaration of war, denounce Synod as heretics and promise to tell everyone COMMONWEALTH - Getting irritated with the lack of embassy, selling artisans oil to everyone else PRINCIPALITIES OF JARM - All sorts of shennanigans, but mostly at the moment waiting for some formal apology letters. Also something about a thousand slaves who don't speak any Imperial turning up on the docks in three months looking for somewhere to live. Probably nothing. ASAVEAN ARCHIPELAGO - if the Empire doesn't want their white granite they know someone who does, apparently SARCOPHAN DELVES - just doing their thang ============ #Ithinivesolenthispicturefromconan, #itsallgo, #withtheselittlegoldenballsambassadoryouarereallyspoilingus SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T15:31:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926413394121308 ++DYING LIGHT++ She clasped her hands together, elbows resting on her knees. She bowed her head, pressing her brow against her knuckles. Hard, until it pained her. She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut, but it did nothing to dam the tears. "Blessed Avigliana," she prayed. "I need your clarity of vision, to help me see clearly. I need the mantle of your surety, to help me see which of my doubts are true and which are malignant tricks. I need to feel your touch, so I can find the path to wisdom." Her whispered words fell like lead coins into the silence of the shrine. They tapered off. She simply sat there, on the cold stone bench, listening to the sound of her own breathing. Trying not to cry. Feeling alone. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and stood. Mechanically, without conscious thought, she washed her hands. There were layers of thin ice on the water in the jug and the marble basin, which she had to break. Both would be back within the hour. Her bare feet were numb, her breath misting in the chill darkness of the shrine. Most of the candles had burnt down, allowing the shadows to pile up in deep drifts, blurring edges and muting colours. The exemplar Avigliana di Sarvos gazed down unseeing from the tapesty that was the shrine's focus. Her aura of wisdom seemed pale and sickly in the flickering candle-light. The rabbits that played around her feet looked mangy. Her expression, which Thomasina had always considered to be so beautiful, a combination of wordly and divinely inspired, now struck her as smug. She splashed a little water on her face. Dried her hands on the rough towel. Pinched her cheeks to restore a little colour. Stepped over the threshold, and slipped her frozen feet into her fur-lined slippers. Rabbit fur, she thought, incongruously. Bruno was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps, impassive. She knelt down and hugged the dog, burying her face in its warm fur and canine stink. "At least you're something real," she whispered in the dog's uncomprehending ear. She did not allow another tear, and pushed Bruno away before he could lick her face. Then, girding herself, she strode down the corridor towards the temple she knew would be at best half-full. The acolytes opened the doors at her approach, bowing their heads with a whispered acknowledgement of their preceptor. She stepped out into the light to deliver a sermon about the importance of finding the right question. She hoped nobody among the congregation would guess how desperate she was for someone to give her an answer. =============== Curse on Bastion, heart of the Highguard. Tasteless prank or assault on the entire Imperial faith of the Way itself? You decide! You can learn more about the creeping doubts infesting the spiritual heart of the Empire here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Dying_light The territory of Bastion is the site of the White City - the closest thing the Empire has to a Holy City - and on top of the mechanical effects on congregation resources, there are some lingering roleplaying effects for people who might have spent a lot of time there. =========== #mycandlehasgoneout, #atleastyouhaveacandle, #queuethedebateaboutpraying SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T14:37:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926382634124384 A quick reminder that midnight tomorrow is the deadline for pre-booking the next event. You can still book for the event if you haven't already done so. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/tickets). The final deadline for pre-bookings for the next event is midnight on the 18th March - tomorrow night! If you are coming to the event and haven't sent payment by early booking deadline then you will need to pay the gate ticket price. If you have sent payment by bank transfer in the last couple of days but your account hasn't been updated yet, don't worry, your payment will be processed and registered in a few days time. The website will allow players to submit requests for arcane projections and to transfer resources from their inventory to other characters for the next 24 hours. We will close it after that time to begin creating your packs for the event. Finally the weather forecast for the event is currently excellent, but bear in mind that if we do get clear sunny days it will still get cold at night, so make sure to pack accordingly. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T13:37:53+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926346494127998 ++RED STAR++ Winters were rarely predictable in Lustri. Some years, they were mild enough that when Spring came it was barely noticable. Other years, when the snow clouds gathered fatly around the mountain peaks and the cold winds blew out of the east, the roads became treacherous. It was easy for outsiders to forget that the forests lay on the edge of the Empire. It had been a long time since the Druj threatened Zenith, after all. Isolation has it's uses of course. Papiria stood on the balcony outside her office, staring down at the trees below. Distance grants safety, she mused; both for her charges and for the Empire. But winters like this with so few new visitors could be hard. Heliopticon messages were adequate, but there was little comfort in them. They carried words but the light lacked anything physical, anything tactile, anything to touch, to hold, to smell. Lazy snowflakes drifted in the still evening air, settled on her scales and reminded her of that time, years before when she had come to this white marble edifice hidden away within the wooded peaks of Zenith. It had been the beginning of a bad month, she remembered. She had heard the first gibbering scream almost as soon as she crossed the threshold of the spire. When the stars moved in certain ways, they caused difficult days and the spire felt so very cramped. The atmosphere ebbed and flowed of course. More effort had been made to give the patients more space from each other; even those who weren't Urizeni appeared to appreciate that. Expanding the spire had been costly and difficult, but there had been plenty of people prepared to donate time, money, and materials. Anything to ensure they did not have to deal with the broken magicians. Each patient now had their own lodgings and could where necessary be treated separately from their peers. She had also insisted that extra attention be paid to the acoustics, to try and stop the patients from having to endure each others cries when the wanderer was particularly immanent. She knew the other naga, both among the staff and the patients, especially appreciated that. The snow began to become heavier. She back stepped inside, her Naga eyes adjusting quickly to the interior gloom. The office was neat but comfortable, restful pastel shades and beautiful dark woods. Everything was as it should be. her eyes rested on a pile of decrypted heliopticon messages on her desk and she frowned slightly. They had not been there when she stepped out. She suppressed a pang of irritation at the idea that someone had been in her sanctum without her knowing. She sat down to read the latest message come down from the tower, mildly irritated by the fussy, precise, angular handwriting of her secretary. How many years looking at that same, passionless scrawl? Her eyes wandered. She sighed in the heavy silence. She tried to force herself to concentrate on the tedious message. “While our researches have proved promising, two of our scholars have unfortunately suffered an unfortunate accident. Our own physicks are at a loss, but believe they would benefit greatly from the expertise offered by you and your sodales. As such we have secured suitable guides and dispatched them to your spire. We entrust them with your care. They should arrive tomorrow if their journey has not been interrupted." She almost growled, throwing the letter onto a pile of similar correspondence. The arbiter had obviously waited until the very last moment to send the heliopticon message - ensuring there was no change that she could try and dissuade them from sending her more patients. Two from Ankra last week, three from Caeli the week before, now another two from Peregro. Where were they all coming from? Had the magi of Urizen suddenly stopped to care about arete? She noted that the nature of the "accident" was unclear but assumed it was unsupervised astronomantic experimentation. As usual. There was a quiet knock, and the door to her sanctum opened. Her secretary stood primly in the door. He had another neatly folded heliopticon message in his webbed hand. He waited for her to indicate he should enter, and glided across the soft carpeted floor to her desk. "Another admission." He said. his voice was quiet, a little breathy. It irritated Papiria. “We're just not prepared for this! Why is this all happening at once - I've run this institute for years and we've never had a problem like this, not even during the Grand Conjunction. Someone is doing this to make me look bad. Just how do they expect us to cope with these numbers? We are not a bottomless chasm into which they can throw so many people!” She stood up explosively and stalked to the window. The panes of glass reflected the disapproving expression of her secretary fivefold. His thin lips were almost invisible, his black inscrutable eyes like bottomless chasms of their own. When would he try and take her position at the Spire? He was obviously ambitious. When he thought she could not see him he barely bothered to conceal his hunger. Staring out into the early night, she centred herself, regaining her poise with effort. “So two more arriving tomorrow, and another ... a day after? Two? We will need to double someone up until we can work out something more permanent. They will need assessed, and we will need to find someone compatible for each of them. I want Sentinels stationed on the open wards, just to be on the safe side. If we must use restraints, we must use restraints. Have von Holberg and Tivia started eating yet?" She looked back at him and he shook his head. "No, and now Issi has stopped eating as well. The connection is obvious. All three damaged by tulpa of the Phoenix. There is a message on your desk about the observations of the constellation." There was no open disapproval in his voice, but she could hear it anyway. "If you had read your messages," it seemed to say "you would know this." "Continue to force-feed them, then, we have no other choices. Move Issi to the west tower with the other two. I hate to have the three of them in the same place but it will make tending to them easier. Paragons know we are stretched enough as it is." She sighed, her breath fogging the windowpane for a moment. "If this carries on we shall have to stop admissions. We're running out of space, never mind staff.” At this rate, she might have to do the unthinkable and speak to someone from Halcyon Spire. She sighed again, wondering how she could avoid looking like a failure, damaging the reputation of the entire Spire of Twisting Shadows. Her secretary placed the most recent heliopticon message on the pile on her desk, pausing to careully straighten the pages so they were in line with the edges of the desk. Then he left, his slippered feet on the carpet creating a shuff-shuff-shuff noise that made Papiria want to scream. Like chewing wool. She knew nobody else would even notice the insolence in the noise, but to her it sounded like an open challenge. She looked at the paperwork on her desk, each missive an accusation of failure and inadequacy. She reached a decision, grabbed a fur-lined cloak, and slipped out onto the battlements. Perhaps a relaxing walk in the fresh night air would help clear her head. The work would still be there when she returned. Overhead, dimly, the Wanderer drifted quietly through the starry sky. ============= Not precisely a conjunction, but a celestial event. Two of them in fact. An existing constellation acting a little pecularly; a new star. You can learn more about these eerie events here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Red_star Of more general interest is an upswing in the number of incidents of mental or emotional instability, especially among the lineaged. We're encouraging people to play up their character's peculiar "madness" whether that be personal or down to a high lineage - but I'd also like to remind people to be mindful of our http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/equalityanddiversity? equality and diversity guidelines. *Please* don't force me to write one of those paragraphs about real world mental health issues being no joking matter. =========== The photo is apparently the star Celestia, a 3-D astronomy program. The star is HIP 52009. The photo is by NikoLang (Own work (Screenshot)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Words are by Gerwyn Walters and then adjective-d ================ #seriouslydonttakethepisshereandactlikegrownupsalright, #itsingsthestarstowakefulness, #looktotheskiespeople SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T03:27:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926075447488436 We have updated the accessibility statement on our main web page to better reflect conditions at our new site. We have also updated the Dadford Road campsite, Winter Solstice 2016 and assistance entry on our wiki to make clear our commitment to ensuring our events remain as accessible as possible. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/accessibility http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Winter_Solstice_2016#Mobility_Camp http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Assistance#Mobility_Needs Any new site is always challenging, so if any of our players have specific concerns or mobility needs, please get in touch and help us to make the events more accessible for everyone. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-17T02:49:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/926062294156418 Ersti sat quietly at the back of the tavern, letting the music wash over him. He didn't recognize the instrument the orc carried, but anyone could recognize the talent. The orc bard had kept the patrons entertained all evening with a typical repertoire of the sort of tunes that were always favoured in these establishments, upbeat songs that would get the patrons feet tapping and more importantly encourage them to drink. Ersti knew enough of the trade to know how these things went. But now the evening was winding down and the performer had switched to a slower tune - a haunting melancholy piece that carried Ersti from the tavern to the far mountains of his home. In his minds eye the music walked with him as he took the hard climb to the spire where his family waited. His heart yearned to have them here with him now, for his husband Aulus, and their two adopted children Sophia and Seneca. Seneca in particular he knew would have loved this tune. He shook his head to clear the memories, wiped the moisture from his eye and rose to his feet. The final tune was nearly finished and he needed to catch the bard before he left. After the performance was done and the bard had accepted the applause of his audience, Ersti caught his eye and introduced himself. He explained that he was a questor, an Urizen priest but a questioner more than a preacher. He had never been one for small talk, so once the introductions were over he got straight to the heart of the matter. "I am looking for stories of Thrace - the famous orc leader of the rebellion?" The Synod had recently declared Thrace an examplar of ambition - passed it through on a nod in fact - but then the Synod made a lot of examplars these days. They would probably make Senaca's wooden duck an examplar if he asked nicely. He wanted to challenge the decision - but he needed to know more about Thrace first. There was so little hard evidence of anything. Frankly he wasn't totally convinced the fellow was even real. The Orc said nothing, so Ersti continued. "I spoke to a dancer in Siroc, she said I should look for Bloodcrow Stone. You are Stone yes? One of the Three Refrains? I was hoping you could help me find out more about Thrace?" The Orc said nothing - he tried to read his face, but he always found orcs inscrutable. He hoped he hadn't insulted him in some way... the orc looked old, but he didn't fancy his chances if the fellow came out fighting. He was reassured by the sight of the rune sular, repeated three times in a circle. It was a symbol of the Three Refrains - the same symbol the dancer had had. From what he'd been told, it didn't guarantee that the orc would help him, but at least he wouldn't be offended by the asking. The orc seemed to weigh him up for a long time, before breaking into a broad smile. "Ai, I can tell you a story about Thrace... maybe..." He slid his tankard across the table towards Ersti. "But I'd need a drink - talking is thirsty work." Ersti took the hint - and the tankard - and stood up. He was about to set off for the bar - but caught himself. He'd spent three weeks looking for the bard - he needed to do everything he could to convince him to share his tale. "Thirsty - and perhaps hungry as well? I hear the mutton dinner is excellent. Perhaps I could buy you a plate?" ========== This is not a Wind of Fortune, so much as a campaign update. Over winter we've been hard at work looking at ways to run more plot at events but also to make the plot we run more accessible to players. The game of Empire is chock full of levers that players can pull to influence the politics and power of the Empire - but there weren't enough ways for players to chase up plot and elements of the setting that interested them. Worse, many of the ways that did exist were fatally flawed from a design perspective. They were hard to access, demanded a lot of work in response and as a result were slow to turn around. To address this problem we've made some changes to our team. We've had a new player team for some time - they work with new players to help them get into the game. We've decided to try to extend that support to all players, rather than focussing only on new players. As a result, we've reformulated our old bards team - presenting them as the restoration of an old bardic - the Three Refrains. They are now part of the new player support team. They will still be aiming to bring music and performance to Anvil, but now they are also a potential source of information and lore for players in the game. These characters know a lot of people in the Empire, so while there is only a small chance they can help you directly, they may well know someone who can help you. If your character is searching for more information on something, these bards are a geat place to go to try and find a lead. The bards are an Imperial sodality - an organization that transcends the national-based politics of the game, so anyone can approach them for help. If you can't persuade a bard to help you, the other place to look is in your own nation. Our egregores are now also members of the player support team. They will continue to emphasize and encourage the unique culture of their nation, but they can also use their abilities and connection to the people of your nation to help you investigate matters of interest to your nation. If a matter involves members of your nation then you might be able to persuade your egregore to help you. By working closely with our plot team, our hope is that these NPCs - the nation egregores and the bards of the Three Refrains - will be able to give a little more guidance and help than we have been able to manage previously. It won't be easy of course - they don't know everything and can't and won't help everyone. But if you're looking to pursue a matter or just find out a little more about what is going on then you now have some new avenues to chase it up in play on the field. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Three_Refrains http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Egregores SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-16T23:38:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925988884163759 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-16T17:38:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925811460848168 A brief interlude from all this dull IC Winds of Fortune nonsense to bring you some exciting exhilarating news about site transport logistics. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Assistance We've managed to help players get everything off site quickly in torrential rain when vehicles couldn't move on site using only two 4x4s so I'm confident we'll do far better now we've got a great plan, dedicated crew, and nearly four times as many vehicles - but we'll need your help! So if you're going to need assistance moving your kit on site, please read the plan and work with it. The faster we can move your kit... the faster we can get to the next player and get everyone helped. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-16T17:16:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925802767515704 A brief interlude in the Winds of Fortune excitement - this is a short video detailing Imperial military maneuvers over the last three years which has been animated by Tony Coleman from data and images provided by Helen Colson, Helen Dabill, and Daisy Abbott. It's not an official PeeDee piece, purely a labour of love from the creators. So don't take it as gospel! But it might help job peoples' memories about events in the last three years and give new players some questions to ask ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-16T14:56:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925736790855635 ++CUTTINGS++ Margaret opened the door as she finished sweeping, and was surprised to see that the stoop was occupied. A wicker basket, full of blankets. She sighed inwardly. It was possible it was a gift from someone too shy to own up to it but ... Practical, she swept round the basket, banishing the pile of dust and tracked-in mud and a few dead leaves she had been herding around the cottage for the last half hour. Then she leant the broom against the wall and squatted down next to the basket, gingerly drawing back the top blanket. Thick, undyed wool. Something moved beneath it. Her heart sank. Another one. She hefted the basket up with an "oof" at the unexpected weight and manhandled it through to the hearthside. She collected a jug of milk from the pantry an set it near the fire to warm. Then she opened the window at the back of the cottage and bellowed "Shem, get in here now please! Someone has left you a present!" She went back through and carefully, gingerly removed the baby from the basket, and took a good look at it, nose crinkling slightly at the smell. The blankets would need a good wash. The child was healthy enough - a little boy - and she judged perhaps a month old. Maybe two. Far too young to be starting life in a basket on the doorstep of a ... Shem came in, stamping his feet and blowing on his hands. "It's a bit parky out!" he said cheerfully. Then he saw what Margaret held, and his good mood vanished. "Is that a bairn?" he asked. "What do you think you daft apeth?" She wasn't really angry, but it was hard for her to contain her temper. "And it's not just a baby." Shem leant over her, and attracted the swaddled child's attention. It wrapped one tiny finger around his thick digit, and stared up at him in goggle-eyed fascination. "Those ... are some very green eyes." said Shem mildly. "That's not all." Margaret carefully parted the blankets over the baby's abdomen. A patch of thick, young bark covered the baby's abdomen. "From where the cord was cut." said Margaret unneccessarily. Shem sighed a heavy, sad sigh. "Sad." "Yes." said Margaret. "And unnatural of course." Shem gave her a look, and she hastily clarified. "Not the bark, but the age. You know as well as I do that briars are never born like this. When was the last time you heard of anyone this young with the bark?" Shem sighed. "Last week. Mother Corlis called me in, over at the Fletcher place. Same thing. Green eyes, bark, the poor thing even had some thorns. She kept scratching herself and crying. I gave them the salve. They're a little bit dazed, I think, but then you know what it's like with a firstborn ..." He was babbling. He got a grip on himself. "Yes," said Margaret. "This is the third one in six weeks, and there's only been what? Five babies born in the whole of Tower March since the Equinox? Over half of them marked like this, when one would be a nine months wonder ..." Shem sketched a sign in the air over the baby, and whispered a few words in a deep, rumbling voice. "It's not a curse on the child." he said. He sucked his teeth. "I feel sorry for the poor parents." he said to nobody in particular. "Imagine." Margaret was less forgiving. "They've abandoned their baby on your doorstep. If I find out who they are I'll not be wasting time feeling sorry for them, I'll be getting my pots and pans out ..." Shem shook his head. "Think. It's not a newborn, and there's no signs of mistreatment, and that bark is not new. Imagine what could have happened to this little fellow a hundred years back. There's nobody in the 'Stoke due to pop out a bawler. It'll be from one of the outlying farms, or maybe ... well it wouldn't be the first Feni baby we've seen would it love? But we can worry about that later. Can I leave you to take care of this little fellow? I need to go and talk to the other landskeepers. This ain't natural, and we need to find out ..." Margaret rocked the baby for a few moments and then said. "Wasn't Bob Fletcher fighting up north last year?" Shem sighed. "Yes. Yes he was. And before you say it, yes he and Jenny were expecting very soon after he got back. But neither of the Carters have been out of King's Stoke for three years, and they've got a little spriggan anyway so ..." Margaret tutted and Shem smiled wearily and said "It's alright if I say it, love. Just not if anyone else says it to me. He'll hear worse as he grows up I don't doubt. Right! I'll leave you to look after the little sproutling, and I'll go and roust up Meg and Toby and the others and see if we can't brew up some trouble for someone." The landskeeper grabbed his staff from near the door and set out into the cold, and was halfway down the path before his hand strayed unconsciously to the thick patch of bark near his left temple, and he stopped for a moment, just breathing quietly in the cold morning air. And then he was all business again, striding down the path towards King's Stoke. ========== One baby born with strong briar lineage expressing from birth is an extremely rare occurrence. Seven in three months ... is an order of magnitude of strange coincidence that would be difficult to express. You can learn more about this odd event here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Cuttings =========== Francesco Foschi and workshop [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The picture is "An extensive winter landscape with a peasant by a cottage, mountains beyond" by Franceso Coschi, an 18th century Italian painter known for his winter landscapes. So there you go. =========== #yesyoucanplayonebutonlyifyouarethreemonthsold, #takenfrommyrejectedEmmerdalescript, #parkyisanentirelynaturalwaytosaycold SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-16T14:25:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925722360857078 ++THE STARS AREN'T RIGHT++ The Brother of Wizards lounged back on his cushions, gesturing lazily to the wooden throne. His guest glided across the chamber and settled herself neatly. The young girl looked even smaller in the massive seat. She settled her black skirts neatly around her with assured motions, and then without bothering to wait to be invited selected a deep crimson fruit from the bowl by the throne and popped it in her mouth. Sadogua finished chewing dragonbone, belched appreciatively, and favoured his protoge with a wide grin. "So ... how is the world? Still there I assume?" he laughed at his own joke. One of his massive ears twitched as his grim spread even wider. Neora finished her fruit before answering. Despite her youth she spoke confidently. "Still there. I went to the places you suggested, and looked at things. It was very interesting." "Did anyone try to interfere with you?" "Not at all. I don't think anyone really saw me. They spoke to the guardians you'd given me, I think that most of them thought it was something to do with the Academy. I didn't even have to use your name once." Sadogua slapped his belly. "Ha! Good good, good good! And why would anyone question a little naga girl an her two burly armoured tarry minions anyway?" He laughed at a private joke. Neora ate another fruit, a blue one this time. When he had finished she continued. "The mists are all still there. I liked them. They are very pretty, especially at night." The Father of Bats nodded, pleased. "Then I went up to Madruga and looked at the sky like you said." "Did you spot any patterns?" Sadogua leant forward, looking at her from each eye in turn, his expression intent. Neora thought carefully. "I think so. I think ... I felt like all the stars were there but in different places. Even when they were in the same places, or there were no stars at all. Does that make any sense?" Sadogua said nothing. He bit open a container of iridescent gloaming, swallowed the contents, and then crunched the bottle speculatively. "Mmmm. Maybe later we'll talk about that." "They were powerful." "Yes they were. Do you have any idea why." "They really didn't want people to scry on them, I suppose. And because why would you ever bother to not make them powerful if you wanted them to work?" Neora picked up another fruit, looked at it, put it down, and sipped a little cordial from a clay cup. Then she picked up a chocolate amphibian and set to work biting its legs and arms off one at a time. She continued to talk in between bites. "Then I went to the very west and looked at the marshes. I've never seen a marsh before. They were very wet. I liked them. There were some creatures there who were very pleasant. We spoke to some of the Marchers and the Kallavesi about the enchantments. We visited the mists, and in Kallavesa a giant lizard ate one of the guardians. It was very surprising. Can I ask a question?" "Always, my dear. You can ask me any question you like. I won't always answer but you can always ask." "Why have they woven the mists like that?" "Politics and war, my sweetling. Politics and war. They're worried about the Jotun, who are full of passionate intensity and bellyfulls of injured pride. It's very sad. The humans and the orcs are like lovers, who've never quite gotten around to fu- ..." He looked at her, his mouth a line, and cocked his head as if listening to an internal monologue. "Anyway, we can talk about that when you're older. Anything else?" "I met a Boundary man who was very pleased with the mists. He said he and his friends had hidden behind a stand of birch trees and caught a bunch of cattle rustlers redhanded. He was very proud. I liked him. There was also a lot of talk about farms, and about herbs, and something about famine but it sounded quite dull so I didn't really listen." Sadogua nodded. "Anything else?" "Then we went right up north to a very cold flat place I didn't like, but there were mountains. The orcs were unfriendly at first but the guardians put them straight. I did not like the old wizard very much, I felt sorry for him. The younger wizard made me laugh and gave me this." She touched a beautiful brooch of mithril and temepst jade pinned to her jacket. Sadogua eyed it thoughtfully. "It's very pretty. I should probably take a look at it later. Then what happened?" "Then they did a great rite, under the stars, and they invoked the Mountain and the Oak, and there was a great ice ogre there crowned with antlers who was not like an ogre, and then they brought out a hundred rings of starstuff, and then there was a castle. It was made of ice and granite, and it sparkled. They let me look inside. It was cold, but it was very pretty. There were more ice ogres inside." "Hmmmmmm. So they went ahead. Show offs." Despite his words ,the Brother of Wizards seemed pleased. "Now why do you think they did something so extreme when they could have just piled up a load of white granite over the next year instead?" Neora considered as she finished her frog. "I think they did it for two reasons. Firstly, they don't trust the Empire and they didn't want to risk them attacking before they had built the castle. The young wizard said as much when he thought I was asleep in the sled." "Insightful. What was the other reason." Neora smiled then, and her golden eyes lit up with a fire that was not entirely human. "Because they are *wizards* and because they *could* do it!" she exclaimed. Sadogua laughed uproariously. "Ah child you are a gift, and absolute gift! Literally." Neora laughed along with the great wyrm. He stretched and yawned. "Well, that is enough for now you are tiring me out. We can talk about the rest later. Oh ... hmmm ... one final thing." He said it in an off-hand way that made the girl immediately suspicious. He reached into the rubbish near his bed of cushions and pulled something out - a little wooden box. He tossed it across to his guest, and she caught it deftly. She flicked the copper catch and opened it up. The contents took her breath away, and light flooded her scaled features. "What ... what is it?" "Oh it's just a bauble I happen to have lying around. Some nice Urizen gave it to me." he frowned. "Leant it to me. Whatever. Now I want you to have it. No reason." Neora looked at her guardian, waiting for him to say something else, but he just watched her solemnly, his eyes heavy and lidded and full of calculation. Then he smiled, and it was as if he had been smiling all along. "Now shoo, and go climb some trees or chase some deer or what have you. I need to get plenty of sleep." She snapped the box closed again, and left the chamber back to the tower on the edge of the woods. Sadogua watched her go, his expression unreadable. =========== Nothing dramatic, just a round up of odd magical effects that might be noticable to people in certain areas. After you've rea the self-indulgent flavour text you can go and learn the specifics of the effects described here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_stars_aren't_right Hopefully I haven;t missed anything significant ... it also comes with a link to the wiki update about shrouds (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates#Shrouds) which is mostly about making them work the way everyone including me and Graeme assumed they worked. ======= The picture is a fascinating pinwheel galaxy By X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Detlef Hartmann; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech - http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/m101.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32619569 ======= #dragonboneandgloamingisthiscenturyswoodandstone, #literallyagiftliterally, #whyaretherenosadoguaslashfics SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-15T23:29:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925340570895257 ++BLACK AND WHITE++ "Because it would be *illegal*." said Ana, deftly hiding the fact that she wasn't sure whether it in fact was illegal or not. Peter of Hintown looked down at his bowl of soup and said nothing. He may have made the discovery, but he was not getting between the Winterfolk. "What do we do when we tell them about our find and the damn Senate takes it away from *us* and gives it to the damn *orcs*!" Bellowed Ulan. "They can't do that," said Jeorg reasonably, stirring the fire. "Well then they'll give it to the damn *League*!" Ulan jabbed his spoon vaguely southwards. Here on the edge of Tsirku, almost very direction counted as "south" Peter opened his mouth to say something and then thought better of it. He sighed, and added another pinch of herbs to his sealmeat stew. He was actually beginning to wish he'd never found the thing now. It was so much easier when they were just looking at troll artifacts and dodging ... whatever it was that they'd been attacked by in the cave. He shuddered, remembering the stink of it's breath and the immense bone-crunching jaws gaping on either side of his terrified head. He started to catalogue the things he would not miss when he was safely back in the Marches. He never imagined he would be nostalgic for the Feni-haunted drowned ruins of Bregasland ... but he was. At least they were warm. His companions continued to argue, huddled together in the yurt on the edge of the wasteland. Peter nursed his broken arm and felt sorry for himself. He laid back on his cot and listened to the sounds outside - the occasional cry from the penguins and the lapping of the waves were the only sounds. He drowsed a little and fancied he could hear the great ice wall itself creaking and groaning. Singing him to sleep. Privately he wished he had taken the other route through the caves near the glacier. Not just because of the ... the thing ... that had tried to maul him. If they had gone left, his arm would not be broken and Rickon would never have spotted the metal veins and Jeorg would never have confirmed it was bloody ... Now, there would probably be more arguments, and then the Face of Ikka would be crawling with miners and prospectors. The chances of finding anything more in the tunnels down near the great lake would fade and melt away like ... he groped for a suitable analogy. An ice cube in a furnace? He felt his eyes filling with water, and dashed them away with his good arm. As Ulan continued to try (ineffectively) to sway the others to a crazed plan in which they kept the find to themselves, he pulled out a square of parchment and continued to pen the first of his letters back to civillisation. "... While I have yet to confirm my hypothesis with regard to the relationship between the Thule invasion and the Trolls, we do appear to have found a sizable deposit of raw mithril ...." === One last one before bed. A civil servant, five famous Wintermark adventurers, and a glacier ... and the find of a lifetime. A workable vein of mithril, right up at the top of the world within easy walking distance of both the THule and the Jotun ... You can learn more about this opportunity here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Black_and_white ========= Jackdaws are the Prosperity bird, in case you were wondering. I assume penguins are the Wintermark bird of gloomy resignation. The Bergman bird of the spiritual aviary. =============== #tekelilili!, #thechoiceisblackandwhitedependingwhoyouask, #onedayIwillgetdirepenguinsonthefield SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-15T22:49:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925313370897977 ++SWANS WILL SING++ "There's nothing we can do Singur. The Senate have signed a treaty - it's done." Singur continued sewing, her hands busy and her expression intent. Lotta topped up the glass of amber liquid on the arm of her chair and poked the fire while she waited for a response. "There's always something you can do Lotta. Always. If you're prepared to take the consequences." Singur nodded as spoke, finishing a few last stitches, she snipped the thread and examined her work critically. "Like what? What exactly are you suggesting Sigur? We can't attack the Thule - it's impossible." Lotta took a sip from her glass, and looked stared intently at Singur, daring the woman to disagree with her. Singur tugged gently at the cloth and was pleased with her handiwork. She set it to one side, and took a sock from her work pile. She examined it carefully before speaking again. "It's not impossible Lotta. It's just illegal. It's not the same thing at all." "You're suggesting we break the law? Really is that your plan? They are foreigners now. Magistrates will say it was murder. If we're caught - we'll be executed for it." Singur smiled wrly at her friend "You talk freely of a war with the Thule, you have the courage to face them in the mountains - but you're worried about breaking the law?" Lotta looked unhappy, opened her mouth to argue, closed it again. Singur smiled, took another sip, and set to work darning the sock. There was silence for a few minutes, apart from the fire crackling. Lotta checked the bread she was toasting, spread a little butter (swearing under her breath at her burnt fingers), and deposited one of the two slices next to the whiskey at Singur's side. Finally she tried a different tack. "It would be insane to attack the Thule. There are thousands of them, we can't achieve anything on our own." "No of course not, we need to be wise and courageous. We need a rod and a line to catch our fish." Singur tugged gently at the cloth and was pleased with her handiwork. She put it aside, put down her needle, picked up her slice of toast, and met Lotta's gaze suddenly, her eyes full of fire. "Everyone is talking about attacking the Thule. I want to take up my axe and shield and march into their lands and fight them. They took the Stonefield Ice Caves from us - so lets go and take something back and damn the consequences." Lotta's eyes opened wide in surprise and she choked on a mouthful of whiskey. Singur took a satisfied bite of toast with a loud crunch, and reached out to pick up a glove from her work pile before continuing more calmly. "Everyone is talking about breaking the treaty. We need to do more than talk. If we're to come together and raid the Thule - we need someone to lead us." Now it was Lotta's turn to get angry with her friend. "Britta is dead Singur, remember? The Thule killed her. The Senate are the ones who agreed the treaty. They are the ones I blame for this!" "Don't blame the Senate Lotta. We invented it after all. It has gone against Wintermark this time, it will turn in our favour another time and someone else will be smarting because of it. They make deals, it's what they do." "So who then?" Lotta spread her hands wide, demanding an answer. "We need to look to our own... We need the Stormcrows." ============== There's a lot of anger in Wintermark, and over winter it is beginning to fester. An opportunity exists to tend the wounded Pride of the three peoples - assuming that their Stormcrows have the Courage to do so ... You can learn about this fascianting opportunity to do something very brave and somewhat illegal here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Swans_will_sing ============ Taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/134832191@N08/20326687654 and used under Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) ============ #whenjackdawsaresilent, #thankswikipediathikipedia, #wesaidtheredbeopportunities SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-15T21:28:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/925275057568475 ++THE FALCON IN WINTER++ The figure stood atop Crows Keep wrapped in furs and silhouetted by the winter sun. They stared out across the mountain pass, not towards the Thule border, but towards the Empire. A different type of invader was coming. They weren't here to take their homes tough. No, it was more insidious than that. They were here to take Skarsind's heritage and pride. The Imperial Orcs were coming. No more would Skarsind be part of Wintermark, now it was a place for orcish ancestors and orcish children. Skarsind would no longer be a place of Stormcrows, hospitality, and runesmiths. Now it would be a place of shamans, pit fights, and objects of "worth". The skien of Skarsind had been snapped. it's history had been discarded. This was not about ownership or property, it was about history, about tradition, about the sacrifices made to tame this land. About the debts owed to all those who had died to build Skarsind. Dogri did not hate the Orcs; he understood too well what it felt like to live at another's whim, to be told you had a place in the Empire, but it was not truly your place. The bile in his gut was for those who would give away his lands - not for those who had been given them. Why not Holberg? Why not Karsk? Too much money and too much influence was why. No, let Wintermark give up their lands. Wintermark the loyal. Wintermark with it's broad shoulders could carry this burden. But even the strongest oxen could be given a load too heavy to bear. "Sir?" The messenger was young. She looked worried. "I said that out loud did I?" Dogri chuckled. He looked at the messenger properly. She was very young. To young for the scars that marked her face - barely old enough to be away from her parents, but old enough to be marked forever by the Thule war. She was young in years, but her eyes were old. The eyes of a veteran like many here, like many who understood the cost of loyalty and pride. He could see in her eyes that she had the courage to stand up for her traditions, for her ancestors' traditions. "Tell them to collapse all passes except Pioneers Way, and send the message to Anvil. They may pass what laws they like, but this is a place of Loyalty, Pride and Courage. The Orcs may have the rest, but Crows Ridge is Wintermark still. As long as we draw breath, it is Wintermark still." =========== The short version? A Wintermark war hero has claimed Crow's Ridge for himself and for any other Steinr, Kallavesi, or Suaq who want to make a stand. You can learn the full details here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Falcon_in_winter The page also has a summary of the Skarsind situation from the PoV of the Wintermarkers which you can skip to if you want by clicking this link -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Falcon_in_winter#The_Skarsind_Situation ==== This is Dunstanburgh Castle, and the photo is © Copyright Andrew Curtis, licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1133668) The basic words were drawn by John Haynes, and then ruthlessly adjusted so they had vowels in them by me. ============== #sorryaboutthedelaybutwenowhavevis, #iamthewombofeveryholt, #itsallkickingoff SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-14T23:16:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/924705564292091 As most of you know, we had to move quickly to secure a new site for the year. As a result the site we are now using has some restrictions on vehicle movements in some areas. These kind of restrictions are common at many events and festivals but are something we've avoided in the past - so please read this carefully as it is very much a change from how we have been operating previously. We fully understand that the new rules will be a disappointment to many; but we want to stress that while these rules have been imposed on us, they will bring a lot of benefits to everyone who attends the event. Our events have suffered very badly with mud over the last few years. That has happened in part because we've tried to make things easy for players and let everyone drive all over the land. Vehicle restrictions means more work for players and crew alike - but it will make a significant difference to the quality of the site. It will mean a less muddy site at this event and for the rest of the year. PLANNING YOUR TRIP Crucially we want everyone to understand what the restrictions will be before turning up, so that you have time to decide which camp you are going to use and plan accordingly. For ooc camping and parking, drivers have two options. They can either: * Park their car in the quiet camping field and come and go freely all weekend * Park their car in the OOC camping field but not move it again until they are ready to depart the event If you drive your vehicle down the road to the OOC camping field - then it must remain there until you are ready to depart the site at the end of your weekend. There is assistance available for moving camping equipment. There are no road vehicles allowed on the IC field. QUIET CAMPING & PARKING Vehicles parked here may come and go freely throughout the weekend. You may pitch and park here or park your car here and move your equipment to the other fields. There is assistance available for moving camping equipment from here to the OOC fields or to Anvil. The quiet camping field is the first field you come to, it is a long walk from the IC area. This field has the best hygiene facilities we have had for some time - a large building that includes flushing toilets, sinks with hot running water and large shower cubicles. This camp is ideal for anyone who wants a quiet camp to sleep in - or anyone happy to accept those limitations to have access to the best hygiene facilities at night and each morning, but bear in mind that the quiet camp is a 500m walk from Anvil. OOC Camping Fields Vehicles brought to the OOC camping field must remain there for the rest of the weekend. You will be directed to a spot on the land by our gate team and must leave your vehicle there until you are ready to finally depart the event. You cannot drive to the OOC field, unpack your belongings and then return to park in the Quiet camping field. There is assistance available for moving camping equipment from here to the Anvil field. The OOC camping fields are down the farm track and adjacent to the Anvil field. We will deploy our existing mobile toilet facilities here, these are recirculating toilets with a standpipe nearby for washing hands. This camp is ideal for anyone who wants easy access to their OOC camp throughout the weekend and does not need to leave the site at any point. IC Field & Crew Camp The IC field & Crew field at Dadford Road have a complete restriction on road vehicles being allowed on. No player or crew will be allowed to drive their car on to the IC field. Please note this includes 4x4s and road trailers. Whereas in the past we’ve often been happy to let players with 4-wheel drive vehicles on to parts of the IC field this will not be the case at Dadford Road - PD is being equally restricted on this matter. It’s a not an issue of getting bogged down, it’s an issue of the damage to the topsoil on the site. ASSISTANCE PD have hired four mules (small all-terrain vehicles) with trailers and arranged a dedicated bunch of crew to drive them throughout site set-up. The mules will be on hand to help anyone who needs to move kit from one area of the site to another before and after the event. Please speak to a member of the gate team on arrival if you want assistance getting kit to the IC or OC fields. Public Transport We have arranged for a local transport company to operate a minibus service between Banbury train station and the site. Full details of times are on the website - but please note that there is a £5 charge each way for players and that you must book in advance by emailing admin@profounddecisions.co.uk to guarantee a place. CONCLUSION No site is ever perfect, and the vehicle restrictions are the main problem we face with Dadford Road. The site has many pluses - the quiet camp has a permanent hygiene block with flushing toilets and hot water in the sinks and showers; Anvil includes a wooded area; and we have a huge battlefield that includes open fields and a big wood. Obviously our crew are going to be working flat out to support the event and get everyone on site and into character as quick as possible but I am confident that on balance the site is actually going to be a big improvement over the one we used last year. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Dadford_Road_Campsite http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Winter_Solstice_2016 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-14T17:42:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/924540817641899 ++LAND FIT FOR HEROES++ Loyalty is a fire that spreads quickly - provided the wood is dry. ======== You may notice that I have avoided a big piece of flavour text here. That's because this particular Wind of Fortune is more like a rules update than a typical event. There are at least two more Skarsind-related updates to come. This one covers the political consequences of the Imperial Orcs homeland. The Imperial Orcs now have a homeland - Skarsind. *Probably* have a homeland, I should say, because there is one potential complication. You can read the full write-up here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Land_fit_for_heroes but I will do a quick breakdown: * VETO - The General Assembly of the Synod can still veto the assignment if they get their arses in gear; it will count as their use of *last event's* veto; the Senate will be able to re-raise the assigment motion this event if they wish - its far too late to do anything about the relinquishment now. * LIFE IS PRECIOUS - All Imperial Orc resources are now in Skarsind. You can opt out if you wish by telling us where in the Empire you would like your resource to be. You will then suffer loss of production like any other character with a resource outsid etheir nation. * WAR IS IN OUR SOUL: The civil service has discussed the election of the Imperial Orcs senators with the egregore and followed its lead. * LOYAL TO THE CORE. Going forward, generals will be appointed by unanimous decision of the senator. Custom may influence this as the orcs decide but *legally* the senator appoints the general. * WE ARE CITIZENS. Going forward, the Advisor on Orc Affairs will be appointed by unanimous decision of the Senator. * WE ARE BUILDING A NATION. The Brilliant Shore is now an Imperial Orcs national bourse seat allocated by vote of those orcs who own military units. The current (Steinr) seat holder is in an odd position, and the civil service will seek the advice of the Senate on how to proceed. The Steel Fist has moved to Skarsind from Necropolis making it one of the most short-lived pieces of text I have written. =========== Photograph is a lovely shot of the Imperial Orcs in Year One, from Steph Morris. I added the border. ============== #aseasonisalongtimeinpolitics SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-14T14:36:14+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/924433424319305 ++A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE++ The players finished their play, and took their bows. The audience was silent, until a small polite clap grew to a crescendo in the small tavern. The actors quickly thanked the crowd and ran back stage. The farcical comedy of the ''Empress Teleri and the Archmage of Summer'' was one of their most popular plays. The paragons knew, the people of the Marches needed cheering up as grim curses ran riot among their farms and the first stories of the battle for Mournwold began to filter in from the south. They had performed the plays countless times - even reduced the dour Highborn in Necropolis to tears of laughter during one triumphant, golden night. It was simple enough and suited their style - one act, set in the Chamber. Always the Chamber. Exposing weakness was such a key theme of the play, empowering the humour that comes from playing the Prince against the Mountebank. Jane of Sutton asked the question first. When the heck had they decided to use the Tomb set instead? Mummer dramaturgy tended toward the improvisational but they usually at least blocked out the main thrust before each performance. This time everything had just ... changed. Midstream, as it were. None of them could agree who had first shaded the dialogue to include the mausoleum, nor when the throne had become the sarcophagus of the pious martyr. Each one of them had become so caught up in the scene, and then somehow the play had changed. The comedy had still been there, but it had been darker. Blacker. The not-quite-romance between the pious Empress and the bawdy Marcher had an edge of tragedy about it, of loss. It was certainly not the play they had rehearsed, and it wasn’t at all what they had intended to present to the drunken patrons of the Horse and Six Buckets. The crowd appeared to have appreciated it, so no harm down. Yet it was still a little worrying. They were due to perform the play again tomorrow at the Widderson Fair … this time with a few more laughs , hopefully. ============ This one is tricksy, and magical. It involves the formation of a new Winter regio at Anvil; a sinister invitation from the sovereign-lords of the Wasteland; and a change to the functionality of the Imperial Regio at Anvil. You can learn about all the juicy details here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_fine_and_private_place Of interest to ... well, potentially quite a few people ... is this bit about tribute and boons: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_fine_and_private_place#The_Heralds_of_Winter which involves an anouncement which I shall include here even though it means this post will be a bit long: ---------------- Scions of Atun and Atuman; the royal houses of the Dawn; the tribes of Kallavesi and Suaq; the heirs of Aldrei the Fair; the scions of Terrunel; the Masters of the High Peaks; the Princes of Jarm; the descendants of the Sorcerer-Kings; the tribes of the Dragon; and the sons and daughters of Naguerro. Hear the words of the King Bound in Chains. I have created a regio that will allow travel to a Winter Chamber from the fourth hour of the afternoon on the Winter Solstice until midnight of that day. Let magicians who are skilled practitioners of winter lore come to that chamber to speak with the sovereign-lords of the Wasteland. Let it be known that this chamber is neutral territory between your nations and any others who may come before us as ambassadors of their people; any violence or theft against another guest will see that nation earn the ire of all the sovereign-lords of the Wasteland. Do not test our will; we are united in this regard. So swears Tharim, Skathe and Surat, Rangara and Kaela, Agramant and Sorin. During this time we will accept tribute from your people in the form of Dragonbone. Each of us has prepared boons. We will magnanimously grant these boons to you in return for your tribute. Whichever among you gives the greatest amount of dragonbone for each of the boons we have prepared shall gain sole custody of that boon. I trust that each of the nations we have invited will decide who will be giving tribute for their nation. let none who does not rightfully claim to belong to that nation offer tribute to us lest they incur the wrath of their ancestors. So is my word given Tharim, the King Bound in Chains --------------------------- So ... theres that. ================ The photograph is a frankly beautiful Beth Dooner picture from the recent House of Leaves event. I am not clear who is in it. I have put a border around it. I am taking suggestions for a prominent place to put it on the main wiki. Quite a lot of the words are the fault of Dave Young (who some of you may know as one of the Navarr egregores) ================ #butnoneIthinkdothereembrace, #allthewintereternalsarejudgingyou, #scionsofatunandatumanunitetoformmechahighborn! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-14T13:21:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/924395767656404 ++SUMMER IN WINTER++ Petravya pulled her wool-and-fur hat down firmly over her ears, and ensured both her coats were firmly fastened. She took a single mouthful of something that was absolutely not water from the flask her husband had prepared for her, and felt the pleasant warmth spreading from her stomach as the herbs went to work. She slipped it into one of the embroidered pouches at her belt, and buckled the strong leather harness comfortably across her middle. Then she pulled her heavy snow boots over her soft down-lined slippers, and engaged in the mild gymnastics needed to get her feet on the mat in front of the door rather than risk tearing up the wooden floor with the metal cleats on their soles. She stood up a little unsteadily. She pulled on her fine gloves - while she dearly wanted to wear the mittens her sister had made for her she knew she might need the dexterity granted by five fingers. She grabbed her axe, and checked the edge was good and sharp. She strapped it to her side, and then checked her other, smaller axe was likewise up to the task of cleaving dead flesh, or the bark of the dubik (of which there had been several reports in the last few weeks). She hung the icon of Inga Tarn round her neck, paused to kiss the cold dragonbone hammer-and-axe on its smooth surface, and tucked it inside her coats. It was coldagainst her skin but would soon warm up once she started moving. She took a deep breath, and then picked up the heavy shovel from next to the door. She hefted it in one hand, and then two, and took an experimental jab with it - the solid steel edge of the shovel-blade could cleave through a Wolf's neck if she needed it to. She traced the place on the handle where her grandfather had painstakingly carved an image of his old dogs, Lightning and Thunder. She missed all three of them. Then she opened the door, and called back over her shoulder to the rest of the family. "I am going to go and clear the path! If I am not back in an hour, then someone had better come and look for me or there will be all kinds of trouble!" And then she stepped out into the grey snow, and slammed the door firmly behind her. =========== Potent Summer shennanigans in Varushka! We mentioned this during the mid-season break, but the full details are now available on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Summer_in_Winter The short version is that every resource owned by a Varushkan in Varushka is receiving extra production, and that every player is encouraged to come up with strange stories of odd events and summer magic. You might also want to sing some songs. Oh yes - and its a harsh winter. For everyone. But especially in Varushka. Varushkan players may also be interested in http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune#Crows_and_Colleges which rounds up the progress of the recent burst of constructive energy unleashed through the Senate. ======= The picture is by By Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin - http://img1.liveinternet.ru/images/attach/b/3/25/886/25886047_Bilibin.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6589382 Except that I used my leet paint skills to stick a sun over the moon because ... well because I did ======= #goldstartoanyonewhoknowswhatadubikiswithoutgooglingit, #weneedmorehuldra, #slavicfolkloreisabsolutelybrilliantjustsaying SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-13T19:20:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923917831037531 ++IMPERIAL TITLES FOR EVERYONE!++ Well ... not really. We've spent most of today wrestling with some behemoth Winds of Fortune trying to beat them into shape, and now I'm feeling guilty about having promised several each day and not delivered. This isn't technically a Wind of Fortune either ... but it's a handy-dandy reminder of one of the cut-throat arenas of our PvP game - the politics. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_Imperial_elections is an as up-to-date as we can get it list of which Imperial titles are definitely up for re-appointment at the next event. In each case, I've tried to say a few words about how that position is appointed and who by. You can also follow the links to learn about the powers, responsibilities, and other details of the titles in question. One of the core elements of the game is to devolve as much power as possible over the setting to the players, and the Imperial titles are one of the ways we can do it. So why not check and see if you're nation, or one of the political bodies you are part of, is getting to give out a Big Hat this event - and either give some thought to how you might cast your vote ... or who you'd need to sway to your way of thinking to get the hat for yourself ... because without exception it is possible for a brand new character to the system to make a play for one of the titles. It will be an uphill struggle - because that's what pseudo-democratic politics is like - but if you're looking for an IC goal, pick a title and go get it ;) We'll be keeping that page up to date in the run-up to the event as things develop or change, so its worth keeping an eye on it. The most *significant* title on that page from the PoV of Gamez is probably the new Senator for Skarsind, which will be the first Imperial orc senator. And is a large part of why there've been no other winds of fortune today - because the Skarsind ones are going to be ... big. ================ The photograph is from Empire Day 2016 and shows (I think) Merlot assisting militiaman Hardfrost with his enquiries. But if you don't know the context you can imagine they're talking about elections. Rather than a gruesome murder. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-13T12:01:25+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923692447726736 ++THE STARS, THEY DO NOTHING++ Megaris, leaned back and rubbed her eyes, trying to use her fingers to relieve the strain caused by the hours spent staring through the lens of her mentor's telescope. She picked the stylus and recorded the coordinates of the three stars she had been observing, sighing as she did so. Star-gazing had seemed so mysterious, so exciting, when she was a young student. If she'd realized that her chosen occupation would mostly consist of counting stars, she might have been less disdainful of other traditions. "I wander why Vitula is so interested in the Wanderer" she said aloud. "What it is doing that is so important?" "Child, how many times must I explain?" Megaris jumped at the sudden intervention. Vitula, her mentor was always quiet and had developed the intimidating habit of coming up behind her student. She wandered how long the woman had been watching her. "The stars don't do anything. No more than the runes the Mark pull from their bags. They're just a way to sense what is happening in the world. I met a Feni wizard once, who used to drop molten wax into ice-water, claimed he could read the winds of magic in the patterns formed." Megaris rolled her eyes, she'd heard this explanation a thousand times from Vitula. It was only a figure of speech, that was all. Besides ... not everyone quite agreed with Vitula's view of the matter, no matter how often she repeated it. Still she was Vitula's student, the time for having her own opinions on magic was after she had learned what she could from her teacher and not before. Thankfully the dreary anecdote of the Feni magician was cut short as Vitula leaned over her desk to inspect her latest records. She stared at them intently, ignoring Megaris who waited eagerly if she would dispense some wisdom on what it all meant. "We need to keep watching, we need to record the motion accurately, to discern what is happening" was all she said before turning and gliding silently away. Megaris signed, and rubbed her sore eye again before bending back to the telescope. Her teacher knew a lot about the stars, it was her definition of "we" that left a lot to be desired. ========= Again, not technically a wind of fortune but worth drawing everyone's attention to. This is a bit bigger than locking boxes, mind. Essentially, we've altered the way major conjunctions – the battle gates – work. It boils down to offering the generals a set of “teams” to choose from. Under the new rules, the civil service will analyze the conjunctions and inform the Military Council of their options, which nations could take the battlefield together. At each event there will be at least four different combinations - but the combinations will change from one event to the next. You can learn all about it here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Conjunctions and as before there is a section explaining the thinking behind the change here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Reasoning_2 The Military Council still chooses the battles for the Empire, and while the options for who goes on which battle are a little more restrictive it is still the Military Council's decision to make. It's our hope that one of the positive effects of this change will be to stop players trying to “balance” battle numbers based on their estimations of how many soldiers any given nation fields – not least because these groupings are based on the actual numbers fielded in last years' battles. It also helps to remove the temptation to intentionally unbalance the sides on the battlefield. Because the politics of our game are so intense, if one battle is more politically expedient than another, then it is strategically sound for the Military Council to do everything they can to win that battle – including unbalancing the sides, even though that makes both battles less enjoyable for the participants on both sides. Take a look at the rules - you can discuss them on our forums if you like ( https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/), and we've also made public the four sets of "team" options for the next event that the generals will be debating on Friday night. The usual tricks – the mercenary banner (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Mercenary_Banner) and rituals such as Braying Horns of War (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Braying_Horns_of_War) - will continue to work as they did before for the time being at least. =========== I've found a new tool on Paint. Cower in fear, brief mortals. I can make things look a bit like I've applied a crap filter to them! ============= #ipreferredtheversionwhereitwasthepurplesails SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-13T11:29:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923682287727752 ++LITTLE BOXES++ "Ta da" said Deorwine proudly, beaming at his wife. She looked at him and then back at the small box in the centre of his steel making table. Then back at her talented but often incredible obtuse husband. "It's a little box?" Doerwine nodded, still grinning from ear to ear. "It's fashioned from weirwood, and reinforced with mithril bands! I've spent two weeks carving the inside with paired runes - Verys and Diras". Aune shut her eyes and did some mental calculations. It wasn't a big box but weirwood was one of the most expensive materials in the Empire. Only an utter fool would even contemplate using such a priceless material for a box. She had already written off the time for the week spent carving - marry a Steinr and he's just going to put a rune on everything... it's what they do. "It's an astonishingly expensive little box?" she said - trying hard to hide her sense of exasperation. Doerwine nodded again - still grinning. Aune was reminded of the time her sister, Essi had once commented on her husband's likeness to a boarhound. She couldn't help but smile, Win's loyalty was unwavering, whereas Essi had come back from from a week's hunting to find her husband in bed with some Freeborn strumpet. "What's it for my love?" she asked, reminding herself that loyalty was a virtue that should always be returned. "Watch!" he said, and walked over to his tool rack. He picked up his biggest sledge, a huge over-sized hammer, and with a groan he swung it over his head. Aune's jaw dropped in horror as he brought it crashing down on top of the priceless box. An unfortunate reaction, as sometime later she realized was still standing there like some slack-jawed Marcher astonished by their first sight of magic. The box wasn't just intact, it appeared unscathed. "Good eh?" said Deorwine. "I've no idea what I can use it for - but I've strengthened it so much that you'd need to be a troll to smash it open." Aune looked at the box on the table. She thought about what a rich Thane might pay for a box no thief could ever hope to break open. Such a little thing... to be worth so much. "Better than good my love.... Much better. How many more can you make before the solstice?" =========== Artisans in Wintermark have discovered that they can strengthen chains and boxes made with mithril and weirwood using the rune of Verys. Their discoveries have been quickly copied by skilled artisans in several other nations. The results are highly expensive - even more pricey than an Urizen lightstone - but any character of wealth and means (any character who attends Anvil) is welcome to roleplay that they have acquired one. So technically, this is not a winds of fortune but I quite liked Matt's text so I decided to treat it as one. It's really a rules change. You can read all about it here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Boxes_and_Chains. There's also an OOC explanation of why we're instituting this change (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Reasoning) that talks about in-character theft and security and might be of interest. At the same time. We've updated the section on stealing in-character (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Playing_the_game#Stealing_Items) to reflect these changes ============== The photograph is an antique strongbox which is part of a photostream on Flickr belonging to Thomas Quine. You can find it here → (https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/12404889415/in/photostream/). I put a border round it. ============== #whathappensifyouputalockboxinyournightpouch!, #canimakearmouroutoflockedboxes?, #whatifistickahandleonitandhitsomeonewithit! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-12T23:34:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923357181093596 ++MARCH ON THEIR BELLIES++ Tess spread her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what else to say. I cannot afford to sell to you at that price. I just ... I cannot." The civil servant sneezed into his handkerchief, looked at the contents, and shook his head. His eyes were red, his nose dripped snot, and his voice was hoarse with phlegm as he tried to argue with her. Behind him, Tess saw three rats the size of barn cats run across the muddy yard. They were fat with stolen grain. From the barn came the sound of her husband and the bandit lad Senator Bridgit had persuaded her to take in, shouting and hollering loud enough to drown out the barking of the dogs. They'd found another nest, by the sound of the swearing. "This is ... well it's going to be a problem," said the civil servant. They both knew that he was selling the situation short. Tess had sold root vegetables and smoked meat to the civil service provisioners every year for as long as she had been in charge of the farm; just as her father had before her, her grandmother before them both. She felt her cheeks flush with embarassment. This was not what she wanted but she had no choice. "I can't help that. Just like I can't help the rain, and the root rust; just like Wee Jack and his boys can't help the pest' eating their pigs alive; just like Ma Alspeth can't help the flood that smashed up her apple trees. We're doing our best, but there's only so much. We're all going to have to tighten our belts ..." The civil servant closed his eyes, squeezed the bridge of his nose, and just managed to cover it with his handkerchief as another savage coughing fit took him. "It's all very well to say we need to tighten our belts ... but I have armies to feed ..." he tried to smile, but all he managed to do was cause the cold sore on his upper lip to split open again. He winced. "Don't you know there's a war on," he said despondently. The pair of them looked towards the barn together for a few meditative moments, where the shouting, swearing, and barking was continuing as the battle between men, dogs, and rats entered a new phase. Tess knew she was being a fool but ... she just had to ask herself what her da and her grandma would have done and her course was clear. It started, very gently, to drizzle. Tess made a hard decision. "Come inside, then." she said stepping aside to usher the civil servant into her kitchen. "Let's see if we can sort something out. After all. There's a war on, 'parrently." =========== This one is a doozy … the timing of the major curses descending on the Marches could not have been worse. The implications of a significant rise in the price of food are widespread, and coincide suspiciously with a major Imperial offensive in Mournwold. You can learn all about them here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/March_on_their_belly To summarize; less money in the Marches, less money in the treasury (probably), less natural resupply for everyone … and the significant chance that the effects are not entirely over, which leaves the Marcher assembly with what might best be described as some interesting decisions ahead of them. ============== The picture is pretty clearly Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - the 1887 painting by Victor Vasnetsov. With comedy speech bubble. ============= #thatsallfornowfolks, #willnobodythinkoftheporkpies, #atleastblackpuddingnevergoesoff SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-12T19:46:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923272664435381 ++A JOB WORTH DOING++ Moche was woken by the sound of someone trying to hammer very quietly. From the sound of it, the hammer they were using was very large and the surface they were striking was very strong. She lay in bed for a moment listening. Frowning. Over the sound of the hammering she could hear what sounded a lot like voices trying to shout instructions to each other very quietly, and the occasional thump of wood and clash of metal. A shadow moved across the window of her bedroom. She rolled to her feet, pausing to grab her sword belt from the chair beside the bed. She padded cautiously over to the window. She could just make out the sound of someone on the other side of the shutters telling someone else to be careful because it was quite early and people might still be asleep. She did not recognise the voice. She took a firm grip on the shutter and with a swift movement pulled it open, ready to flick her sword lose of its scabbard if there was danger. On the other side of the widow, a pair of short creatures blinked at her a little owlishly. They were stood on a wooden gantry that appeared to be suspended from the battlements of the tower above. One held a small hammer in its clawed hand, the other was in the middle of sketching something on a long roll of pale parchment with a stick of charcoal. From a distance the two creatures - she could not quite think of them people - might have been mistaken for naga. Close up, there was little chance of them being so mistaken. They were squat, muscled, and covered in scales from head to toe. Both had a scaled crest that ran over their foreheads into their thick dark hair. The one with the hammer was a deep, lustrous blue of a summer sky. The one with the parchment was emerald green. Both wore long tunics and leather aprons. Neither party spoke. The blue creature nervously tapped its little hammer on one of the stones, then frowned. A hoarse whisper from above called down to ask what was happening. Mochey cleared her throat. The green creature carefully rolled the parchment it had been sketching on and bowed deeply. It bid her good morning. She had expected it to squeak but it spoke with a deep, rumbling baritone that seemed almost to echo in its broad barrel-chest. She returned the greeting. "What exactly is going on here?" asked Moche, in her best classroom voice. She could see more of the creatures - some blue and green like the ones outside her window, some with scales of vivid scarlet, and the occasional sumptuous black. They appeared to be setting up equipment, deploying ladders and ropes and even in some places scaffolding. Several of them were examining the great thorns that grew over the castle walls, and clearly exclaiming excitedly. "We have been asked to help your castle," replied the green creature. She felt there was more of the lizard about it than the snake, definitely. The blue one tapped the stone near the window again and again made a strange face. "Did you know that your castle has been recently cursed?" it asked, its voice the same bass rumble of its companion, so incongruous in a creature that Moche imagined would barely come up to her shoulder. "Yes, we had noticed." she said dryly. "Who sent you? Who are you for that matter?" "Przysięga smoczych wojowników!" said the blue guest proudly, effortlessly pronouncing a stream of complex consonants and vowels that were certainly not Imperial. Moche asked it to repeat itself a couple of times and in the end gave up. "We were sent by He Who Sits on the Adamant Throne to look to your castle. At the request of the wizards of the spire of the Auric Horizon. Weren't you ... we were told you would be expecting us?" Moche simultaneously frowned and raised her eyebrows in utter incredulity. The two lizard-like workers looked at each other out of the corners of their large, round eyes. The green one darted its long tongue a little nervously, then pulled back its lips and revealed very sharp teeth that immediately made Moche tense in expectation of an attack - before she realised it was supposed to be a smile. "Please, we are here to repair the damage that has been done to this beautiful castle. It is truly wonderful, one of the most beautiful we have seen and we have seen many castles indeed. Did you know that it is covered in rose bushes? That is such a novel idea! And so strong! It would take several armies to breach it's walls! Could we come in and ask you some questions about it? We would be very grateful!" Wordlessly, Moche stepped back and let the scramble in through her window. All around, their fellows went to work restoring the damage to the Castle of Thorns. =========== Castle of Thorns in Astolat. Short, scaly lizard-people with hammers and leather aprons. What more needs to be said? You can learn a but more about this one here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_job_worth_doing ========== The picture is a floorpan of :Hurstmonceux castle. The scrawling is mine. ========== #toyoutome, #noyouvehadtoomuchcoffee, #isuggestweshouldallmovestraightontothenextone SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-12T17:07:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923212247774756 ++TO SLEEP IN KALLAVESA++ The evening mist gathers over the lake, the cold lake, over Sovvengard. It twists and curls like a serpent, like paper burning, like the long hair of the drowned. The smoke from the torches twines with the mist, braiding, merging with the silence. Drums beat. Once. Half-trunks with painted mammoth hide stretched across them. Old. Not as old as the lake and the marshes, but older than any living Winterfolk present. Birds fly overhead, garrulous, swift, gone. The silence returns. The drums beat again. The water laps on the shore. The storm crows lower the small bundles into the weirwood boat. It rests on a launching ramp. Boat, and ramp, and priests alike are marked with runes. Yoorn for ending; Gralm and Ull to mark the skein of a life; the unnamed rune between and around them. The prow of the boat is shaped for Tykonus, the banner of victory. The bundles are small in the body of the boat. The ceremony continues, an echo of another ceremony performed on another winter night three years ago when the last Empress was laid to rest in the lake beside her foremothers and forefathers. Another drum beat. The torches flicker, their smoke fragrant with liao and the heady incense of the Kallavesi. The crowd watches. Thane and frayed, runesmith and mediator, united in silence and the heavy sadness of the marshes. Three people, one people, on the shores of the great lake. The last of the light fades from the sky. The blocks are pulled away, and the boat slides gently down the ramp. It enters the water with hardly a sound. It seems to glide through the evening mist, out into the lake. Almost immediately, it is sinking - the artfully places holes fill with cold clear water. Within minutes it is lost beneath the surface of the lake, the armour and the weapons and other accouterments returned to their rightful place, returned to their mistress. A sigh goes up from the crowd. One by one the torches are extinguished, dropped into the lake. One by one, the people turn and begin the journey north to Rundahl. Unobserved, on the edge of the lake, an old man in an antlered cowl cocks his head and listens to the silence. After a moment, his expression changes. He does not smile - even if his wizened skin allowed him such luxury it is not in his nature to smile - but there is a sense of ... satisfaction. He turns, leaning on his staff, and begins to limp back into the swamp, his long feathered cloak trailing in the mud as overhead the stars begin to come out. === The regalia of Empress Britta has been sunk in the funeral lakes of Kallavesa. This has some implications for Highguard (particularly for the Guardian of Britta's Tomb), and presents some opportunities to the folk of Wintermark. You can learn about these here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/To_sleep_in_Kallavesa On an unrelated note, the mana crystal degradation that was a/effecting Kallavesa has definitely ended. Huzzah! ========== The image is from wikicommons and apparently "By No machine-readable author provided. Tuohirulla assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons" ============ #threeyearsinthemaking, #imstillnotsuretheyhaveherhead, #crapimnotsurewhichheadistherealone, #dontworryaboutthehornHengestitsprobablyalegacy SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-12T13:47:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923089864453661 ++LONG ROADS TO RUIN++ "What in Vardas' name are they doing?" Julienne shaded her eyes against the early morning sun and tried to get a better look at the Druj camp. Her companion Herber shrugged his slim shoulders. "I have no idea. They won't let anyone get close enough and when you ask them they just say it's because we're treacherous murderers and rubbish like that." He chewed his moustache speculatively. "Is it just me ... or are these Druj a lot less ... cheerful than the last lot?" Julienne raised her eyebrows. "I'd never call a Druj cheerful." "You know what I mean. They seem ... gloomy. Grim? Like a Varushkan almost. Resigned? Bitter?" "Well we did just kick the snot out of them in a war and then kick them out of Anvil last time they came down. I'm surprised they're trying again." "Yes ... maybe. You're sure they're not doing curses or something?" "I've got no idea, but Ser Guen says she's pretty certain they're weaving enchantments but she's no idea what. There's no sign of anything in the ..." the yeoman waved her hand vaguely in a gesture designed to communicate magic and a lack of comprehension ".. the air or whatever it is witches divine. I said she ought to get closer and find out more, but she said she wasn't going to do that as it might cause trouble. I think we're going to let it be other someone elses' problem. Wiser heads than ours and so on." Herber nodded absently. The pair continued to watch the Druj, listening as their slow beating drums came to an abrupt crescendo and the lead ghulai slashed a short curved blade across the face of the warrior in front of them. Then the drumming began again, surprisingly quiet against the backdrop of early-morning birdsong." =========== Four significant orc delegations have entered the Empire, making their way to Anvil. Thule. Druj. Grendel. Barrens. Two of them - Thule and Barrens - are legally foreigners and need no particular permission to travel through the Empire. Two of them - Druj and Grendel - are taking advantage of the law of delegation protection. Regardless of how they are here, they all have the protection of Imperial law - but they must also abide by it or risk prosecution as with any other visitor to Anvil. You can learn the details of these four delegations here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Long_roads_to_ruin ========= The picture is a scrawled-on version of one of those created by Daisy Abbott for the wiki. #colourcodedorcs, #itsallkickingoffpru, #neighboursarecomplainingabouttheracket SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-12T10:08:34+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/923005234462124 ++A LONG GOOD-BYE++ Uncle Uzo drummed his fingers on the hard oak table. The faded runes tattooed on his knuckles stretched and moved. Strength to do what needs to be done. To bring an ending to those who oppose. To be cunning and cautious in the face of oppression. To have the will to choose ones own destiny. As he counted them off, the mantra in his head went some way towards calming his troubled thoughts. Some way. Back in Tassato Mestra. Already. He cursed under his breath. Hardfrost! That damn Talbot beater, that damn militiaman! It was like he had a supernatural sense for Uzo's agents! All efforts to establish himself in Sarvos ruined; his brick factory confiscated; his followers dead or fled. And now he was back in damn Tassato, a poor relative knocking at the door of the damn woman he had moved to Sarvos to get away from in the first place. Auntie Vivian di Tassato Mestra. She had not even deigned to see him yet, keeping him waiting for the second day. Hiding out in a filthy garret overlooking the river, drinking himself into oblivion each night on stolen Hercynian spirits brought down the river from Temeshwar hidden in crates of weltsilver ore. He sighed gustily. If their situations had been reversed, he would have enjoyed her situation as much as she was plainly enjoying his. He glared across the table at her representatives. Carlton di Tassato Mestra was young, and making a show of cleaning his fingernails with a slim stiletto. A popinjay. His older brother William was a different matter - hard and strong, like a true vyig, at ease with the harsh realities of life as an enforcer for Auntie Vivian. Where Carlton was clearly full of nervous energy, William sat stock still in his seat, his dark-skinned hands resting easily on the table in front of him. Uzo could barely make out any of his tattoos; black ink on black skin. He'd heard that if you were close enough to see the vyig marks, you were only still breathing because William (or his Auntie) thought you were worth more alive than dead. Uncle Uzo shook his head to clear it. That sort of thinking was fine for the sheep, for the bleating masses that bowed beneath the Imperial yoke. It was not right for an Uncle of the vyig, for a wolf-in-shepherds-garb, to give too much credulity to stories spun to keep the prey on the back foot. William was staring at Uzo. Appraising him. The silence stretched. The older man was damned if he was going to appear weak by breaking it. He took another sip of strong Navarri alcohol, grimaced at the sharp tang. What the hell did they use to make whiskey in the Glade of Shadows? Damn Hardfrost. Suddenly, young Carlton cocked his head and frowned. He stood up and moved fluidly towards the door, cracked it open. Uzo heard it then as well - the sound of someone banging on the door to the tavern below. Raised voices. William was already by the window, cracking it a little, peering into the street. Uzo had not seen him move. "Militia," he said quietly, his voice betraying no emtion. He might have been discussing the weather. "And ... priests?" The sound of wood splintering from below, raised voices. Steel. Uzo lumbered to his feet. "What ... you told me this place was safe!" he hated how petulant he sounded. His head swam from the sudden movement. He'd had too much to drink, and cursed himself for it. "Nowhere is safe right now, 'Uncle'." said Carlton, not bothering to conceal his contempt. Uzo bridled, his hackles raised, whiskey fuelling the anger vying with fear in his belly. He had been smashing faces and breaking legs before this little shit had got blood on his first tunic. He deserved respect, dammit! He opened his mouth to bawl the young bravo out and then ... something went wrong. He slumped back in his seat, heavily. He became aware of a spreading wetness, and the first hint of pain in his back. He craned his head round. William was behind him, wiping his daggers quickly clean on Uzo's cloak. "This is not personal, Uzo" he said quietly as Carlton locked and barred the door. "Aunt Vivian holds no grudge against you, but you know too much and you are too old and fat to go where we are going. Better that you take our secrets to the Labyrinth with you." Uzo tried to stammer something but William silenced him with a finger. Behind him, Carlton had unshuttered the other window, and was already pulling himself up onto the roof of the building next door. "Don't say anything, Uzo." William's lip curled. "Any true vyig would have died in Sarvos fighting the magistrates. We will say that that is what happened, give you a little of the dignity you seem to have spent the last ten years running from. You do not need to thank me." As the agony from his ruined kidneys banished any rational thought, as the room began to grow dark, Uzo slumped forward over the table. The last thing he saw was William's boots disappearing from sight as he followed his brother onto the roofs of Tassato; the last thing he heard the pounding fist and the raised voice demanding that he open the door; and the last thing he thought before he ceased to be Uncle Uzo entirely was "That ... damn ... Hardfrost ..." ================= In the gripping conclusiong to the events that began in http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_big_sleep, the vyig organised crime syndicate is smashed and scattered to the four winds with only some damage to the fortunes of the businesswomen and men of Holberg, Mestra, Reagrio, and Temeschwar. You can learn the full details here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_long_good-bye as well as on our forums (https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/announcements/winds-fortune-big-sleep-t1759.html), including some suggestions for ways you might want to include elements of the Assembly of Vigilance's crusade into your own roleplaying regardless of where in the Empire you hail from. You can also read about why the vyig are such a big deal here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vyig, and about the virtue of vigilance here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vigilance ================ The picture is a detail from The Effects of Good Government, a fresco in the City Hall of Siena by the early 14th century Italian painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti. #hereslookingatyousweetheart, #nomoreuncleuzo, #Ifindifyouimaginethemallplayedbyviggomortensenhelps SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-11T19:17:43+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/922699344492713 ++GOLDEN TRUMPETS++ William stopped his pigs at the ford. He barely bothered to watch them; he had walked this route every day for the last thirty years and knew it well. So did his pigs. He leant on the old oak stump and took a puff on his pipe. He liked the calm, even when it was raining he was alone with his thoughts, his husband wouldn’t bother him about the state of the fence or the fact there was a hole in the corner of one of the huts where the grain was stored. He had a small flask of cider in his pocket and a hunk of bread and cheese in his satchel, but he would save them until he his next resting point. Taking a final puff on his pipe he tapped out the end on the side of the stump, and put it into his pocket and picked up his stick, and started driving his grunting charges across the ford. He was half way across when the trumpets sounded. The blast of sound came from nowhere, and William was so shocked he jumped backwards, landing on his arse in the shallow water of the ford. His pigs scattered in all directions. He looked around madly; someone was playing silly buggers. There was nobody else in sight, however. The trumpets sounded a second time, and then a woman's voice cried out: “Hear you all! It has be declared by the Summer Enchanter, the Golden Magician, The Lord of Summer Stars, Arch Wizard Meraud of the Summer Realm that there shall be a competition across the Empire! From the start of the Winter Solstice until the start of the Summer Solstice. Who so ever shalt create and perform the arcane projection of the greatest magnitude, no matter which so ever of the realms it shall draw upon, shall be declared fit to bear the title of Champion of Meraud! As befits this honour, they shalt be allowed to carry Meraud’s favoured staff for one year and one day! May this word be spread across the Empire such that all those who have mastered the arts of wizardry shall hear of the Golden Magician's challenge!” The trumpets blew a third time, but the sound faded away quickly. A bedraggled William pulled himself up onto the bank. He found himself nose to wet nose with Black Bess, the fat sow. He could tell she was judging him, and he slapped her on the ear as he clambered out of the water. He cast a baleful eye toward the ruins of the stone bridge a little way upstream from the ford, the jagged walls of the Gold Sheaf just about visible through the trees. He would bet five rings to a crown that the the trumpets were something to do with the old abandoned tower and the magicians who had lived there long ago, before they destroyed themselves meddling with star magic. He pulled out his pipe, discovered the stem had snapped, and swore under his breath before shrugging an setting about calling his pigs together. First things first - he had pigs to move. Then he'd need to head up to the crossroads below the Woldstone, and look up his cousin. This entire thing smacked of the sort of thing the Landskeepers would want to know about. =========================== The eternal Meraud has issued a challenge to the magicians of the Empire – to design and perform powerful spontaneous magic. The challenge will run during both the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, with the winners declared at the beginning of the Summer Solstice. You can learn more about details about this event on the main wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Golden_Trumpets), where you can also learn about the eternal Meraud (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Meraud) and about the creation and use of arcane projections (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spontaneous_magic#Arcane_Projection). Of particular note is the recent change - that if we genuinely cannot give you an arcane projection we are going to return half your mana instead of all of it. You can learn more about that (and a number of other wiki changes and rules upates) on the main wiki too (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates) =================== So! Game, as they say, on. Our plan is to release a few winds of fortune each day for the next week or so, rather than trying to do all the winds of fortune over a two day period (resulting in major brain fatigue and risking swamping players with too much information). As previously, they'll consist of a short piece of flavoursome text, which I'll post here along with a picture, and more information on the main wiki. You should also be able to read the whole text on our forums (https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/) shortly after I post them on facebook. I'm expecting to do another couple tonight, as it beats doing real work. ================== The picture is something I made using my epic paint skills from two wikimedia commons pictures 0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mage_hat.svg and a lion (By Kevin Pluck (Flickr: The King.) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons) because buggerd if I could find the picture of Meraud grinning at the camera I had on my old phone. #BRINGONTHETRUMPETS, #magicandmayhem, #windsoffortuneengage SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-10T20:14:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/922119674550680 Hi folks - we've now completed the changes to the shatter rules for 2016 - making clear that you cannot use a weapon such as a one-handed spear, pole-arm, or quarterstaff with the shattering blow skill. You must use a great sword, long handled axe, or similar two-handed hammer or mace to use the shattering blow skill to call shatter. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-09T13:32:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/921347177961263 Wotcha everyone - over winter we've been hard at work on the barbarian forces the Empire is now facing - the Jotun and the Grendel. We've now finished updating the wiki with information about the enemies, including information on their elite troops. A core part of that development is to make monstering more fun. We're a big believer that if you have the right ethos then the more the volunteers enjoy monstering - then the more players will enjoy fighting them. Without doubt the *best* way to really improve the way our monsters look and fight is to get players invested in the experience. So we've created a new wiki page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Playing_a_barbarian) - entitled playing a barbarian - that describes the idea we're hope to get players enthusiastic about - the opportunity for a group of players to create their own elite Grendel or Jotun unit to play when they're monstering. This will make it easier for groups of friends fight together when they're monstering - and crucially for everyone to plan and prepare accordingly. If the idea of getting to play one of the elite troops of the Empire's enemies appeals, then the best way to start is to think about which of the two armies you're most likely to be fighting against. For example, with the Jotun attacking the Imperial Western border - we expect nations like the Brass Coast, the Marches, and Wintermark are most likely to fight against them. Whenever that happens they'll most likely be playing the Grendel when they monster - so picking a Grendel elite unit makes sense. Once you've worked out which nation you're going to be called on to monster most often - then you can look at their elite units - and pick the one that appeals the most. Ideally we're looking for units with around 30 people in them - because that's what we need for the battles - so individuals and small groups are likely to be swept up and lumped together. If you're on your own then the best way to avoid that fate is to find an existing monster-volunteer group that looks fun and join up with them. A few groups are already getting together and getting enthused about the idea of bringing the Jotun and the Grendel to life. There are plans afoot to make dedicated kit like banners and so forth - which is fantastic. If players are up for creating any kit - then it's worth talking to us and we'll see what we can contribute to the costs for any materials - we want to support this new approach as much as we can. There are a massive load of logistics in planning and running a battle and we want this to be as streamlined as possible, so if your group is excited about the idea of portraying an elite unit then there are things you'll need to do to work with us to make that as simple as possible. You'll need an ooc liaison who can communicate directly with PD, so that we can exchange information and ideas back and forth quickly and efficiently. You'll also need an IC unit leader who can lead your elite unit on the battlefield. That person will need to come to the battle planning meeting the night before the battle you are monstering - this is a quick meeting to let everyone know what will be happening on the battle the next day - it's usually late in the evening and lasts around ten minutes. It's war-war - not jaw-jaw! Andy Connell - the member of our skimirsh command team who deals with the IC leadership side of the battles has agreed to field any questions or queries anyone has about playing a barbarian on the battlefield - you can email him at andyc@profounddecisions.co.uk Ideally we want player groups to choose different elite troops options - so liaise with Andy early and he can give you help and advice on what options are available. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-08T13:25:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/920831171346197 The one sad thing about being involved in a large LRP community like Empire is that all too frequently I receive the tragic news that one of our members has passed away. Harry Hammett was a player in Wintermark, the original Thane of the Rangers of Nanuk, and will be known to a lot of players there and in other nations as well I'm sure. A few players who knew him well are getting together to organize a wake for Harry at the event. This will happen at 16:30 on Friday and will be held in the Senate building. Everyone who wants to remember Harry is welcome to attend. As always, if there are friends of Harry who would like to attend but who aren't playing Empire, then they are welcome to do so. They do not need a ticket to come to the event just for the service. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-04T14:21:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/918919974870650 New Content! We've now added the Jotun elite units to the wiki for those players who are interested but are more likely to be monstering Jotun battles (and playing Grendel ones). http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Elite_Jotun_troops As I said last update these elite units are deliberately designed for players to portray if they want to get into it - not just our skirmish crew. It's an option for players who want to make monstering more cool for themselves and for others. The ideal is for a group of players to form an elite unit together and to come and play that unit on the battlefield. We're hoping to get more information up for players who are interested in the next few days - as well as a point of contact email address at PD for people who want to get in touch and discuss their crazy idea with our chief orc general. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-03-01T18:50:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/917521738343807 New Content! We've updated the barbarian pages on the wiki with new information on one of the two major enemies of the Empire at the moment - the Grendel! There is some final definitive info about them as a people as well as stuff on their elite military units. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Grendel We've updated the page on "playing a barbarian" (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Playing_a_barbarian) to reference the new elite units. Our goal with these is to try and use them to make our battles more exciting and strategic - initially by using the Hundred to fill out their ranks. But the option is there for players who are keen to get together and make their own elite barbarian unit - that'll give us more options with our battles - and mean you get to play the cool kids on the battlefield when you're monstering as well as playing. We're hoping to get the Jotun done next - hopefully before the end of the week. There is already some additional information for them - around costume - but we'll get their elite units information up soon. And don't forget - midnight tonight is the deadline for early booking using the website (you get a few days more for your payment to arrive if you're paying by ebanking). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-29T19:40:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/917048278391153 In all the excitement of crazy site changes I forgot that midnight tomorrow is the early booking deadline. If you are coming ot the event then make sure you send payment before the cut-off, if you haven't already done so - otherwise the price goes up. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-26T13:49:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/915238741905440 Hi everyone - this is an important announcement regarding the venue for this year's events. Very regretably, and with very little notice, the land-owner pulled out of the deal we agreed with them three months ago, citing planning concerns. We got notification that this was likely to happen last Thursday and confirmation that it was happening this Tuesday. We did not announce anything immediately - because we knew we would have to focus 100% of our efforts to find a new site immediately - if we were not able to secure a site inside a week we would have had no alternative but to cease running live roleplaying events. I'm pleased to say that we have secured a new site for the events this year. It's a bigger site and includes two decent sized areas of woodland, so although announcing a site change is the absolutely last thing I would have wanted, it is not all bad news. Unfortunately the new site is not close to our current site - it is in Buckinghamshire (MK18 5LH is the nearest post code), just a few miles from Tournament Stud which we used very successfully up until last year. We did try to secure a site in Warwickshire, but it was not possible. We will - over the next few hours - update our website and wiki with directions to the new site and we'll update it with local amenities as soon as we can. We are looking at facilities to support players who travel by public transport and will update the website shortly once we have made suitable arrangements. We appreciate that many players (and crew) will have booked and paid for train tickets and local accommodation already. We would ask everyone in that position to make all possible efforts to refund their tickets. Where that is not possible - or where there are cancellation charges, please contact our office by email at admin@profounddecisions.co.uk and we will help. If you send us proof of your booking then we will credit your Profound Decisions account to the full value of any loss incurred as that option is so much better for us - or we can offer a refund of 90% of any loss experienced for those that need to have the money back. Finally I want to apologize to everyone for this late change. This is the very thing we worked all year to avoid, and after a series of disappointments it has been forced on us again. The new site has lots of positives - such as the woodlands - but a last minute change - even to a better site - is the last thing we wanted. I realize people will have a lot of questions - please email admin@profounddecisions.co.uk with any concerns - we are likely to be very busy over the next few days - but we will answer email enquiries as quickly as possible. Matthew Pennington, Profound Decisions. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T23:42:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914880811941233 +++TONIGHT ON WAR TALK+++ * BRIAN IN KARSK: And that was the half-time whistle, and so it's back to Brian in the studio. BRIAN: Thanks Brian! Now we're going to take a look at results just in. Let's start with Spiral. Jenny? JENNY: A little bit of a surprise there - there's no doubt that the Empire's caution played into the difficulty they had pushing through into the back bit of the field, and the gamble with the Wolves of War probably didn't help. Plus the loss of Mezudan off the wing has hurt them a bit more than they're letting on I think. The Grendel are a bit on the back foot, but I don't think the Empire was prepared for them to be quite so aggressive. BRIAN: And Reikos? What about Reikos? We've seen some depressing play there recently, haven't we? JENNY: We have - the weather alone has been a real downer. This season though, everything has changed. It's good to see Dawn and Navarr doing what they do best - kicking arse, taking names, capturing territory. The Stone Toad defence collapsed completely almost immediately - they'll never recover from the loss of their fortress and most of their best players. There's no doubt that this is a solid victory, but it remains to be seen if anyone actually wants to lift that trophy given it's metaphorically full of evil bees. BRIAN: Haha! Yes, definitely evil bees, Jenny. A very apt turn of phrase there. I see we've got some unexpected results from the Barrens as well, care to elaborate? JENNY: Well Brian, it seems that the Barrens orcs have thrown a bit of a tantrum and invaded Dawncastle. BRIAN: That's the Dawnish region in the Barrens I think isn't it? JENNY: Spot on Brian. They're playing a strong offence, and at the moment Dawn is mostly committing to protecting their goal - the Towers of Dawn. It's anyone's guess where this is going to go as the Dawnish are on a bit of a sticky wicket there, with the whole question of the Barrens. Are they foreigners? Are they barbarians? BRIAN: I can see how that's a problem. I wouldn't want to be the Dawnish managers right now! JENNY: Haha, no. Me neither. BRIAN: Change of subject, Jenny - what's going on on the other side of the Empire? JENNY: Gosh, yes there's a lot going on in the Western League. Some major plays in both Liathaven and Mournwold this season! BRIAN: Tell me more. JENNY: Liathaven didn't go too well for the Brass Coast. it wasn't a disaster - and I suspect they're coming away with more trophies than goals if you follow me ... BRIAN: Haha! Yes! Those tricky Freeborn and their deep pockets! JENNY: Well its not a complete loss - they've made some inroads into Jotun holdings in northern Liathaven.. The bad news is that the Jotun have brought a massive force into southern Liathaven and they're running rough shod over the Navarr there. It's very messy, all blood and fire, because, obviously, the thing about the jotun is they always try and walk it in. The Jotun basically have the whole of Liathaven now and there are going to be a lot of unhappy Navarr fans going into next season. BRIAN: Gosh Jenny, but its a funny old game. The Navarr managers are going to be sick as parrots and no mistake! Is there any good news? JENNY: I guess you could say that the fact the Vallorn appears to still be asleep is good news? BRIAN: I suppose you could Jenny! And before we go back to Brian up in Karsk, what's been happening with the Mournwold? JENNY: Oh the Mournwold! That is very much a game of two halves! The Imperial Orcs and the Marchers are kicking arse and taking names with the Highborn. Let's be honest though - the Marcher lasses and lads have been looking for a chance to stick the boot in for thirty years or so, and that really shows. Not to mention the Imperial orcs champing at the bit to get stuck into the Jotun. Definitely one to watch in the coming months, I think. BRIAN: Thanks Jenny. What's your prediction for next season? JENNY: Oh that's easy - whatever it is, it's going to be exciting! BRIAN: Haha! Yes, and ultimately that's the best result of all! ------------------------ This exists mostly because Anthony Jones suggested it and because Dave Young egged me on and I can resist almost nothing, including Peer Pressure. I'd also like to point out to Dave Young and Matt Heath that it is still not even midnight on Thursday, and I look forward to my complimentary freddos ;) #Thatsawrap, #seeyoubackhereforWindsofFortune, #everythingIknowaboutfootballIlearntfromtheDaytoDayandtheITcrowd SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T23:06:37+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914869195275728 +++THE RAGE OF THE JOTUN+++ --------------------------------------------- THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE --------------------------------------------- Shortly before the Freeborn begin their attack on northern Liathaven, perhaps forty thousand Jotun warriors enter Western Scout and Beacon Point. They come north out of the hills of Reinos, and east out of the southern Jotun kingdom of Narkyst. They pour through the trees like a river, like a flood of orcs. They methodically and systematically smash every steading they encounter. Most are captured, and adapted to serve the needs of the orcs. Some are left burnt-out ruins. The fortified steading at Beacon Point, for example, is burnt to the ground after a two day siege by the army of under the banner of the Southern Bear. A very few steadings manage to hold out against the Jotun, primarily due to their remote position within the territory. It is only a matter of time before they fall, however. The Navarr of southern Liathaven have been too isolated from the Empire for too long, by the vallorn and by the bandit-haunted mountains of northern Kahraman. They put up a spirited defence, but without the support of a significant number of troops they cannot hope to endure the withering assault of the Jotun. When they came east into Liathaven for the first time, the Jotun allowed their enemies to flee before them. While they did not offer the Navarr the choice to join the Jotun as thralls or as footsoldiers - they did not go out of their way to slaughter them. This time, some of the Jotun armies are actively butchering any Navarr they can catch. Survivors report that there is a rage in the orcs that they have not seen before, and it devours anyone they catch. Whole Steadings are put to the sword. Stridings torn apart when the Jotun catch them on the road. The Jotun are not the Druj - they do not engage in torture or torment, not even to gather information. They simply dispatch any Navarr they catch without ceremony. The trees help; there are places survivors can go, where they can hide. But if the Jotun continue to occupy Liathaven it is surely only a matter of time before even those scattered survivors are caught and killed. In a little less than two months, southern Liathaven has gone dark. There are surely Navarr still there, but they are either fleeing or hiding. There are rumours of a large group of survivors gathering somewhere in the very south-east of the territory. They may attempt to push through the mountains into Kahraman, but if they do so they will potentially be easy picking for any organised group of bandits, orc or otherwise. ----------------------------------------- THE HAVEN OF LIATH ----------------------------------------- The Vallorn of Liathaven slumbers, wrapped tight around the ruins of Liath Haven. For now. ------------------------------------ GAME INFORMATION ------------------------------------ Oh, go on then. One more before bed. To follow on from the Mists of Liathaven ... In the south, a massive Jotun invasion force has taken both Western Scout and Beacon Point. In the process they have destroyed the fortified steading at Beacon Point (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Construct_fortified_manor_in_Liathaven). This means that the Jotun now control ''all'' the regions of Liathaven, making it a fully conquered barbarian territory. The immediate effect of this is that all Imperial personal resources based in the territory will lose a half of their production until such time as at least one region is back in Imperial control (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource#Conquered_Territories). This also means that the territory counts as being in the control of the Jotun, meaning they can move into, out of, and through the entire territory freely. ... up to a point. It is worth explicitly pointing out that we treated this battle as two separate theatres due to the presence of the Vallorn that neatly bisects the territory. The Jotun forces in the south cannot reach the northern regions without forcing their way through either Liath's Heart or Westwood, which would mean an encounter with the unknown quantity that is the vallorn. The same is true of any Imperial forces on the northern side of the hedge of malignant landscape. Any player character steadings based in Liathaven who wish to have had their settlement conquered or destroyed by the Jotun should consider contacting empire.plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to discuss options going forward. Other steadings are considered to have been far enough off the main Jotun invasion routes to avoid destruction for the time being. ------------------------- The picture is apparently some guy called Thomas Hancocks who played some orc once. It was taken by Tom Garnett. I understan that technically this is thus not a picture of a Jotun, but to be honest they all look the same in the dark, right? #therewegowindsofwar. #imighthaveonemoreposttonightwhocansay, #liavensgonnabepissed, #gamefuckingon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T22:40:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914857235276924 +++THE MOURNING WIND+++ ----------------------------------- THE MIRROR OF WAR ----------------------------------- The Tusks and the Bounders are joined by both Imperial Orc armies and by the Highborn of the Seventh Wave. They mass their forces at Overton, on the Greensward, in the shadow of the almost completed Orchard's Watch. Shortly before dawn a little less than a month after the end of the Autumn Equinox, the Imperial armies line up in the pre-dawn gloom. There is little sound - an order barked here or there, the creak of armour straps, the sound of metal brushing against metal. The banners of the Marches, of the Orcs, and of Highguard snap and crack between the sharp fingers of the chill Mournwold wind. As the sun begins the crest the horizon, the horns begin the blow. The drums begin to beat. A wordless cheers goes up from the women and men of the Marcher armies, is picked up by the Highborn, and is echoed by the Imperial Orcs. Imperial forces march out of Overton into the Mournwold. The liberation has begun. The orcs of the Summer Storm set the pace, with the Tusks and the Winter Sun matching their ferocity. Where the Summer Storm launch focused, sustained attacks deep into Jotun territory, the Winter Sun and the Tusks claim the higher ground, driving the Jotun off the hilltops and into the valleys. The Seventh Wave and the Bounders follow in their wake, cautious only in relation to the energy of the other three armies. The overwhelming energy of the Imperial assault seems to take the Jotun defenders a little off guard. The barbarian orcs are outnumbered - the Imperial force brought to bear against them is nearly half again their size. They have a fort, it is true - a white granite castle built in the ruins of Sarcombe on the Southmoor, which the Jotun call Hillstop. It is placed to offer strategic control of the approach into Mournwold from Kahraman to the south, keeping a close watch on both Fort Braydon and on Overton. The castle provides them a sanctuary against the human and orc fire that sweeps our of the Greensward. There is also a partially completed fortification in the Ore Hills. Sadly for the orcs, their new fortification is not yet completed. Another season and it would have been finished, in spite of the disruption caused in recent months by the heroes of the Empire. As it is though, the Empire's success in their lightning raid into Liathaven has left the Jotun desperately short of the white granite they needed. The fight for this partially complete castle is vicious - it is here that the Jotun make a stand against the Empire. The blood of orcs and humans both flows freely, turns the good marcher earth to frothy red mud. There is an odd synergy at work here, and odd reflection. Fighting alongside the Marchers, Imperial orcs. Fighting alongside the Jotun, human collaborators. They are mostly young, but they wield their bills and pikes with grim determination. Their bodies are marked with alien tattoos, and they strive to mimic the furs and leather and chain of their orc masters - and it makes more than one eye weep to see a harness of Marcher plate or a notched pole-arm that has been handed down from father to daughter, from grandmother to son being wielded in the defence of the Mourn ... but by those who have sold their birthright to the orc invaders. The parallel is more poetic than literal, of course. There are twelve thousand Imperial orcs fighting alongside the Marchers, and barely more than a thousand humans fighting in the Jotun armies. But it stings the soul, it tears at the heart. The fighting is brutal, raging for two days and well into the night. The turning point comes when one of the Seventh Wave Unconquered is able to take down the commander of the partially completed forts with an arrow to the eye. She pays for her bold action with her life, and the commander is soon back on her feet again, but the loss of direction at a crucial point allows the Empire to overrun some of the Jotun defensive positions, lets the rest of the Seventh Wave clear some of the stakes breaking up the Marcher formations ... and the tide of battle shifts. In the end, the orcs are forced to fall back. Their banners dip and turn, their forces retreating north and west. Towers, bears. mountains driven before the boars, and the dolmen, the lightning and the frost, and the curving wave. The Empire quickly consolidates its territorial gains and turns its attention north. While the Bounders and the Seventh Wave secure the Ore hills, the Tusks and the Imperial Orcs push north into Freemoor. There is further strong resistance from the Jotun, especially those under the mountain banner. Here, though, the Tusks find Marchers ready to fight on their side. A raggle-taggle bunch it is true - sons and daughters of the men and women who chose to stay on their land, chose to stay and farm, rather than flee north to live as exiles in Mitwold and Upwold. They are but a handful, barely two-score compared to the strength of the collaborators the Imperials have already faced. They are unused to war, untrained for it. But a fire of rebellion burns in their hearts. They have been raised on tales of the strength of the Marches, and the Jack that bound all the people together under one banner. They hunger for it, as a starving beggar hungers for bread. They say they are not alone, they are sure there will be others who will also take up fight, once they are convinced that freedom is at hand. The battle for Freemoor shifts in the Empire's favour slowly. The Jotun fall back, again. Their tactics are defensive, designed to minimize the casualties they take. Rather than stand against the joyous savagery of the Tusks and the Imperial orcs, they fall back. Slowly, the Imperial forces claim back the land. As the WInter Solstice approaches, the Empire has claimed the Ore Hills, and a made some headway toward liberating Freemoor. Another season like this, and they will have secured the entire eastern border of the Mournwold, a fence of Imperial flesh and steel between the Jotun and the rich city of Tassato. The treachery of the Empire has clearly caught the Jotun unprepared - their force here lacks the strength to hold off the Imperial armies. Their entire strategy seems to be about delaying the Empire. Perhaps the returning Seventh Wave scouts can shed some light on their greater strategy. Regardless. For the first time in a generation, armed Marchers stride the hills and moors of the Mournwold and the Jotun invader falls back before them. ----------------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ---------------------------------- The Empire has liberated the Ore Hills region. In the process, they have also captured the partially constructed fortification the Jotun were building in the region. The castle has been damaged during the battle to secure it, of course, but it is the opinion of those engineers who accompany the armies that it could be completed in six months, at the cost of forty white granite and ten Thrones. If the job were completed, the castle would be a rank one fortification. The Empire will need to move quickly however; at the moment it is providing no defensive advantage, and if the region changes hands again with the construction in it's current state there is a good chance it might be completely destroyed. The Imperial troops have also made some progress in liberating Freemoor - a little under half the region is now in their hands. -------------------------------- There we go, the Mournwold campaign ... has begun (/disengage portenteous voice). The photograph is Beth Dooner and I have no idea who the people in it are (feel free to tell me in the comments and I've got my fingers crossed they're Marchers or at worst Highborn) but I really, really liked the scarecrow so there's that. #fivewindsofwarnottoobad, #ilovemeabitofsymbollism, #whoisthrealmonsterhere? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T22:06:12+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914847755277872 +++THE MISTS OF LIATHAVEN+++ --------------------------------------------- TREES, WIND, AND FIRE --------------------------------------------- As Winter gathers strength and the weather becomes colder, the armies of the Brass Coast enter Liathaven from the north. The Red Wind Corsairs (and their unspeakable unliving horde) continue to march south out of Wintermark, while the fast moving Fire of the South speed up the coast from Feroz, through Tassato into the Marches. The armies join forces in Bregasland, and make a joint push out of the marshes and into the forest. The Freeborn encounter some resistance from the Jotun - especially the scattered forts defending the barbarian supply lines that connect their territory in the west with their invasion force in the Mournwold. There is no significant threat, but the going is tough and the Jotun defenders fiercely resist the Imperial incursion. With the Red Wind Corsairs more focused on "looting the shit" out of the Jotun, establishing a beach head proves to be a difficult proposition. Still, the Brass Coast armies persevere. They receive some assistance from scattered Navarr resistance fighters, eager to help the Freeborn deal with the Jotun forces occupying their homelands - and especially eager to help them avoid stumbling into the areas of vallorn infestation that stretch across the middle of the territory. Their concerns on the latter point are probably unnecessary - the Jotun themselves have marked the edge of the vallorn region with taboo markers and other warnings. The Jotun fall back but, grudgingly. They may not like fighting beneath the trees, but they put up a spirited defence. Without the support of a full Jotun army, however, they can do little but slow the Imperial advance. Regardless of their small numbers, however, the need to establish and protect supply lines as the Freeborn push into Liathaven means that at the end of three months campaigning, the two armies are perhaps halfway through claiming the region of Liath's Ring. The unliving, shambling horrors that have accompanied the Red Wind Corsairs over the last month finally give up the ghost as the Winter Solstice approaches. At first in handfuls, then in greater numbers, the husks suddenly stop what they are doing, shake and shudder for a moment, and then fall over. A couple, especially ones that have seen the most action, collapse into pieces as past injuries overwhelm their corpus. One or two allegedly explode, showering the Freeborn near them in rot and putrid gore. There have been rumours that Bad Things have accompanied the release of the Winter Spirits when the husks accompanying other armies have failed ... but the Red Wind Corsairs experience no uncanny events. Perhaps the presence of the Vallorn has weakened the spirits bound into the husks? The Navarr resistance fighters think it unlikely, but their superstitious dread of the Vallorn is legendary. A bigger question than the winter spirits is what to do about the sudden problem of a thousand human and orc bodies ... As the Winter Solstice begins, however, the Brass Coast armies are almost in position to begin laying siege to Mournstead in the east of Liath's Ring, an important albeit minor fortress along the Jotun supply route. If they continue at the current rate, they will most likely liberate Mournstead - and with it the rest of the region - by the start of Spring, after which it ''should'' just be a matter of mopping up the remaining Jotun forces ... unless the Jotun take steps to prevent that, of course. --------------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ---------------------------------- The Freeborn armies in the northern part of the territory are slowly working to create a beach head, and are suffering all the problems of trying to take a region that is not contiguous with another region controlled by the Empire in the same territory (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/War#Supply_Lines). They have so-far been uncontested, and are a little over halfway to freeing Mournstead and taking Liath's Ring. ------------------------ A picture of Zanterr i Ezmara i Erego of the House of Ezmara (Christopher Andrews) taking a casual stroll through some trees, captured by Beth Dooner at I think the Freeborn Storm player event. You may have to look closely to see him - he's wearing Freeborn forest camouflage. #stayontargetnearlythere, #itsonlytenoclock, #ifIgettherestupbymidnightDelvyandDaveowemefreddos SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T21:17:29+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914834735279174 ++THE THUNDER OF THE BARRENS++ ---------------------------------------------------- RAGE ACROSS DAWNGUARD ---------------------------------------------------- After their initial attempt to bring down the Towers of the Dawn before the Autumn Equinox failed, the orcs of the Barrens retreated in disarray. They return in force a little less than a month later. This time, there is no talk of peace treaties, or of agreements with the Senate. A single demand for the surrender of the Towers is made, a single command issued to the people of Dawn to either leave Dawnguard, or acknowledge the dominance of the Rhavin and the Peytaht. Needless to say, the Dawnish pay little heed to these demands. Still, captains under the horned lion of House Aureillius and the dagger and sceptr'd key of House Vexille join the garrison at the Towers. The noble houses of Drycastle and the outlying manors gather their knights and their yeomen to their estates. They prepare to fight. . No more demands are issued. Three days later the first attack against the Towers of the Dawn begins. They are still cautious, still testing the Dawnish defences - for the most part. The main thrust of the assault against the Towers of the Dawn is lead by the battle-hardened army of the Rhavin. They fight beneath tattered banners made of sewn-together scraps taken as trophies from their hated Druj enemies ... and more than a few tatters that might once have been the banners of questing knights lost in the Barrens. They are well armed, well armoured, and possess a grim determination at odds with their barbaric appearance. Their attacks are focused, sustained, relentless ... and while they pay for their advance with blood, they extract a serious toll from both the castle walls and the human defenders. While the majority of the orc attempt to capture the fortification, roughly a quarter of their number focus their attentions on the manor houses of Dawnguard. They encounter resistance, of course, and lives are lost on both sides. Yet all three Barrens armies seem to be going out of their way to avoid killing civilians where they can. They leave Dawnish noncombatants plenty of time to withdraw - but they do not hesitate to cut down anyone who tries to take arms against them. With the stubborn refusal of the Dawnish to retreat, and with the garrison at the Towers making them pay for every foot of ground they take, their advance is slow. Regardless, conquering Dawnguard is clearly not their intent at this time. The bulk of their force focuses on either bringing the Towers of the Dawn under their control, or bringing them down. Neither side escapes without losses. The risky strategy of the Rhavin, and the fact the orcs are fighting a people with little patience for the Barrens, sees to that. Yet as the Winter Solstice grows nearer, it is clear that the Towers of the Dawn have taken significant damage from the orc attacks. The fortification can ''probably'' endure another season of siege from the Rhavin and the Great Forest without additional support, but it would be a gamble - especially if the Barrens orcs were to commit completely to the attack. ---------------------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ---------------------------------------- The independent orcs of the barrens have come back to attack the Towers of Dawn with renewed force. The fortification is damaged - below half strength easily - but still standing. The towers are currently the only thing standing between the Barrens orcs and the swift conquest of Dawnguard. -------------------------- The picture is Bessamy Aurelius of House Aurelius (Jade Parsonage) looking delightfully Dawnish and ... imagonna go with "thoughtful" I think ;) #threedownmoretogo, #sorryaboutthedelayblametheboss, #whichsideareyourootingfor? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T17:02:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914733071956007 +++THE RAINS OF REIKOS+++ ------------------------------------------------- THE FALL OF THE STONE TOAD ------------------------------------------------- The citadel of Urith Barath lies in ruins, and with it the ambition of the Stone Toad clan. The orcs are not gone from Reikos entirely, but they are broken and scattered. The majority of the Stone Toad army retreated into Urith Barath after their defeat on the open fields in the Summer. Much of the garrison fell when the Bounders, the Strong Reeds, the Citadel Guard, and the Valiant Pegasus broke through the fortress walls. Then, at the height of the Autumn Equinox, after days of vicious fighting, the Sentinel Gate opened to the foot of the Druj citadel and the heroes of the Empire poured through. In a brutal and risky battle, they broke the defensive forces and gave the Imperial armies the final opening they needed to take High Chalcis back from the barbarians - and with it Chalcis Mount. Any orc who did not flee paid for their overconfidence with their life - and many of those who did run as the walls came down gained only an extra day or so of life. The great granite walls, built from looted stone and stolen weirwood, mortared with the blood of slaves, have been torn down and with them the last significant sign of barbarian occupation of Reikos. The banners of the Stone Toad have been trampled into the mud. The handfuls of surviving slaves within the castle have been liberated. And for the first time in years, the banners of the Highborn Chapters have been raised on Chalcis Mount once again ... raised over a shattered ruin. ---------------------------------------------- THE RAIN FALLS ON THE JUST ----------------------------------------------- It rains in Reikos. But for the first time since the liberation began, the water is fresh, and clean, and cleanses what it touches. It washes away exhaustion, it washes clean the wounds of those fighting to free the scattered enclaves of Highguard citizens still surviving in the bleak plains and hills of Reikos. Perhaps most importantly, it washes away the taint of the Reikos Flux, the remaining foulness that the Druj used to poison the land. Any wound short of a mortal blow heals overnight ... which is good for the Imperials, but makes little difference to the scattered, outmatched, broken orcs who are often as not executed where they fall. There is little taste for mercy among the soldiers of the Empire. The water brings fresh life to the ruined landscape, a promise of a better Spring to come. It also brings hope. Speed and righteousness are the key to the Imperial strategy. The armies of the Empire leave little space for the Druj Miasma to assail their spirits. Yet the miasma still clings to Reikos - the black stones that anchor its foulness still stand. In the long nights, in the face of each little horror uncovered as the Empire advances north and west, the miasma still whispers of despair, and failure; of weakness, of futility. As the cleansing rains begin to fall, the Hounds of Glory and the Eastern Sky have no time for introspection or fear. They break from the ruins of Urith Barath and launch an overwhelming assault against the scattered orc emplacements in Longshire. There is little coordination to the barbarian resistance. The orcs here live the scattered, selfish lives of brigands. Few of them squat beneath the banner of the Stone Toad - they seem barely to care that the citadel has been destroyed. They also seem unable to understandthe scale of the threat facing them. They close the doors of the stone halls, and the gates of the makeshift pallisades they have erected around the ruined towns ... and the Dawnish wash over them in an irresistible wave. Triumphant. Overwhelming. Glorious. Broken chapter after broken chapter falls before the Dawnish armies. Teams of heavily armoured knights and relentless war witches sweep the ruins after the main force has passed over, rousting out stragglers and would-be assassins from their hidey holes and hidden cellars, and giving them the only mercy they deserve - a quick death. At the same time, the Black Thorns explode northwards into Broken Ride. They catch the bulk of the Druj fleeing the fall of the Stone Toad citadel and ruthlessly put an end to them. They skirt the open plains and low hills, scouts spreading out through the trees of the southern Great Forest looking for orcs. There are more signs of active resistance here - especially around the ruins of Exile - but they soon reach the slave-camp that stands where the lumberyards of the Great Forest of Peytaht once stood. For a moment, it seems that the horror of the Vigilant Swan might be repeated - that the slaves forced to fell the weirwood trees in Broken Ride will be murdered by their bitter Druj captors. Yet the speed of the Black Thorns is not to be underestimated. They have outpaced the news of the fall of Urith Batol, slaughtered the messengers who would have brought confirmation that the Stone Toad has fallen. As a result, the Druj are only just rousing themselves to kill their slaves as the Navarr arrive - and the Scions of Terunael waste no time. They pour down in a flood of vengeance against the oversees of the Stone Toad. As the Navarr attack, the slaves see their chance. They are tired, broken down, desperate ... and filled with the healing, renewing energy of the magical rain. They rise up en masse, with improvised weapons, throwing themselves at their orc captors. Many are cut down, but the deaths simply fuel their anger and their hate. Better to die on their feet than die on their knees. Some hundred and fifty slaves are liberated, saved not just from death but from the depths of despair. Not everything goes the Imperial way. Despite the rain, the camp overseer seals herself behind the barricades where the season's harvest of weirwood is stored. Once it is clear the battle is lost, she immolates herself and her inner circle ... and the bounty of weirwood that has been gathered. Despite the rain the fire spreads quickly. Some alchemical essence has clearly been employed that tinges each licking tongue with a sickly green taint and makes it burn hotter in the face of water rather than being quenched by it. It takes all the effort of the tired Navarr and the exhausted slaves to prevent the flames spreading into the forest itself, growing into a conflagration that might devour a vast tract of the ancient forest. Yet they do stop it - not least in part due to the timely arrival of cadres of Dawnish nobles and yeomen send north to support the Navarr advacne. This time at least the Druj efforts to poison the well, to stab back at the Empire from the bring of the Howling Abyss, are thwarted. With Longshire swept clean of orcs, with the Great Forest at Reikos liberated, the two forces converge on Exile. The site of the first atrocity of the Druj invasion when their armies somehow overcame generations of superstition to pass from the Barrens, down through the haunted depths of Peytaht. Exile itself is a twisted parody of what it once was. Once a place of learning, of meditation, it is now an abominable temple dedicated to fear and suffering. The Druj Miasma is stronger here. It clings to the wet soil beneath the trees in the form of a physical, rolling mist. There are hints of shapes in the fog. Ghosts. Dead spirits of Highborn soldiers and civilians and oh! so many priests. There are no signs of any bodies, however. The Spring magic that pulses in the rain and the soil allows for no corpses, not this season at least.. The Druj warriors that defend the temple are unfamiliar. They wear dark hoods, wield curved blades, fight in almost total silence - fight like cornered rats. To their credit they stand and fight to the death. They rely on the aura of fear and the darkness beneath the trees ... but it avails them naught in before the might of Dawn, and the keen eyes of the Navarr. Examination of the fallen orcs reveals eerie tattoos, unsettling piercings, lips sewn together with old cord. There is some debate as to whether it might not be wisest to burn the ruins of Exile to the ground, if that might not put an end to the blasphemy that taints the air itself. In the end, an agreement is reached that the question of what to do with the ruins is not for the Dawnish or the Navarr to make. With Longshire and Broken Ride liberated, the majority of Reikos is now under Imperial control. There are still orcs in Tamarbode and Grey Charge, but where can they go? West into Casinea and the waiting arms of the Silent Sentinel? South into Bastion, the heart of Highguard? North into Broceliande? There is nowhere for them to hide. There are also some orcs in the Great Forest, and hiding in the ruins of the central plains, but they are scattered and broken - they might continue to plague the people of Reikos as bandits but they are in no position to rise as an organised force. The land itself has not fared well under Druj dominance. Signs of their occupation are everywhere. The rain has cleansed the Flux, but Reikos itself is ruined. The eastern barbarians have taken their vile pleasure in defiling, corrupting everything they can. For now, though, there is the hope that peace may once again come to Reikos, that flowers might bloom once again in the Garden of Highguard. This is not the end of the campaign for Reikos; but it is perhaps the end of the beginning. ------------------------------------ GAME INFORMATION ------------------------------------- In summary then. Reikos has been recaptured by the Empire! A Senator can raise a Declaration of Assignment during the Winter Solstice and determine which nation Reikos will be assigned to. If Reikos is assigned in a timely fashion, it may be possible to elect a senator to represent it. Regardless, even though two regions (Tamarbode and Grey Charge) are still technically under orc control, Reikos is now an Imperial territory again. The orcs there are scattered and weak. They are unlikely to be able to launch any sort of campaign to reclaim any part of Reikos. Unless a new force enters the frame, perhaps through the Great Forest of Peytaht or out of Broceliande, it is unlikely the Empire will lose Reikos again any time soon. Both the Vigilant Swan and the Forest of Peytaht at Reikos are in Imperial hands, but the matter of their allocation is a little more complex so if you want to know more, you will need to go read the version of this I am about to put on the maik wiki here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_war#The Rains of Reikos Finally, the civil service are already assessing Spoils of War, and it is likely a list will be submitted to the Military Council during the Winter Solstice. It must be stressed at this point that Reikos is in a parlous state, with much of the population either exiled to other parts of Highguard or simply dead. These will hopefully go live around the same time as the Winds of Fortune (despite Liam having written them last year, I am too lazy to get them onto the main wiki.) ------------------ Finally, the photograph is Tarian Y'Basden (Kiera Gould-Thomas) as taken by Oliver Facey because why not? #onwardsImperialsoldiers, #IthinkIgotthemallinteehee, #whatyouthoughtyouhadseenalltheDrujhadtooffer SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-25T13:35:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/914604098635571 +++ THE STORMS OF SPIRAL +++ ------------------------------------------------ THE RUIN OF FORT MEZUDAN ------------------------------------------------ Fort Mezudan lies in ruins. Shortly after the Autumn Equinox, a luminous greenish-yellow effulgence engulfed the highest spires of Fort Mezudan. It leapt from roof to battlement, coiling across the ramparts and the rooves like a living thing, before striking down to the lower levels. For a few minutes, every item of metal larger than an eating knife was wreathed in the cold flame. Then it was gone, and the first rain began to fall, and wind began to wail between the towers. The storm gathered strength over the course of a day, battering the castle with increasingly powerful winds and pounding rain. Shortly after sunset, the first spear of lightning hammered into one of the towers with an ear-shattering explosion, sending shards of sharp stone in all directions. For four hours, the castle was pummeled with thunderbolts. As the lightning cracked and broke the stone, the wind howled louder and louder. The rain thickened until it was a veritable deluge, cascading water making the courtyards and stairs treacherous and click. The rain sent cold, questing fingers searching for any crack in the white granite walls, and where they found them they tore them open to the hungry wind. For four hours the storm raged. Then silence. People began to pick themselves up and assess the damage. The rain continued to pour down but the winds were silent. There were a few guarded expressions of satisfaction that the Fist had weathered the magical storm. There had been some loss of life - two sentinels thrown from the ramparts by the wind, a tragic tumble down a rain-slickened staircase resulting in a broken neck - but it could have been worse. Yet the clouds continued to swirl above. A desperate warning came from Illuminate Nissea, the otherwise unflappable commander of the castle. The storm was not over. The final hammer struck out of the eye of the storm. A whirling tempest, roaring like some abyssal behemoth, smashed down from the churning sky into the heart of Fort Mezudan. A thaumaturfic gyre, summoned and unleashed with the most potent of Spring magics, tore the central tower to pieces and sent boulders of white granite spinning through the air like so much lethal chaff. The devastating column of wind, water, and stone lasted no more than ten minutes, and then collapsed violently one final apocalyptic detonation of thunder. The wind died. The rain continued to fall, heavy enough to hamper efforts to find survivors beneath the rubble. With Urizen thoroughness, a tally of the dead, the injured, and the lost was quickly prepared. Seventy sentinels, magi, and spirefolk are accounted dead. This number including Illuminate Nissea, along with the majority of the stone-crafters guild, slain while attempting to shore up the collapsing central keep. A further sixty serious injuries are listed, along with eight souls unaccounted for either lost beneath the rubble or hurled to their deaths on the lower slopes by the cruel winds. Fort Mezudan, the lonely sentinel in the east, stands watch no longer. ---------------------------------- THE WAR FOR ATERI ---------------------------------- Had the storm struck earlier, it might have caught the army of the Granite Pillar still billeted at the Fist, and the death toll would surely have been higher. Yet when the Fist fell, the Highborn army was already marching. With the Quiet Step, they were marching north-east towards Screed and the slumbering horror of the Black Plateau. Had the storms struck a week later, it might have caught the Northern Eagle, the Wolves of War, and the Citadel Guard marching east from Highguard. As it was, they arrived several days after the destruction, after the last of the bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, just in time to attend the last of the funerals. There is little time for grief. Imperial strategy is straightforward and ambitious. The Empire's forces intend to push cautiously through Ateri, driving the Grendel out. Then, on to Screed and the looming shadow of the Black Plateau; then onward to liberate the Legacy. A bold plan. The Grendel strategy also appears to be quite straightforward. They launch a major offensive into Ateri the very morning after the ruination of Fort Mezudan. Despite being outnumbered by Imperial forces, they drive a spear-thrust of orcs and beasts into the heart of the Imperial armies. Perhaps a thousand-score barbarians, with siege weapons and unfamiliar warbeasts attempt to consolidate the gains made last season in Ateri. If the Granite Pillar and the Quiet Step had been the only Imperial forces in Spiral, they would have outnumbered them two-to-one and we might be telling a different story here. With the relief column marching down from face nearly, however, they instead face nearly thirty-thousand Imperials. Not only are there three extra armies, but the Wolves of War are supported by one of the most significant forces of independent captains seen in recent memory, nearly ten thousand strong. The Grendel respond quickly to the new threat. For all their savagery they are able to respond quickly to unexpected Imperial tactics - perhaps supernaturally so. The soldiers who fight beneath the banner of the wading bird are particularly adept at countering Imperial strateagems. Their captains swathed cinnamon and scarlet silks direct a significant force of more traditionally dressed barbarians to cut off the Imperial advance, while avoiding Navarr attempts to lure them into ambushes, and countering the cunning feints of the cause-bound mercenaries of the Wolves of War. The Wolves of War, advised by mercenary Urizeni strategists and supported by Varushkan and Wintermark sellswords with long experience of fighting in hills and mountains should have easily outmaneuvered the Grendel and attacked them from their rear. Unfortunately, the Grendel are already on the move by the time the Wolves of War arrive - they are not taking defensive positions, but pushing forward towards the Fist. They also enjoy the support of the naval vessels anchored on the southern coast; hard-bitten marines support the rear encampments of the Grendel, delivering valuable supplies to help the Grendel against their Imperial enemies. In the end though, the campaign is proof that any while strategy is important, it helps to have your plan backed by superior numbers. Slowly but with growing confidence the Empire pushes north-east, and the Grendel fall back. That said, the Imperial forces never see the Black Plateau (except perhaps in their dreams). None save perhaps the scouts of the Quiet Step get to see the Legacy in distant Ossuary. The fighting is bitter, but it is largely constrained to the western foothills. The Grendel cannot hold back the Imperial advance - over the course of three months they are slowly, slowly pushed back out of Ateri. The majority retreat toward Apulus (no doubt the take advantage of the supplies offered by their naval forces), but perhaps a third of the force retreats north-east, to defensive positions scattered around the outskirts of Screed. During the Imperial advance, the soldiers of the Empire account for as many as three thousand Grendel orcs, while suffering barely half that many casualties themselves. Yet the Grendel show no signs of being routed - quite the contrary. Even in retreat the core of their barbarian forces remain disciplined. They do not flee, they withdraw in good order - all the while gathering up as much mana as they can find, and as much metal as they can claim from the mines on the mountain slopes. The Grendel forces are a long way from home ... but they are well supplied and the Empire has seen in Sermersuaq how deadly a committed barbarian force can be if it chooses to make the Empire pay blood for the territory it seeks to reclaim. If the rate of Imperial advance stays constant, Urizen mathematacticians estimate it may take as long as six months to conquer Screed alone - assuming the Black Plateau remains quiescent in the face of the tide of death and hatred that armed conflict will doubtless stir up around it. ----------------------------------- GAME INFORMATION ----------------------------------- Fort Mezudan has been destroyed by potent Grendel sorcery. The Empire has recaptured the region of Ateri from the Grendel, but made no headway toward Ossuary; the rest of Spiral is firmly in the hands of the Grendel. The campaign continues. =============== Hullo! First Winds of War of the new year! Fighting in Spiral, coupled with a slightly fancier version of the post-event report we did after last event. Photograph is from Oliver Facery, of a barbarian murdering an orc. Okay so my prejudice is showing - its actually Rodrigo Barossa de Tassato Regario doing whatever it is passes for Saturday night entertainment on the wrong side of the river. #windsofwarwooo, #onedownsometogo, #Imisholbergso SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-22T21:25:17+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/913036065459041 Matt Heath here! Welcome to the pilot of the Empire Podcast - this is the first in what will hopefully be an insightful series of glimpses behind the curtain of Empire’s design, campaign and game. Matt Pennington, Andy Raff and Dave Young are posed some interesting questions about the game itself by Matt Heath, including what the Winds of War and Winds of Fortune do for PD and our players, why we made some of the original design decisions we did and if the game has progressed as we expected it. We are keen to hear your feedback and would love you to head to https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ to provide just that! In the meantime, and without further ado, here is our podcast: http://shoutengine.com/Empirepodcast/the-pilot-16277 (EDIT) And as of this afternoon, the podcast is also now on itunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/empire-podcast/id1086770506 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-21T23:17:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/912508408845140 WINDS OF WAR ============== Hah! Made you look! Just a short note from Raff. I'm hoping to have Winds of War up in the next week, ideally by Thursday at the latest (I have been promised Freddos if I can get them up before Mourning Hollow and House of Leaves which are both on that weekend). Mostly I just wanted to link to this: https://soundcloud.com/ian-horne-2/the-death-of-death Ian Horne Cattes has recorded a sound file of the Death of Death (the Reikos Wind of War from last event). Why not tell him how much you enjoyed listening to it? Maybe he could be convinced to do a similar audio-book treatment of this season's as well - making it a lot easier to catch up on the Empire disastr... many Glorious battles while you're on your way to work? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-15T17:58:29+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/909136805848967 ==INTRODUCING : ARTISAN'S OIL!== All the way from the exotic Commonwealth comes a new arrival! Not a disapproving paladin or a slightly superior diplomat, but a plucky tub of oleagenous goop that is fun, friendly, and full of potential! The Fellowship of Purple Sails (you may remember them from such winds of Fortune as http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Fellowship_of_Purple_Sails) has secured the recipe for a product previously not seen outside the Commonwealth - Artisan's Oil (the name is longer in the original Gesamemansprache, we understand). In a bold move, they have spent the last several months distributing the process required to create the gooey wonder to any and all Imperial artisans who express an interest! Clear proof of the value of foreign trade, claim the farsighted members of that sodaity. (What price they paid to secure the recipe has no been made public, unlike the process for creating the oil itself). ================== You can learn more about Artisan's Oil here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Artisan's_oil. You can read a few words the Boss has to say about it here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates#Artisan.27s_Oil The short version is that Artisan's Oil can be made by any artificer* in one month of their creation time and costing one crown for mundane, but expensive, materials. One month and one crown produces three doses of the oil. To stress again - every artificer can make and use this stuff - it's not a seperate recipe that needs to be earned. Just as every artificer knows instrinctively how to use it, every artificer in the Empire will have received the basic recipe by the start of the event unless for some roleplaying reason they don't want to have it. The only drawback for this substance from the point of view of the average Imperial Citizen is that unlike a potion made by an apothecarcy, it can only be empowered and used by someone who already understands magic items - an Artisan. The ability to create Artisan's Oil will be available from the start of E1-2016, and we are currently planning to get at least a few doses of it onto the Public Auction - we're getting the cards for it made up as we speak - which also has the advantage of giving everyone plenty of time to work out how to phys-rep it. So ... how are *YOU* going the physrep it? #itsgoopygooeyandfullofgoodness, #externaluseonly Picture is from Wikicommons (By Lemone (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-11T00:29:26+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/906721719423809 Apologies to every PD player who was hammering the server at 7pm trying to get tents that weren't there. If it's any consolation you managed to make the server throw a fit, so it wasn't completely futile. As far as I can possibly tell, all the issues are now resolved. Well I've cycled the power on the server - and that's the same as fixing things in my book. A few players asked for a list of tents and prices - so please see the attached image. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-10T11:31:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/906391772790137 For people who are thinking about coming to Empire for the first time this year (or for people who have been before and have questions) we have a hard working new player and player support team. Their purpose is to support players who have questions or want help getting into and enjoying Empire. You can contact the team by emailing new.players@profounddecisions.co.uk between events. We've also created a new Facebook group, which you can find here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/528878433989783/ Although there are a lot of good facebook groups where people can discuss their nation, lineage, costume and everything you could think of - none of the other facebook groups are moderated by us. We have created this new group expressly to make a welcoming place where people can ask questions and chat about the game, without worrying about the sort of arguments that boil up periodically on the internet. We are planning on heavily moderating this board so any posts that are not supportive or constructive will be deleted. We've no intention of moderating other Empire facebook groups - a good debate is always healthy - but that is not what this group is for. This group is a place for existing players to ask questions and for new players to get to know our game and will complement our existing forums (https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/). Don't forget that tent bookings will go live this evening. Tent bookings are usually in high demand and if someone else pays for a tent while you're putting it in your basket, then you lose it (that does happen!), so move quickly if you want a tent for the events. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-02-02T10:01:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/902233789872602 Don't forget that the prices go up tonight, so send payment before midnight if you want to get your tickets at last year's prices. In a slight change to plans, we're going to put the tents live next week - at 7pm on the 10th. This will give us a chance to mailshot our players so that those who don't use facebook or email to keep up with PD news have a chance to take part. We appreciate players are keen to get tents sorted, but giving everyone an equal chance is the fair option. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-01-30T09:23:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/900749466687701 And now for something a little more IC. The Raptors are looking for more hired swords for dangerous work that pays badly! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-01-30T09:06:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/900746880021293 For those that aren't aware already, we've update the websiter and wiki with the details of our new site for 2016, just outside Bidford-on-Avon. We've included directions - as ever please make an effort to follow the directed routes because it really helps us to avoid causing problems for local residents, which in turn helps our events and the good name of LRP in general. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Bidford_Grange The new site has a much bigger battlefield and much better drainage, but the area for IC and OOC camping is slightly smaller. So if you're one of those groups that usually brings a lot of extra tents we asking you to carefully consider what you bring. If not bringing an extra tent genuinely wont make much difference to your game then please leave it at home for the first event. One event will give us time to find the best way to make use of the site. As mentioned in 2015, our prices are going up this year, but if you send payment before midnight on the 2nd Feb then you can still get your tickets at the 2015 rates. Prices will go up after that, but we won't put our prices up again before 2018 at the earliest. You also have a last few days to get your downtime submitted. We'll close downtime on Wednesday morning and start processing that day. Those who want to hire tents will get a chance to do so on Wednesday. The system will open at 7pm on the 3rd Feb. The majority of tents for Empire events sell out within the first 5-10 minutes, so if you want to hire a tent, you will need to get your booking in quickly. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2016-01-15T16:27:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/893584467404201 WINTER RULES UPDATE 2016 EPISODE TWO - THE RULES STRIKE BACK ================================== Happy new year! A bit later than I thought (Raff here) but we've just put some updates live. We're slowly slogging through the remaining work, but today sees some changes to the use of SHATTER, and the long-anticipated rules on navies. As always, we're tracking wiki updates on http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates, and you can read about rules changes on http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016. I believe that the Boss will be reminding everyone about these changes before the next event when he does his traditional e-mailshot. SHATTERING BLOWS ====================== We have increased the minimum weapon length required to call SHATTER with the shattering blows skill from 42" to 48". You can read about the reasons behind this change here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016#Shatter ALL ABOARD THE BASILISK! =========================== The rules for how a navy works during a campaign – the orders it can be given and the way they interact with other navies and armies – are now complete. You can find them here → http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Navy_orders They cover movement, how a navy transports a campaign army, and what orders an Admiral gives their navy. These started out in an earlier iteration being similar to the orders generals gave their armies, but as we looked closer at the game purpose of a navy, we realised that wasn't going to work. In this final iteration, there is a much more strategic element to what you order your navy to do and how it interacts with other elements during a campaign. You'll also find a page for a new Senate commission, the shipyard (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Shipyard). It became clear that the shipyard, while it had some things in common with a Great Work, was slightly more complex and we've reflected this by making it “a thing” and by updating the (frankly unsatisfying) idea you could build a navy at any great work that is a bit water-y in nature. The existing shipyard at Atalya has been updated to be a shipyard under these rules). Finally, I've scattered a couple more coastal regions around the north-west in Mitwold, Bregasland, and Kallavesa. We're looking at the conceit that you can have a region that is on the coast without being coastal, and it's likely there may be a few more tweaks. The short version is that in the same way that a region might have some woods but not the forested quality, simply having some beaches is not the same as the coastal quality; the coastal quality has specific meaning in the context of our military campaigns, and despite best efforts I couldn't find a word that meant that but was also straightforward. EMERGENCY RESUPPLY ===================== I almost missed this, but just after the last update we updated the way that emergency resupply of armies and navies is done (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Casualties#Emergency_Resupply) to bring it into line with the rest of our Senate motion pricing strategies. There is now a cost in crowns, in addition to the wains reqirement, to use this ability. ------------------------------------------------------------ Right think that's everything we've done today. If you fancy discussing these updates, then I'd like to remind you that our forums are over here → https://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ and are a pleasant, welcoming community under the genial, vigilant eye of people like Mark Wilkin. The photograph, by the by, is a lovely fun photo from Beth Dooner that I have scrawled all over. I'm sorry. Beth. #notsorryandIwoulddoitagain, #othersideofthehedge, #nootenoughnauticalpunsfixthatinpost SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-12-20T14:03:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/880106878751960 WINTER RULES UPDATE 2016 : EPISODE ONE - THE RULES RISE =================================== Afternoon everyone. Raff here. We're knee-deep in Winter Rules Tweaking at the moment, and I thought I'd take a moment to chat about and draw your attention to a couple of them. There's a few more to come as we finalise details I'll let you know. You can read about all the major changes to date on http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2016. WAINS AND CROWNS =================== Less a change, more the imposition of consisntency, we've finally added labour costs to the remaining senate commissions. In some cases this has reduced the number of wains needed for new projects slightly, in others it has effectively tweaked the cost upwards a bit. The basic rule going forward is likely to be that when the Senate is putting wains into a project, they're also going to be spending cash on labour. The biggest changes relate to armies (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_army#Senate_Commissions) - not only in terms of the costs to create new armies, but the costs and processes for making a standard army into a Large one (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_army#Enlargement). FLEETS AND MILITARY UNITS ========================= The other big change this patch has applied is to the way fleets and military units work. The majority of the 2016 Rules Update page is about this. To summarize quickly: 1) We're removing the ability to do illegal things in downtime. 2) Military units no longer "raid" they engage in "paid work". The mechanics are exactly the same, but the roleplaying is different. It all takes place below the abstraction layer as far as we are concerned. 3) Fleets no longer engage in piracy against foreigners at all, and the piracy action has been streamlined so that it works roughly the same as the paid work action for military units. 4) Fleets can support navies in the same way that military units support armies, without needing any additional investment. I was resistant to this initially, but the boss made some good arguments and won be round. By default, fleets supporting a navy get a share of the Guerdon. Note that this is not a seperate guerdon - it is one big pot of money controlled by the Senate split between every military unit and fleet taking support actions. 5) We're still tweaking a few bits and pieces. I think the rituals are all sorted now, but there may be a few other minor changes. In particular we are still finalising what effect this will have on the allocation of some of the ilium seats, and how we'll reflect this change in the orc and brass coast briefs. NAVIES ====== We're a hair's breadth from having the Navy rules up. The last contentious point is the navy orders, which we will have finished after our next Skype meeting .Expect to see them go up in the early part of next week barring a major disagreement. Ordering a navy around is a bit more complex than ordering an army around, but in the current iteration the decisions are more about how a navy engages with a campaign; whether they stay at sea engaging other navies, or try to offer support to land troops, for example. FAST CASTING ============= We've adjusted all the "fast casting" rituals and items which was a bit of an oversight to be honest given we changed the rules on offensive spellcasting last year. Most of the effects that used to let you cast a regular spell in 5 seconds instead of 10 now let you cast that spell with a few moments of roleplaying just like an offensive spell. The only major difference remains that you sstill don't use implements when fast-casting regular spells (so the Heal spell still needs you to be able to touch your target with your hand throughout the casting). It's also worth noting that a Heal spell you cast with a few seconds roleplaying is *not* a Swift Heal spell. This has implications for mastetry, magic items, and the like. A couple of items changed more dramatically - a healer's harness (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Healer's_Harness) lets you restore your own body hits while casting swift heal and purge, but the biggest change is probably the Warcaster' Oath (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Warcaster's_Oath) which now allows a bonded magician to overcome being incapacitated if they have any reserve mana. I'll be interested to see how that item works in practice, especially. LOOKING FORWARD ================= After navies are live, there's a few other things likely to be tweaked this Winter but we're still in discussion about exactly how to do it. As I said, I'll draw attention to any changes as and when they happen. We're also looking at tidying up some pages and tweaking the layout of some sections - I'm halfway through an adjustment to the Imperial Bourse layout for example. Unfortunately my boss has banned me from hinting at what we're looking at until we're ready to put it live because apparently he has no sense of humour. So I'm going to leave it there for the time being. ------------------------- The Photograph is by Beth Dooner - yes that Beth Dooner of Beth Dooner Photography. I resisted the urge to put a humorous speech bubble on it, but if you can imagine that Niccolo is saying something like "There is no column on my balance sheet to reflect your happiness" that will make me happy. Or you can come up with your own captions. It's from a recent player event called The Mess, and I have to say I've been really pleased with how many cool player events there have been (and are still planned) over Winter. I may even be able to get to one myself, which will be nice. #othersideofthehedge, #seasonalgreetingsyawl SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-10-19T09:59:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/854055968023718 You may have seen this already given the Boss included it in his e-mail about downtime being open, but I thought I'd post it again just to make sure. It's one of a pair of recent videos from Luca Da Rè , using photographs from the 2015 Empire events. The second video, a chronicle of the campaign for Reikos is here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAEoKvj_7OQ&index=8&list=PLPw6iIPEJ5iuxMGPpTXbOxBLLG_S8zpYb I was going to waffle on about how, as a man who doesn't get out from behind the Hedge very much, I often experience the events through the lens of the photographers. I was going to wax lyrical about not only the pictures themselves, but the beautiful costumes and the moments of drama that they capture. I was even going to waffle on about how all the beautiful things people make – photos, videos, costumes, props, player events, even the d*mn fanfic – keep my keen for Empire high year on year. However, instead I thought I'd spare you all that and let Luca say a few words about his videos himself. You can thank me with pie. Over to you Luca: “The hardest part of making these videos in finding the right music. The first video I made was to a track by VAST and the sentiment felt so right for Empire. The sentiment that what has happened is gone and won't happen again was such a powerful one for me. I had considered using it for a video entirely dedicated to the memory of the fallen but in the end I decided that it would also work at the end of the game year looking at the special moments we have had. “It is a long winter without a fest and the video tries to give people a way of seeing one or two great moments they might have missed when on the field themselves That is one of the main reasons I make videos. We have such talented photographers but a year or two after an event they often are forgotten which is a real pity. These videos are fun way of reminding ourselves of some of the great moments from the last event, the last year or from three years ago. “The second video is all about Highguard and Reikos. I am a Highguard player whose chapter is/was based in Reikos so it is a subject very close to my heart. As with all nations it has been a key goal for our players to get it back and, unless PD have another nasty surprise in store for us, it looks like the Druj have been driven out. It has been three years of hard work and sacrifice by players/characters so it seemed like a right moment to put a retrospective together on the campaign. “I would love to make videos that focus on other nations but it is very hard when you aren't that familiar with what's going on inside other nations. I'm just glad people seem to enjoy the videos at all.” So you heard it here first. Luca wants you to tell him about all the cool things going on in your nation – or maybe you could make your own video? It's five months to the next main event after all ... ;) #haveagreatwinter, #itsbeenablast, #seeyouallateaster PS: There's a dozen other Empire videos on Luca's channel which is probably here (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCII1WXsS0fKqCsvJibsrwyw) why not give them a look, some likes, and perhaps even a subscribe which I hear is something the young folks do. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-10-11T17:19:12+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/850926218336693 ECHOES OF FORTUNE, INTIMATIONS OF WAR Raff here. If you're reading this, it means the Boss has opened Downtime and you are good to go! The plan is to leave Downtime until the last day of October, then close it. That's also the last day you can book next year's events (Empire and ODC) at the old ticket price - In 2016 the prices for all adult tickets will increase by £5. The Boss is sending out an e-mail that contains all the important stuff, but this post is mostly a round-up of Things of Interest that have happened as a consequence of actions taken during the Autumn Equinox event. Unlike the fall-out from the Summer summit, that battle situation is relatively straightforward – this post will focus on giving a little context to the things people will see on their Downtime screen under “effects”. I've also gone through the Autumn Winds of Fortune (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_fortune) and added a short “Resolution” section to each event that briefly summarizes the outcome, and where possible links up with the motions and resolutions that lead to that outcome. As before, we'll do a proper set of Winds of War/Winds of Fortune in the run-up to next year's Winter Solstice event (Easter, to you and me). So without further ado ... ***ECHOES OF WAR : SOLDIERS AND SPIES*** The orders submitted by the Generals have been input, and characters who control military units can spend some time examining them through the Downtime interface. Unlike the fallout from the politically charged Summer Solstice, the military situation is comparatively straightforward – Imperial armies have been assigned to various theatres of war, and the commanders of military units can choose whether to assign their units to one of those armies; to a fortification; to a special project; or go raiding against the Jotun in the west or the Druj in the east. It remains impossible to raid the Thule – the peace treaty still stands (we're planning to talk a little more about this in the Winter Other Side of the Hedge blogposts). *Comparatively* straightforward, as I said. There are two things of note that I thought I'd call out here, however. Firstly, Imperial Fortification Watchers (I assume that's a thing – people have odd hobbies) will note that Spiral's Fort Mezudan, also known as “The Fist”, is not one of the support options this event. That situation is unlikely to change. Shortly after the Autumn Equinox, a massive thaumaturgical gyre devastates the fortification. A storm of supernatural force and (relatively) localised impact blasts the walls and towers of the castle to pieces, resulting in great loss of life. Fort Mezudan is an ex-fortification; it has ceased to be. Can I get a chorus of “STOOOORMS!”? Probably not. Secondly, I thought I'd draw your attention to the Hordalant Spy Network (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Construct_Hordalant_spy_network) which was completed just before the Autumn event but received no publicity here because I'd forgotten it. This brings the number of effective spy networks the Empire is operating to four – alongside the Barrens, Liathaven, the Overton Garrison in the Mourn, and the Verthandi network in Otkodov to the north. You can assign your military unit to a spy network to gather information about the territory and the forces in it. It's worth noting that for a spy network to operate at full effectiveness needs a total of 1,500 effective strength, and that only specific enchantments such as (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sharp_Eyes_of_the_Corsair) count for this kind of project. You can find these spy networks under the special projects tab. Each captain receives a report based on the total number and strength of military units assigned to a spy network, along with a share of the Imperial Guerdon. Long-term special project afficionados will notice that there are no other special projects here. The Axos campaign against the Druj is effectively over with the destruction of the Tunnels of Kaban; and the Lasambrian Hierro forces in Segura are not at this time allowing Imperial forces to assign to them. More of that in a moment. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : IMPERIAL ORC HOMELAND*** The use of Empress Britta's Imperial Favour allowed the ratification of the decision by Wintermark to relinquish the territory of Skarsind (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Relinquish_Skarsind); this was swiftly followed by the decision to assign it to the Imperial Orcs (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Assign_Skarsind). The Imperial Orcs now have a homeland. Admittedly, it is a homeland full of Suaq, Kallavesi, and Steinr. The immediate knock-on effect is that every Wintermark character with a personal resource in Skarsind loses a third of their income from that resource as they are now in a “foreign” nation territory (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource#Resources_in_other_Nations). There are a lot of other implications here, around such things as how the Imperial Orcs appoint a Senator, and how the Imperial Orcs move there, and what happens with the Brilliant Shore. We're still scrutinising some of these effects, and will likely put up a specific post about it closer to the event – possibly as part of next year's Winds of Fortune. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : RED ROCKS AND SERMONS*** The Hierro clan/army in Segura has not moved. You may recall that the defeated barbarian orcs took up residence a stone's throw from the partially rebuilt town of Anduz (a town that they had more than a little to do with knocking down in the first place) (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_dead_tree_gives_no_shelter). The Imperial Senate voted to support the displaced army during the last summit. The Imperial Synod appointed the Navarr priest Taryn of Exile's End to oversee efforts to bring the tenets of the Way to the Lasambrian orcs. I suspect we'll all learn more about this before the Winter Equinox. For now though, it looks like the Lasambrians will not need to resort to banditry to support themselves. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : SUMMER IN VARUSHKA*** The weather is worsening; it promises to be a harsh winter in Varuhska, full of blizzards and dark winds and howling beasts. A potent Summer enchantment has settled across Miekarova, Karov, Volodmartz, and Karsk. You'll learn more about the specifics later but the general effect is that for the next season everything is going to be a little more ... epic. More challenging, larger-than-life, more heroic, more ... narrative. Every Varushkan character with a personal resource based in Varushka (including military units and fleets) will receive a small amount of additional, random, resources. In each case, these extra rewards come as the result of encountering or overcoming the kind of challenges that would feature in a dark fantasy story. A fleet might find a sunken island risen from the sea under the full moon; a farm might be attacked by a horde of hopping husks who seek to drink the breath of sleeping children and must be fought off by brave valesfolk; a cabalist with a mana site might encounter an opportunity to deal with a dark spirit; a warden might end up engaged in a struggle to lay to rest a vengeful wraith in a ruined vale in Karsk, and in the process uncover valuable treasures * most * of which are returned to grateful relatives. We leave the specifics up to the individual players. In each case, though – and this is very out of character for Varushka – the stories that unfold have achievable happy outcomes. Provided one faces the challenges, things will turn out ... for the best. I know right? What is the world coming to! ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : HEARTH TITHE AND BROKEN HARVESTS*** The national assemblies of both the Marches and Wintermark chose to reinstate the Hearth Tithe (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Hearth_Tithe). This means that every farm in the Marches and Wintermark will set aside a plot of land to grow medicinal herbs to help the war against the Jotun. Every farm produces a little less money, but provides the owner with useful herbs. The effect will last for a year. Unfortunately, the news is not all good. In the weeks following the Autumn Equinox, as the Marchers prepare to gather their harvest ... it all goes wrong. Unseasonable hail flattens fields of golden wheat; plagues of rats and other vermin attack storehouses; a particularly virulent blight strikes root vegetable crops, and a nasty version of foot-and-mouth disease devastates animal herds. Across Mitwold, Upwold, and Bregasland, people fall sick with an unpleasant strain of influenza leaving a smaller labour-force to collect what harvests remain. The effect of the curse halves the income of every farm in these three territories, and couldn't have come at a worse time. It is likely that this attack against the Imperial breadbasket will have some unfortunate implications for the entire Empire over the coming Winter. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : NIGHTS OF THREE THOUSAND TORCHES*** When good old Ratibor drove the Vyig out of Temeschwar long ago, the turmoil was dubbed the Night of a Thousand Torches. His brutal suppression of the criminal gangs (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vyig) kind of pales into insignificance beside the efforts of the Assembly of Vigilance to root the vyig out once and for all. The Assembly has appointed three priests, one in each city, to oversee direct attacks against vyig interests in Holberg, both Tassatos, and Temeschwar. Vladimir von Temeschwar of the Brotherhood of the Ashen Tower; Valimir von Temeschwar of the Red Tower; and Irada von Temeschwar will have their work cut out for them in the coming months. In each case they have taken advantage of the opportunity (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_big_sleep) to strike a decisive blow against the Vyig. In the coming months, priests, magistrates, and citizens alike will be actively opposing the vyig. While this will seriously damage the criminal organisation, it will also lead to significant disruption to operations in the three cities resulting in a 25% reduction to the income of all businesses. A small price to pay, surely, for vigilantly opposing the thieves and extortionists? ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : THE RAINS OF HIGHGUARD*** Between the armies and the heroes of the Empire, the Druj citadel of Urith Barath has been shattered, the orcs broken and the Stone Toad clan scattered. Chalcis Mount is in Imperial hands again. The armies look to sweep the last remnants of the occupying force before them and reclaim the territory. As the Autumn Equinox comes to an end, it begins to rain in Reikos. A heavy rain ... a cleansing rain. The rain is full of Spring magic (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rivers_of_Life), potent and refreshing, and it washes away not only the taint of Druj curses but also the horror that was the Reikos Flux. Throughout the territory, those suffering the affliction begin to recover – and the pure water further revitalises the devastated territory. It is not the end, but the long road to recovery in Reikos has begun. That's the good news. The rain also falls in Bastion. This rain ... is different. Colder. More sleet-y. It comes with a driving wind – a lazy wind that can't be bothered to go round people and goes straight through them instead. As the Winter draws on, that sleet will become stinging hail, and bring with it a crushing malaise, despair, and despondency. The insidious effect worms it's way into the spirit, whispering that they might as well have a long lie in instead of going to church. That there's no point to prayer, today. The faithful of Bastion are clearly the target; the initial effect is that every congregation in the territory will provide only half the normal amount of liao, and half the number of votes in the Synod at the Winter Solstice. No doubt we will all learn more about this effect in the run-up to the next event. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : ACROSS THE SEVEN SEAS*** Sea trade! What is it good for? First of all, thanks in part to the efforts of the Fellowship of Purple Sails (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Fellowship_of_Purple_Sails), the civil servant presence on Imperial ships continues. It is not possible to commit piracy against foreigners, nor to trade with barbarians. Oh and it's also worth noting that the northern Bay of Catazaar is * still * shrouded in magical fog (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Fog_on_the_brine) which shows no signs of going away. It isn't interfering with trade, but it looks dead eerie. The international situation has not changed appreciably since last event. The Jarmish are still engaged in complex political maneuvering against each other and while the Senate has agreed to issue a formal apology for past mistakes (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Issue_an_apology_to_Jarm), the apology has not yet been sent – although a similar statement from the Conclave (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Autumn_Equinox_Conclave_sessions#Conclave_Declarations) will surely have had some effect on Imperial-Jarmish relations. The eastern alliance of Princes around Rigia continues to do well from Imperial trade however – they have secured valuble deals to improve their trade in dragonbone as a result. The Commonwealth remains unimpressed with the Empire. Imperial captains are still encountering increased tariffs and bureacracy. However, the situation does not seem to have deteriorated further. The same cannot be said for the furious Sumaah – the port of Zemeh remains sealed against Imperial ships, and there are rumours of Sumaah warships turning back any vessel sailing under Imperial colours that tries to enter their waters. Oh, one final thing. The Imperial Senate has issued a formal invitation to the Grendel (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Invite_Grendel_delegation) to send another diplomat “to discuss terms by which the war between The Grendal and the Empire can cease.” Any captain considering a raid against Dubhtraig may wish to bear this in mind – one way or another. ------------ Right I think that's the lot for now; we've got a busy few months ahead of us and I hope to get a few Other Side of the Hedge posts up before Christmas. There's also a rich crop of player events coming up, and both the Pledge Ball and the Empire Day celebrations to look forward to early next year. A lot of organisers use our forums (http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/) to announce their events, so you may want to keep an eye out there for anything happening near you. -------------- The photo is an Oliver Facey shot of Poor Jack, the Marcher Egregore. I think it is him opening his Last Portal before his death. It gets you right inna feels, doesnt it? #Itsbeenagoodyear, #rollon2016, #booknowandbuymeasadoguacostume SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-10T00:21:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836738503088798 Thanks to everyone who is still reading these updates! I'm going to round out the night with a few rules updates. Firstly bow safety - I know I keep banging a drum about this but it is exceptionally important. Things have been steadily improving - we're pleased with the progress and injuries are down but the battlefield injuries we are still getting are all arrow-related. The main problem we have is with people using their bow at full draw at close range and hitting their target in the head. We have updated our safety rules on our wiki to make clear that you must NOT aim at the head and you MUST reduce your draw when firing at any target under 10m away. Please make sure you read the rules if you are intending to use a bow at the event. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Bow_safety Secondly - the Reikos Flux. The Flux is still burning its way through the populace of Reikos. If your character was present in Reikos then you may *choose* to have caught the Flux. Please collect a Flux card from GOD when you book in and see a ref if you have any questions. If your character finished the last event with the Flux, then you still have it! I am afraid the disease appears to recurr in bouts (like malaria or similar illnesses do). Again check for more information in GOD and see a ref with any questions. Finally we are looking at trying a couple of new things this event to see if they improve battles. Firstly red smoke indicates danger - the barbarian orcs frequently use magic to send reinforcements to the battlefield where the Empire attacks. At this event, we will be attempting to signal that monsters on quests and battlefields are respawning by using red smoke. We don't guarantee that we will use this every time - not all our refs are able to carry the smoke grenades - but if your character sees red smoke then you know orcs are appearing in the area and can react accordingly. Green smoke indicates danger! Barbarian orcs, particularly the Druj make extensive use of poisons, including herbal and magical techniques to release clouds of poisonous gas at the Imperial troops. If you are within 10ft a cloud of green smoke then your character has been affected by the VENOM game effect. Yellow smokes indicates... danger! Much like the green smoke, these noxious vapours sap the body's strength and the mind's spirit. If you are within 10ft of a cloud of yellow smoke then your character has been affected by the WEAKNESS game effect. Our plan is to trial these things at the event and see how they work. If they work well and improve the battlefield experience for players then we'll look at permanently incorporating them into the rules over winter. Our refs will try to brief people before they travel through the Sentinel Gate to remind players of the rules in effect this event. That's all for now. The site is bone dry and the forecast for the weekend is good. We've got some amazing plans for the last event of the year. We're really looking forward to seeing you all there! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-10T00:17:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836734023089246 ++SITSKRIEG++ The scribe thumbed the parchment again, flicking back to another sheet, then forward again. She picked up another sheet from the floor, glancing through the flowing lines of writing, notations and numbers before placing it on a pile on the chair to her side. All around her were pages arranged into different stacks, smaller slips of paper folded around them to create bundles. She turned to a map of the Western Empire sprawled across a table behind her. A number of small wooden discs lay upon the map, the icons of the Imperial armies carved into their surface, indicating the location of armies from the Freeborn, the Mark, Dawn and the Imperial Orcs. Piles of worn rings held down further scraps of paper in a number of territories, noting the nations that had sent personal retinues and household warriors to support the defence against the Jotun raiders. Her eyes flicked back and forth again; Bregasland to Kahraman, Semmersuaq to Tassato, Upwold to Liathaven. Back to the desk she turned, moving notes around once more. Her gills rippled as she let out a deep sigh. So much to comprehend, so few clues to provide any sense of what was happening. Two reports of a large warband moving south past Rest in Kallevesa, a heavy raid on five properties at Fisher's Rock in the North Fens and a lone sighting of three Jotun scouts spotted at the Gilded Peak in Kahraman. When reports were filed they were received by her office. Last season her desk had overflowed with news, those opposed against the Jotun, what transpired in the many engagements, the anecdotal reports, the scouts debriefs, the Winged Messengers, the names of captured raiders, the directions in which they travelled, the numbers seen in each party, the distances between villages put to the torch, the sites of interest in the areas attacked, the places left untouched. And then suddenly it had gone dead. No there was simply not enough evidence to decipher what the Jotun’s true plans were. The silence was broken as the door swung open, the dawn light spilling in and a fresh breeze disturbing the low-burning candles. In strode her colleague, his stride purposeful and full of energy, his antlers just missing the lintel, his purple robes billowing behind him. “Another report came in last night from the Grey Fens, nothing, they have gone…” “Gone?” “Yes. Gone. The Winter Sun hasn’t seen any raiders for a week now. They know the Jotun better than most. I trust their reports.” “But, but, but… This isn’t right, I need more reports. We've got to get more scouts out, get more information about where they are. I can’t work out where they will strike next without knowing more. This isn’t right. It's half a moon until the Equinox and we've got nothing to advise the generals on how the Jotun will raid this Autumn. Somebody must have seen the Jotun - we have to got to get more information on what they are doing." “Serena, listen, they have gone. The Jotun have stopped raiding. Stopped. Gone. It is over. You should stop trying to make this something it isn’t. We have triumphed. Fort Fidelis and Fort Braydon have not reported any movements all season. The armies along the border with Kalsea have turned back any raids they encounter. I hear my cousin with the Hounds of Glory led a band of knights against raiders who tried to attack the stoneworks ongoing in Tassato - it was a slaughter. It is over. We have triumphed and that is all there is to it. The Empire has won.” --------------- The Empire has defeated the Jotun ..! ... Jotun raids that is. The phony war might be about to come to a crashing end and the war-war about to kick off in style. You can learn about this event here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sitskrieg) You can learn about the real-world sitskrieg here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War) ------------- Last Wind of Fortune. Remember to check out http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Autumn_Equinox_winds_of_fortune where they are all laid out for your amusement. I'm going to bed now, but I think the Boss might have a rules update thing. See you on Friday! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-10T00:09:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836732083089440 ++RED PHOENIX DOWN++ Iarus looked mournfully out of the window at the rain. "It's still raining," he said flatly. "Yes. It's the curse." Tivia replied without looking up from her book. "I feel so restless, I can't stand being cooped up. I want to go out." "Yes" she said again, still not looking up. "You went out this morning and spent the whole time moaning that you were cold and wet and wanted to come back inside. It's the curse." Iarus stuck out his bottom lip and glared at his sister. "I just feel so useless!" he exclaimed. "Curse again," Tivia replied. Then she looked up laconically, and favoured him with a faint smile. "Alright in this case it is mostly the curse." Iarus maintained poise. He grumbled a little under his breath, and began to pace back and forth, shooting the rain a hateful glare whenever he passed the window. A few moments later, an ushabti plodded dutifully into the room, carrying a tray on which was a steaming porcelain pot, two small bowls, and an urn of herbs. "Put the tea on the table," said Tivia, engrossed in her book. The ushabti paused for a second, turned ... and fell over. The pot shattered when it hit the ground sending boiling water everywhere. One of the cups rolled across the floor until Iarus stopped it with his foot. Tivia stared at the fallen construct for a moment and then hurled her book across the room with an incoherent shriek of anger. "Stupid ushabti!" she screeched. "How am I meant to study without something to calm my nerves! What is wrong with you, you useless hunk of ... of ..." She shouted again, no words just a frustrated roar. Now it was Iarus' turn to smirk. "Yes," he said when she quieted down. "It's the curse." He barely made it out of the room ahead of the second book that his sister's catastrophic loss of poise sent slamming against the wall behind him. --------------- Did you think we had forgotten? Curses on Urizen. Impact on the public auctions. Soon there may even be a run on the (mana) banks! All this, and catastrophic loss of poise. Can it get any worse? You can learn all about this event here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Red_phoenix_down) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-10T00:07:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836731413089507 ++REAP WHAT YOU SOW++ "Gregora," called the overseer. "Gregora!" "What?" asked the surly miner, wrestling her cart full of orachalcum ore to a halt. "Weren't you meant to be reinforcing the tunnels down in the north-west shaft?" "Maybe?" she replied, insolently. "What's the bloody point, though? The orcs can reinforce it their bloody selves when they get here." "Not if it falls down next week, they can't." "Look," she snapped. "Do you want to leave this all in the ground for them - or do you want to take what we're owed for all our hard work before we're forced to give it up?" The overseer mulled this over for a moment. "A good point, well made." he said, and left her to get on with her job. -------------- Skarsind continues to cause potential problems - but at least all the miners are getting rich ... before they have to pick up sticks and move. You can learn more about this event here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Reap_what_you_sow) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-09T22:55:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836713483091300 ++THE ROSE OF ASTOLAT++ Once the seat of the Dawnish Kings and Queens, the Castle of Thorns has presided over Astolat since before there was an Empire. What were once royal estates are now gien over to beautiful parks, and the castle itself is almost completely engulfed in rose bushes. It is considered by many to be a wonder of the modern Empire, and at dawn or dusk when the sky catches fire, it is enough to make the poet sing, or the sensitive soul weep at the beauty of it all. Today, the castle serves as an academy for the training of Civil Service, but it is also where much of the day-to-day business of maintaining the nation of Dawn takes place. Each Dawnish Senator has apartments there, decorated with the produce and imagery of the territory they represent - although they are rarely used. The proximity of so many quiet, studious civil servants has traditionally made many Dawnish senators uneasy. The castle is a symbol of the glory and beauty of Dawn, sure enough; and also a symbol for the Civil Service that undertakes the burden of overseeing so many aspects of modern life in the Empire. It is by no means cheap to maintain, month after month. The castle is old, and the grounds are extensive, and the academy uses an absolutely astonishing amount of paper and ink. Over the last three months, however, those costs have increased ... and increased dramatically. The most obvious problem is the structure itself. Stone surveyed to be strong and reliable has begun to crumble. Part of the eastern rampart actually comes smashing down into the inner courtyard, very narrowly missing a civil servant lecturer and her class. All of the flying buttresses supporting the Hall of Ten Nations - the old throne room - have apparently developed cracks at the same time. The old wine cellars - where sufficient food to feed two hundred people is collected and stored - have become infested with vicious black rats the size of cats, and the terriers the porters keep to control their population are too scared to go down the stairs after them. At the same time, the roses that shroud the castle, that give it it's name, are beginning to die in record numbers. As they die, they peel away from the walls - in some cases their great weight inflicts additional damage to the integrity of the structure itself. Worse, the death of these roses is seen by the superstitious across the Empire as an omen - a sign of some hidden rot at the heart of the Empire. The physical damage to the castle is bad enough, but there is worse to come. Paperwork begins going astray. Senior civil servants lecturing the academy become lost, or absent-minded; a plague of aches and pains and brittle bones leaves students and teachers alike in the infirmary. Tempers flare. Old grudges come to light. The civil service attempts to maintain its dignity, but that is proving increasingly difficult. ------------------ Oops. Something quite dreadful is happening at the Castle of Thorns in Astolat. Either it reflects a dark rot at the heart of the Empire as the superstitious believe ... or it means there is some sort of conspiracy aimed at this conspicuous symbol not only of Dawnish glory but of Imperial stability. You can learn more about it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rose_of_Astolat) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-09T22:18:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836700669759248 ++BRIAR LIAR++ "When they saw what I was, they attacked me, beat me senseless, punching and kicking me when I were down - and then the biggest of them split my skull open with four blows of his cudgel! Even that weren't enough for them - they wanted to see me dead, so they dragged me to the river and threw me in. I woulda drowned too - if not for my sister pulling me out." The Marcher crowd stirred to the words of the passionate young Briar. At one side a pair of old Landskeepers stood shaking their heads, but the lad and his sister had gathered a large group. It was clear that the people he wanted to talk to were hanging on his words." "Don't you see - we're all drowning here. Thems in charge are beating us all down. The Carstokes tried to murder me - just for being a Briar - because that's what them in power think of us. We have to stop letting them beat us down - we have to fight back!" The lad's speech had attracted more than a few briars and several of them cheered the last, but it was clear that this talk of fighting back was upsetting the crowd. A few were looking around nervously as if worried that they might be seen here. Before the lad could speak again a girl, dressed in Bolholt colours, but with the blazon of the militia stepped out of the crowd to challege him. "Carstokes did this you say? Where's your proof?" The crowd fell silent, watching the confrontation. The boy look surprised to be called out, but his face brightened half way between a smile and sneer - as if glad to be challenged. He pulled up his shirt and slowly revolved to show a body covered in Briar patches. The crowd gasped, the evidence of the Carstokes violence compounded by their fear of the Spring infection. He cast a triumphant look at the Bolholt girl, but she was clearly uncowed by his display "It's a good story Tobin - or whatever you're calling yourself this week. But it can't have been the Carstokes who did this to you. Because two weeks ago, you were up at Tower March and that day you claimed it were the Trammels who did this to you. And if folk want to know why I've been following you round the March, it's because half a moon earlier you were in the market place five miles from my uncle's farm claiming it were the Bolholts did this to you. And funny thing is - your appearance matches a report from Anvil of a Briar there claiming that the Talbots beat him half to death and then tried to finish the job with a drowning." The sneer fell from the boy's face like winter ice sliding off a spring roof. "Lies" he shouted, but his guilt was painted on his face like a Dawnish shield. "This ain't militia business - I've broken no laws." At this the girl smiled as she renewed her assault. "Bruised apples have black cores. You're right that I can't arrest you for being a damn liar and I can't arrest you for being a dman fool. But being a thief is a different matter. Two nights ago, the Carstokes lost a young sheep from their farm, not from the fields by a wolf - but from the barn. But this morning I see you and your sister sharing a meal of prime mutton... So Briar Tobin - I am arresting you and her on suspicion of theft." Afterwards nobody could quite agree on what exactly had happened next. A few witnesses at the front say the briar lept at the Bolholt girl with a knife, but the two landskeepers say it were the other way round - that the girl went for the briar with a knife in hand. Everyone agreed that amid the screaming and the panic it was difficult to be certain who stabbed who. What was certain is that Tobin and his sister had fled, and young Margary Bolholt, barely a citizen and still the youngest member of the militia at 15 was dead - stabbed twice, once in the ribs and a second in the neck. ---------- You know as much as I do, really. A young ruffian, causing trouble in the Marches, making unfounded allegations, stealing sheep, murdering the milita ... You can learn more about these shennanigans here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Briar_liar) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-09T20:44:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836651103097538 ++FELLOWSHIP OF PURPLE SAILS++ Olivia i Farad i Riqueza opened the door with a broad smile, and swept the woman on the other side into a tight embrace. "Therese! I did not think you were in Siroc! When did your ship get in?" She pulled back, held her friend at arm's length. Frowned. "You look terrible! Have you been ill?" The League captain shook her head at the Freeborn merchant's blunt honesty. "A very long trip, with pirates. And then this fog! I swear I thought that we were going to smash into the quayside. If it weren't for the pilot boats ..." Olivia nodded, and looked past Therese to her companion. "And who is this chiselled cliff-face?" Therese placed a companiable hand on the arm of the large man beside - and slightly behind - her. His black and red clothing marked him as Highborn. Smart, but of a practical cut. Olivia prided herself on being a good judge of people, but had some difficulty evaluating the man on her doorstep. Despite his size, he did not hold himself like a soldier, but she did not reckon him for a merchant either. Perhaps a priest. She chuckled inwardly. It was easy to imagine that the Highborn were all priests. "This is my friend Michael of Crown's Quay," she said, and winked at Olivia, out of her companion's sight. The Freeborn gave the large man another appraising look, and her smile slowly widened. "Where are my manners! Come in, come in! We are about to eat and you are welcome to join us." As they passed along the short hall to the garden, her Highborn guest quietly enquired as to how much a seat at the table would be worth. Olivia charged him three rings - she did pride herself on setting a very fine table, after all - and when his back was turned exchanged a significant glance with Therese who was plainly amused. As he pitched in, helping her nephews to lay the table, she quietly asked if he had been coached. "Not by me," whispered Therese. "He's dealt with Freeborn before I think." "So you're "friends" then?" whispered Olivia back. "What kind of friends?" Therese told her, and the pair shared a slightly wicked laugh which caused Michael to look up in some surprise which made them laugh even more. After the meal, when the dinner things had been cleared away, and the youngest members of the household put to bed, Olivia lit her pipe and the conversation turned to business matters. "Im just back from Jarm," said Therese darkly. "Politics, and worse than usual. It was all snide remarks and backhanded compliments, and some frankly very rude enquiries about whether I was in the market for slaves. The new laws screwed me out of most of my profit from this trip - I can't believe they actually did it. No mana to Imperial traders as long as we are 'meddling in Jarmish politics'. I mean to say, what's the point of an embassy if they won't trade with us? Bloody Ferrero!" Olivia clucked her tongue sympathetically. Michael shook his head. "I don't entirely blame them, if I am honest. We engaged in some pretty sharp practices with the Jarmish, and we can hardly claim not to be meddling in their politics. Imperial support for Rigia is a slap in the face to Kavor and Vezak. I have a friend in the south who tells me that this is really about the reparations to the Asaveans." Olivia was surprised. "What do you mean? What reparations?" "Piracy. Imperial pirates. The Senate effectively gave the Plenum a hold full of weirwood. But it wasn't just the Asaveans we were stealing from. It's shameful, and I am just surprised more of the other great nations are not up in arms about it." Therese snorted. "Like the Jarmish are so special! What, they expect a holdful of ... mithril?" "It couldn't hurt," Michael shot back. "If you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime." Olivia leant back and blew a smoke ring. Her guests bickered a little, and she left them to it for a few moments before sharing her opinion. "Still, it's better now I hear. The civil servants on ships? My Enzio - he trades in Sarcophan mostly - has only good things to say about it. At least in the south, the ships you pass know that you are not a pirate, even if you are flying Freeborn colours. It pays dividends. Small dividends, but enough small dividends add up to a big payday." The other two largely agreed. "It's still disappointing that there are so many bad apples in the barrel," said Therese thoughtfully. "That the Senate has to make them behave by sending clerks and scribes to keep an eye on them. It's like they are unruly children who will ... I don't know, set fire to the house if they are not under constant supervision!" Michael looked serious. "True enough but ... I think it is easy enough to see the virtue in it. The guilty are kept on the straight path by the presence of vigilant eyes, and the ones who would not consider piracy are not inconvenienced by it especially. The would-be pirates can always give up their ships and go and fight the Jotun if they do not like it. I have no sympathy." He shrugged. "It leads to Prosperity, either way. And it lets us hold our heads up as an Empire. Whatever else we are, we're not pirates. And in the long run, I don't need to tell a Freeborn merchant what a good reputation is worth when you are in trade." There was a thoughtful silence. "Of course, it will all end soon enough. There's a war on, and the Senate is eventually going to have to choose between keeping our captains honest and supporting another army. They already abrogated it once ..." Therese favoured Olivia with a bright smile and with a remarkable lack of sinecrity said: "If only there was something we could do about it! Something we could do to encourage the Seante to keep the civil servants in place so that we could all benefit from a little less suspicion abroad!" Their hostess sucked deeply on her pipe and blew out a long stream of smoke. She sat forward in her chair and favoured her old friend with a cool stare. "I take it you have come here with some suggestions, then, and this was not just a chance visit?" Michael looked sheepish, but Therese only laughed, a genuine laugh of good humour and familiarity. "Oh, 'Livie. You know me so well ..." ---------------------- What's this? A new sodality interested in helping the Senate out with a large cash donation? Or maybe something more sinister. Either way ... some discussion of foreign trade, Imperial diplomacy, and the value of a good reputation. You can learn more about it here (Employ_Civil_Service_to_observe_Fleets_II). Oh, and theres a little bit more information about the international situation. You can skip the bit about the sodality and go straight there if you like by clicking hree (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Fellowship_of_Purple_Sails#Trade_Winds) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-08T21:55:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/836111916484790 I'm pleased to let everyone know that after a break for the proprietor to get over the Reikos Flux, Tykes will be back and serving find food at this event. They'll be in the IC field alongside Mhorish, with Feast, Right Wok and Applebys in the OOC field. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-08T14:41:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835980669831248 ++THE DEAD TREE GIVES NO SHELTER++ Red roots clutched at broken rock under the hot sun of late summer. Amira i Haour i Guerra sighed, and swore, and wiped the sweat out of her eyes. The ground was hard, uncooperative. The spade at times seemed to be actively fighting her, twisting uder her hands. She took a swig of water from the bottle at her belt, and made a face. It was warm, and tasted slightly brackish. Still ... the job had to be done. If she wanted to expand her herb garden, she needed to break the soil up. Get rid of the larger stones. She had simply started to question the wisdom of doing it manually instead of paying someone else to do it for her. She straightened up, then, and considered retreating the to the shade beneath the lone tree on the edge of the field, to eat her lunch. It was appealing, but she knew if she took a break now the temptation would be to have a quick nap, and then it would be getting late, and she would convince herself to go home and come back tomorrow. It's the job that never gets started that takes longest to finish, her mothers used to say. She privately had come to undestand that while that might be true, the job you give up halfway through easily ends up staying that way for weeks. She pressed one hand against her protesting lower back, and groaned. Dust crickets chirruped and sang to each other nearby, apparently appreciating the heat more than she was. To the west, in the distance, something was not right. She shaded her eyes. A cloud of red dust. Was it a dust storm? They were rare, normally, but it had been a very hot summer. A combination of strog winds, parched soil, and dry streambeds could produce a blinding, stinging tempest that left everything coated in fine red sand when it abated. No. Not a dust storm. She remembered seeing something like this before. She had been only a little girl when the orcs came. She remembered standing in a field not unlike this one, looking west with her mother, talking excitedly about the clouds of red dust. She remembered the fear; her mother ropping her rake and lifting her up and running back towards the farm; the shouting. The fighting. She missed her mother very much. This was not the red wind, come to scour the paint from her door. This was an army. An army of orcs, marching out of the western hills. She dropped her spade, and hitched up her skirt, and ran back down towards the farm, shouting. ------------ Orcs in Segura! And not the good kind! The kind with tails (allegedly)! Vermillion alert people! Vermillion alert! This is not a drill! You can learn more about this unexected development on the main wiki here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_dead_tree_gives_no_shelter) ---------- The photo is from http://www.thody.net/photos/utah-rocks---national-parks/ and I believe is a picture of a pinyon pine tree in one of Utah's national parks. It's maybe a bit too full-on desert for Segura but ... I like it and it fits with the theme. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-08T00:30:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835744763188172 ++FOG ON THE BRINE++ "I am glad you decided to acept my offer," said Madame Lupita. She poured a little more of the crimson wine into her goblet, and a little more into Efra's goblet. They clinked their goblets together, and sipped their wine. Madame Lupita selected a tart, crimson cherry, and closed her eyes as she savoured the complex texture and delightful taste. She selected a second one, and teased the Freeborn merchant with it for a moment before allowing him to catch it in his mouth. He chewed it up, spat the stone somewhere off in the direction of the beach. "There's more wine," said Efra. "I brought an extra bottle to be on the safe side." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the hamper, but appeared to be comfortable with his head in the lap of his neighour the paradour-mistress. "I'm sure it is very content where it is, right now." She said a little archly. "I think one bottle is more than enough for the moment. There's no point ruining an excellent day by getting drunk too early, is there?" Efra smiled up at her, loosing himself in her golden eyes for a moment or two. The sun was setting. He traced one finger along the delicate scales of her chin. "No, no point in ruining such an excellent day. Such a relief to get away from the town! I appreciate the soldiers, I really do, but ..." He frowned and tailed off. His pleasant companion was blatantly paying no attention to him. "Am I boring you?" he asked, and cursed himself for the petulance he heard in his voice. "No, no, not at all. It's just ... what is that?" Madame Lupita pointed down towards the beach. A shimmering haze hung in the air. It seemed to be rising from the sea, like steam, clearly visible in the fading light of the sun. As the pair watched, the mist thickened and solidified, becoming a coiling fog bank that obscured the water of the Bay almost completely. The naga woman pushed Efra out of her lap and stood up, shading her keen eyes and peering westward. "It's spreading, it looks like," she said, a little excitedly. "It's almost to the horizon already. What on earth can it be?" Efra sat up, making an unhappy face at the disruption. As he pulled his sandals on, he glared up at the twilight sky. "Probably some helpful magician is twisting our skies like they've done up in Madruga. To protect us from the Grendel or some such. A diabolical liberty it is, in my opinion!" "I don't think so," countered Madame Lupita. "it's coming from the sea, I think. Rising from the water itself. We must go and look!" The distinguished businesswoman took off across the grass down the gentle slope towards the sandy beach with the agility and enthusiasm of someone half her age. Efra grumbled, looked at the remains of the picnic. This was not where he had imagined the evening was going to end up. He considered clearing away properly, and then shrugged. He simply rolled everything up in the blanket, and shoved it into the basket he had brought with him rom the shop, ensuring that he liberated the other bottle of wine before he did so. Dusting off his coat, he called after his companion: "It could be dangerous you know!" And she called back, already picking her way across the sand towards the waterline, without looking back, half laughing: "Life is short Efra! Best live it while you can!" ------------- Well ... this is odd. Not too long before the Autumn equinox, a supernatural cloud of mist appears on the shores of the Bay of Catazaar. It's definitely magical; it clings to the water; it is around six feet tall; and it seems to stretch across the entire northern bay. How unexpected! You can learn more about this eerie event on the main wiki here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Fog_on_the_brine). I'm sure it is nothing to worry about. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-07T19:59:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835671143195534 ++HEARTH TITHE++ The noonday sun was too intense for any more work. The other monks lounged in the shade of the apple trees, or cooled off after their hard morning labour in the pond at the top of the great field. Abbott Thomas sat quietly under the Green Oak in the garden behind the cloister, reading a book. Next to him on the bench was a battered straw hat, and a long rake leant against the bole of the tree beside him. His thinning grey hair was held back by a kerchief, which also served to soak up any sweat that might otherwise have fallen onto the vellum pages. Occasionally, he would take a swig from a jug of cider, or a healthy bite of a ham-and-cheese sandwich his wife had prepared for him. A shadow fell across the Abbott, and he looked up. Big Jack - or Wee Jack as his friends insisted on calling him - loomed like a dolmen over the seated priest. As the abbott looked up, the burly farmer snatched his straw hat from his head, and held it by the ragged brim, nervously turning it in his hands. Thomas favoured him with a broad smile, and gestured for him to sit. He offered Jack the jug he was drinking from, but the large man demured. They engaged in a little small talk, primarily about the weather; about the orc raids; and about the soldiers from Wintermark stationed down near the western borders. Big Jack could not conceal the fact that there was something on his mind, but the Abbott allowed him to get round to it in his own time. Some things cannot be rushed. "Reckon that the war's come early, then." he said at last, his voice rumbling in his barrel chest. The abbott nodded. "It was inevitable. The war was going to start some time. No point trying to scoop yolk back into a broken egg." Big Jack chewed his thumb nail for a moment. "Our youngest's eldest has gone off to Holberg." he said flatly. "Gone to fight with Old Tom's brigade, under Dick Talbot." The Abbott maintained his silence; this was a time for listening not for talking. He offered the big man the jug again, and this time he did not refuse it. "He'll ... he'll keep her safe, won't he? I mean, them Druj bastards has run off back east with they tails between they legs. Theres nowt there to fret her gran and me, is there?" The Abbott sighed. "Ah now, I wish I could say it would be alright Jack, but I'd be lying to you. Theres war with the Grendel in the south there, and there's Reikos too. The Bounders and the Strong Reeds are already there, helping the Highborn get their homes back. They say the sickness has taken a lot of good men and women, and more before the year is done." Big Jack looked increasingly unhappy. This was not what he wanted to hear. The Abbott did not enjoy speaking like this - he had taught all of Big Jack's children and grandchildren their virtues, knew them all by name, and considered them family as well as flock. He tried to offer some comfort. " But Dick Talbot is a good man by all accounts. I don't doubt he will do right by her. But we both know war is a vicious dog on a long chain." Jack touched the old scar on the side of his neck, probably withut realising he was doing it. "It's just ... me and the wife. We feel so .. helpless. If I thought it would help I'd get my old clank back from Ham and take off after her, so I can watch out for her." The Abbot smiled sadly. "What would your Ham do without his armour, Jack?" He prodded the big farmer's spreading belly gently with one finger. "And how'd you fit into it? Get a tailor to let it outt?" Jack's face crumpled a little. The Abbott realised he had gone too far - it genuinely seemed like Big Jack Greenfields was about to cry and that could not be borne. The Abbott made a decision. He picked up his book again, stroked the cover for a moment. It was a biography of James of Sarcombe; James the Wise; the only Marcher ever to have trudged the dirty road to the Imperial Throne. The man who first said "enough is enough" and had the courage to confront the butcher's bill and say "no more." "I know what you mean, though, Jack. You're not the first to talk to me. I've got my old brig out of the boxes and looked at it three times this month. But what do the armies need with a one-legged priest and a broken down old warhorse like you? What a pair we'd make! The orcs would die for laughing at us." Jack smiled at the idea, just a little bit. Some colour returned to his cheeks. He finished the cider and gently put the jug down beside Abbott Thomas. "I'll tell the wife you said not to fret, and we'll trust that the young lass has enough of her grand'da's sense to know when to duck then, and we'll fatten a pig up for when she comes home all full of swagger and war stories. There's nowt else to be done." The abbott was siezed by a premonition then, a cold certainty that Big Jack's youngest's eldest would not be marching home again. It chilled him to the bone, and then filled him with the old rage. He could not accept it. He would not. He would set his will to changing that future, and damn any premonition that tried to tell him otherwise. He clenched his left fist, but let none of the wrath burning inside him show on his face. He looked out instead towards the east field, where some of the younger novices were braving the summer heat to clear and hoe the fertile soil in preparation for the new herb garden "Oh, I'm not so sure Jack. Not so sure at all. We may be old, but we can still fight against death. Let me tell you about the Hearth Tithe ..." ------------------- Open war with the Jotun has had the inspirational side effect of bringing people together. There has been talk of resurrecting the Hearth Tithe - an old tradition taht fell out of favour during the Second Interregnum - by which farmers set aside some of their labour and land to grow medicinal herbs with the encouragement of their priests. You can learn all about this opportunity here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Hearth_Tithe). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-07T19:13:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835657046530277 ++Good Faith++ Despite the breakdown of negotiations between the Empire and the Grendel, a few still hold out hope that the Grendel will honour their promise to release the children they took hostage regardless of the outcome. Their hopes dim on the news of the Grendel assault on the The Fist, but they are finally shattered when word comes from the Grendel. Copies of the same letter are received by Navarr couriers and from there delivered to senators and other notable citizens of the Empire. It appears the Grendel have dropped their pretence of wanting peace. ----------- This is a very short one - it's a letter from the Grendel Salt Lord Suriad. You can read all about it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Good_faith) it's quite short, so probably nothing serious. Enjoy. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-07T15:36:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835592136536768 ++REED OF FORTUNE++ Matilda stared at the strange creature stood by the side of the field. It was dressed in fine red robes, with a turban on its head so that it looked like it could have came from somewhere in the Brass Coast, but any thought that it might be a citizen of the Empire was dispelled the moment you saw its face. Its skin a riot of gleaming metallic colours, it was clearly not human, nor any lineage Matilda had ever heard of. It was definitely from foreign parts and the sooner it went back there the better in Matilda's opinion. She looked at Robin, her fiance, for some kind of explanation. "What's that doing in our fields?" she prompted when none was forthcoming. "Counting... I think. That's what he asked to do." "Counting the fields?", Matilda queried him. "Right then - your Da has seventeen fields, the back pasture, and the three braes. Now, get rid of it before it twists us a wrong turn." "Not the fields." Robin replied, shaking his head. "He said he wanted to count the grain. I think... I think he's counting the stalks." Matilda snorted in derision. She stared at him and wondered what had comes of his wits. If only having a beard made you wise. "What d'you swallow that for, ya daft sod?" she challenged him. Robin shrugged, and spread his hands. "He was civil and spoke proper, like the friar does. And he promised he wouldn't be no trouble." "Ya flaming idiot, your Da's gonna shout your ears off your head if he catches on that you let a ruddy boggart on the farm. And worse, you're stood idling and gawping! He told us to have that ditch dug by nightfall and it's going to take hours. We've got to get rid of this thing and make a start. Lost time is never found." Robin broke into a huge grin, as he turned to face her. "Done it already Mattie - that creature said he'd help me in return for letting him count Da's grain. I said I needed to dig the ditch first and he said he didn't have enough time for that, but he'd help if he could borrow some of mine from next week. So we started together and we've been digging all morning, and I kept wondering when you were going to come and join us and then suddenly it were done and now you're here." "If the sun's curdled your brains completely Robin Stock March, I swear I'll get the Landskeeper to bury our oaths in a black field. I followed ya straight out here you oaf, you've not been here more than a quarter of an hour." Robin pulled her towards him, putting his arms round her waist as he turned her round to look at the neighbouring field. It was the smallest field his dad owned, but even so the newly dug ditch in the east corner was a good fifteen paces long. As she stared in disbelief her fiance leaned forwards and in a conspiratorial voice whispered a lewd suggestion on how they might spend the rest of the day. --------------- A fairly wee Wind of Fortune this one. For the last three months the powerful herald Reed, Reckoner of Hours, has been popping up all over the Empire. And I do mean all over. A genie from the City of Gold and Lead, Reed appears to have been engaged in an "audit" of the Empire's wealth for his mistress, the eternal Ephisis. Shortly before returning to the Autumn realm, he sends a message to the Imperial Conclave, requesting that they "lease" him the state of amity so he can address the Conclave. What has a few people concerned is that, as a powerful herald of an eternal who does not have Amity, Reed should not have been able to enter Anvil, and certainly should not have been able to wander the Empire so freely. There are two likely explanations; either Reed is not as potent a creature as was initially believed; or one or more Imperial citizens have used ritual magic to allow Reed access to the Empire. You can learn more about this event on the main wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Reed_of_fortune). You can also learn about Ephisis (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Ephisis), and could read a little more about amity and enmity (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Amity_and_emnity) if you were so inclined. -------------- The picture is an artist's impression of the enigmatic eternal Ephisis, drawn by Constanza i Kalamar i Guerra (as portrayed by Irina Goodwin) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-07T09:31:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835414623221186 ++CROW ON THE CRADLE++ Vaclav descended the spiral stairs in silence. Now and again he would reach out and touch two fingers to his lips, and then touch one of the skulls cemented into the wall. He paused at the bottom, and settled the long cloak of black feathers round his shoulders, adjusted his dragonbone mask, and stepped through the crude archway into the barrow proper. Candles guttered here and there, providing little illumination. He waited in silence. After a few long minutes, he heard the scraping of bone on stone. A quiet, empty voice spoke from somewhere in the gloom. "Sssssserav ..." it hissed, and then fell still. Vaclav took a deep breath. "No my lord. It is Vaclav. Serav was my grandfather. He's been dead for twenty years, lord. Remember." There was a noise that might have been a chuckle. "Twenty ... years? I should apologise ... Vaclav. Sometimes it is hard to ... tell you apart. You are such excellent ... stewards." Vaclav bowed his head for a moment, and the drew a slim scroll from beneath his feathered cloak. "You told me to come as soon as there was word from the Malinov, my lord. A scroll arrived less than an hour ago." He unfurled the pale parchment, squinting in the gloom. He could barely make out the scroll, never mind the writing. In truth, he had memorized the words but he made a show of reading the scroll out for his lord. The dead king could be quite touchy about little details, as Vaclav had learned the hard way. "They say they remember, and they keep to the old compact. They are Varushkan and do not forget. They will raise the black standard again, if their cousins in the west will do their part. There is talk of roads, of course. Of mithril. They will march, but never again lead. Oaths were sworn, after all." The voice from the shadows was stronger now. Vaclav's eyes had adjusted to the gloom a little, and he could make out the hunched shape seated on the stone throne in the centre of the barrow, and a few of the dark alcoves set at regular intervals into the walls. He could not quite make out the shapes that occupied them, and as always he was greatful for that. "I remember the oaths. I am not ... so far gone. I remember Pieter Malinov near ... pissed himself ... when he laid his blood on the black stone. So angry. So passionate. So ... foolish. That was ... long ago." Vaclav knew better to interrupt his lord when he was reminiscing, lost in the past. "I remember ... when you told me ... what they had done to the Senator. Thrown ... out of a window." A dry, empty chuckle. "Again, lord, that was my grandfather. And I think you told me once that that was Varla Malinov. I am sorry." "Don't ... apologise. It is nearly ... time ... for me to rest. The iron boots no longer ... march. The sound of the drums becomes ... distant. The crows ... have fed ... but now ... peace." The dark lord hissed the final word, drawing it out, his voice dwindling away into silence. Then, suddenly, it was strong again. Vaclav felt a flicker of his lord's will, his full attention focused on him. "Send the birds, Vaclav. Make the ... offer. Baruk and his people will ... remain here and guard my ... slumber. Tell him ... that those of his people who wish may go to the Imperial orcs ... if they will take them. But our bargain ... must be paid in blood ... and he and his blood-kin will ... stand watch ... over the barrow. He knows ... the price should he fail." Vaclav nodded, and bowed, and started to withdraw. Then he paused and turned back. "My lord ... may I ask a question?" The silence became expectant. "Will it last, this peace with the northern orcs?" Laughter, then. Dry, but strong, filling the barrow. Echoed by the unseen figures occupying the alcove. "No, Vaclav. Peace never lasts. Never. In a month, a year, a decade, a century ... peace dies. The boots march again, the drums beat again. the blood ... flows again. As it was in my youth, as it was in the centuries since. Peace ... there is no peace, outside of the grave." The laughter died away; there were no echoes. One moment laughter, the next silence. "Send the birds, Vaclav. When the peace ends ... I will be here. For you, for your children, for your children's children. It does not ... matter ... how long. It does not matter if you call yourself Ushka, or Varushkan. I will ... always be here ... for you." Vaclav bowed low, a catch at his throat and his eyes blurred with tears at the terrible hunger in his lord's voice - and the terrible, terrible love that lay there too. He pulled his cloak around him again as he stepped through the archway and began the long climb up the spiral stairs. At each turn, he touched his fingers to his lips, and touched the skulls of those who had gone before him, nestled in their earthen alcoves. His father. His grandather. His great-grandmother. Back and back through the generations. One day soon that he would join them, and in time watch his daughter, his grandon, the blood of his blood, descend the dark stairs to commune with the Lord of the Broken Hill, in the darkness, in the silence of centuries, until long after his bones were dust and his name forgotten. ---------------------- There is an army in Varushka that belongs to neither the Thule nor the Empire. There is an opportunity to bring it home, either to combine it with an existing Varushkan army or to equip it as the vicious core of a cruel () army, and raise the black banner of the Iron Helm for the first time since the days of Empress Mariika. This being Varushka, however, this opportunity is not without ... obstacles. Sometimes a surfeit of life can cause as much trouble in the long run as too much death ... You can learn more about it on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Crow_on_the_cradle SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-06T20:31:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835196546576327 ++PROFESSIONAL KILLERS++ Movement, just in the corner of her vision. She looked up from the book she was trying to read, irritated. She knew it was irrational but ... One of the damned guards was standing outside the latticed windows leading into the garden, with a lantern, watching her. She turned round and gave him an exasperated look and mouthed "still not dead". She stared at him until he moved away. Then she stood up and pulled the long velvet drapes across the glass doors. it had taken her long enough to persuade them to leave her study. Honestly. She was at home in her own library; there were guards at the front and back, one in the cellar and one on the roof. How did the imagine an assassin was going to get to her? She had half a mind to compose a strongly-worded note to Senator Adamah of the Silent Tide; apparently this whole ridiculous arrangement had been his idea. Still ... she checked the drawer at her desk as she sat back down, to reassure herself that there was a naked blade within easy reach. The drawer was empty. She frowned. Someone cleared their throat. She turned and for a moment found it next to impossible to take in what she was seeing. A plump fellow in a simple white mask, wrapped up in a long billowing cloak, was standing near the mirror. He had her knife in one hand, and in a smooth motion that was almost too fast for her to follow, stepped close and put one hand on her shoulder. The strength went out of her limbs and she slumped backwards trying to remember how to shout for help it was so hard to focus and ... Her confusion ended abruptly as the doors from the garden exploded in a shower of glass and splinters. A large orc, roaring at the top of his lungs, with a sword in each hand, charged into the room straight from the garden. Her assailant was obviously as surprised as she was. He made an attempt to drive the knife into Helena's throat but the sudden apperance of the orc had broken the strange malaise that had fallen over the civil servant. "How dare you come into my home!" she bellowed, as she threw herself backwards. The assassin over-extended himself. Before he could recover, the orc guard had barelled straight into him and brought him down with a bonecrushing tackle. As the two tussled on the floor, the other guard - a no-nonsense Highborn woman - appeared in the shattered lattice, made a quick assessment, and tore down one of the long curtains. "Hakkah! Over here!" she shouted as she rushed forward. The orc stopped methodically smashing his fist into the would-be murderer's face, and rolled to one side. The Highborn guard threw the drape over his prone victim, and kicked it twice - once in the head, once in the crotch. A hand holding a knife emerged momentarily from under the edge of the heavy crimson fabric and swiped at her knee ... and she stamped on it repeatedly until it dropped the blade and withdrew. Helena stood up, shakily. She looked from one to the other. The orc was shouting something at their prisoner, straddling him, ready to pound him into submission if he tried to put up a fight. The prisoner moaned faintly, but had the good sense not to continue struggling. The door burst open, and two more guards and a pair of militia volunteers crowded through into the library. As the Highborn woman barked instructions at the newly arrived militia, Helena closed her workbook. Slightly regretfully, realisng it was unlikely she was going to get any work done. For one, she would need to get a glazier into fix the doors into the garden; for two, she was going to be busy setting up a camp-bed in her sleeping chamber, and discussing her itinerary for the rest of the month with her new best friends ... ----------------- Civil servants! Assassins! Bodyguards! Magistrates! Prisoners! It's all go. You can find out all about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Professional_killers SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-06T19:26:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835179573244691 ++A BIG SLEEP++ Rodrigo leaned in closer to his victim. The woman had a black eye, and blood crusted both nostrils. Her lip was swollen. She still stared back defiantly. The bravo cracked his knuckles. She did not appear impressed. He drove a clenched fist into her stomach, forcing the air out of her. She would have collapsed had not the twins - Vittorio and Vanesca - held her upright between them. He inspected his clenched fist, sounding the runes tatooed on his knuckles out in his mind. Might, Ending, Wisdom, Chance. "Who are you working for?" He asked without looking at his prisoner. "Is it Isabella? Von Juntz? Carlotta?" The woman shook her head slowly at each name, and simply stared at Rodrigo, tight lipped. It infuriated him but he tried not to let it show. "Well it doesn't really matter. You're going to take a long stroll off of a short pier either way it turns out." He said. He leered. "Any last words?" His prisoner licked cracked lips, swallowed, and spat bloody phlegm on the floor dangerously near his boot. Then she said something, quietly. Rodrigo strained to hear. "What was that, soon-to-be-a-floater?" He asked, still leering. She looked up then, and smiled a radiant smile and said: "I said ... you're all under arrest." Rodrigo laughed, and so did the twins. "Under ... arrest! Oh that is priceless! Under arrest!? Who is going to arrest us? You?" Their laughter cut off suddenly, as the rear door of the warehouse exploded into splinters and Niccola came sprawling backwards through it, unconscious before she hit the floor. "Honestly ... you vyig." said the woman calmly, as the warehouse began to fill with militia, and the twins nervously raised their hands. "You have such a knack for well-timed dialogue. It's a pity more of you don't take up acting." ------------------ After careful consideration, I am shaking up the format because of the spectre of TL;DR. The vyig criminal enterprises in Sarvos have been smashed; there's an upsurge of enthusiasm for the militia in the southernmost of the League cities; several moderately valuable pieces of real estate are up for grabs; and there is an intriguing opportunity for the Assembly of Vigilance to flex it's muscles in the service of the Empire. You can learn about all this and more on the main wiki here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_big_sleep) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-06T18:29:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835160803246568 ++FORGE OF SORROWS++ "This is definitely all new construction," said Ana thoughtfully. She traced a line on the rough parchment, squinting in the dim radiance of the lightstone. "Or should that be excavation?" She realised none of her companions cared, and sighed quietly. Rikon and Tema were already helping each other to clamber over the pile of rubble that partially blocked the passge. Ana marked the gouges in the wall formed by the picks of Thule slave workers. She shook her head. "You're the architect!" shouted Ulan from the other side of the spoil heap. "You should know!" Jeorg winced at the noise. His family were miners, and he had been warning the party repeatedly about the dangers of loud noises and not paying attention to their surroundings. He squatted at the top of the rubble pile, reaching out one hand toward Ana, to help her over the treacherous heap. "It's important," Ana called back. "I know we're a fair depth down, but a collapse here could be brought on by construction above and then whatever caused it would fall in too. We need to know how far these tunnels go." "Why should we care?" asked Rikon. "Soon enough it will be the orcs' problem!" Ana bit back a retort. She could hear Ulan on the other side of the rocks explaining that a lot could happen between now and there being a new Empress. It was at times like this that Ana had to make a very real effort to remind herself that she loved her friends. Even if at least one of them was a fatuous idiot at times. On the other side of the rubble, the tunnel narrowed sharply. Tema was several dozen feet down the corridor already, peering at something. "That's odd," she said. And then vanished. The others exchanged a quick look, then all of them except Jeorg ran to see what had happened. The older youth called after them to be careful - that if it was a collapse it would spread and they would be caught in it ... There was a hole where Tema had been standing. A low groan went up from below. "Are you hurt!" demanded Ulan. "Can you move! Are you alive! Tema answer me!" The groan became louder and there was a sound of shifting stone. It's alright ..." Tema's voice sounded a bit strained. "This massive heap of stone broke my fall ..." "Can you move?" Ana was all business. Jeorg had already shucked a coil of thick rope from his broad shoulders, and was paying out length after length into the broken hole in the ground of the tunnel. "Yes I think so ... I've lost my lightstone and ... yes ... I think I've broken my leg. Ouch." Her four friends exhanged a look. Rikon shook his head. Typical Tema, who had once described two shattered ribs and a broken pelvis as "a bit painful." As the lightest, Ana was the one volunteered to go into the hole after Tema. Jeorg and Rikon anchored the rope while Ulan held a lightstone out above her to give her some illumination. Tema was propped up on her arms, wincing, on another heap of broken stones and gravel. She looked battered, and her leg was at an unnatural angle, but she was alive. Ana sorted through her pack to find a pot of salve, and examined the damaged limb. "These things never get a chance to go off with you around!" She said, her tone light. Tema looked sheepish. Then frowned. "There's something down here," she said. She pointed over Ana's shoulder. The Suaq, focused on applying the Ossean Balm smoothly didn't hear her friend for a moment. Tema repeated herself. Ana looked where her injured companion was pointing. From up above, she could hear Jeorg calling down excitedly "I think you're on the other side of that collapse Ana! I told you there was something off about it! Didn't I say there was something odd?" Ulan muttered something, but Ana didn't catch it. They were in a tunnel - and quite an old one by the look of it. No desperate gouging on the walls, just smooth stone. Polished even, and ... yes ... carved with runes. Ana checked that TEma was recovering, and then slip-slid down the rubble with her lightstone held up. "Where are you going! There could be ... trogoni down there!" Ulan sounded worried. Ana called back that she was just taking a look and would be right back. She ran fingers over the walls of the pasage. It was big - tall - larger than the tunnels she and her companions had been exploring for the better part of a day. Definitely constructed, rather than natural. And old. Very old. A repeating motif of Verys, Aesh, and Diras. White granite supports, beautifully crafted and expertly placed to support the passage. Breathtaking, in their way. The runes themselves were inlaid with weltsilver that caught the radiance from the lightstone and seemed to capture it as she passed, glowing faintly for several moments after she passed each rune. Up ahead, the passage ended in a twelve-foot-tall archway, opening out into a chamber beyond. She went to see, moving quietly and cautiously. She could hear Tema swearing behind her. The Balm had clearly done the trick. From somewhere up above she could hear Ulan calling "If there's anything valuable, we'll need to get a block and tackle ... we don't want to have to leave it for the damn orcs to find ..." Ana said nothing. She simply stood in the archway, staring, without blinking. There was a ruin here ... deep under Gilenheim, beneath the cave of ice. It was dominated by a large structure - she could barely make it out. She stepped forward, across white granite flagstones. A structure of stone and mithril pillars, echoing designs she had seen when studying with master Kentin. "What is it?" Tema had joined her in the archway. "I think ... I think it's a runeforge." "Wow." Tema sounded impressed, which was not a common occurrance. "Where did it come from? Did the Thule build it?" Ana shook her head. "I don't think the Thule built it. It looks ... too old. But you can see where they've cleared a bunch of rubble out of the way and ... yes, I think they were trying to repair it. Look there. And there." She pointed to obvious pieces of new construction - one of the pillars was clearly new, compared to the others. "I've never heard of a runeforge under Gildenheim before," said Tema. Ana nodded. "Me neither. I think ... I think I've worked out why the Thule were digging all those passages under the cave of ice. I think they knew this thing was here, and when they retreated they collapsed the passages to try and hide it again ... you know what they're like. They'd never destroy something like this, not if they thought they could get it back again." There was movement in the tunnel behind them. The two young women could hear Ulan swearing and barking as he slid down the rubble heap. "I think Ulan is going to need a really big block and tackle." Said Tema with a grin. ---------------------- EDIT: I've edited this right down to the highlights. A ragtag gang of plucky young Winterfolk have discovered a partially collapsed runeforge of unknown provenance and great age underneath the rune cave of Gildenheim, in Skarsind. There is an opportunity to repair this runeforge, and questions about not only who it would belong to, but where the damn thing came from. Will the Empire wait so it can dispatch archaeologist to pore over the ruins? Will it get started repairing it immediately? Will the conclave just interdict it and pretend it was never found? You can learn all about this opportunity, and it's implications, on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Forge_of_sorrows You can also learn all about runeforges here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Runeforge), all about historical research here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Historical_research), and all about Skarsind here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Skarsind). For once this isn't a particularly time sensitive opportunity/event for the Empire but I'll wager it might have the potential to be politically volatile. --------------- Photo is another wikicommons and shows (deep breath) Petrovaradinska tvrdjava podzemlje. By Aleksandar Miskov (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-06T17:35:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/835142193248429 ++STRANGE HARVEST++ Walter leant forward, carefully turning the cerulean blossom this way and that in his gloved hand. For such a large man, his touch was surprisingly delicate. Behind him, Bertrand shifted his weight from foot to foot, opened his mouth several times, but ultimately said nothing. Carefully, Walter took a petal of one of the blue flowers between thumb and forefinger, and pulled. The petal resisted, stretching slightly. He increased the pressure, and it finally came loose. He brought it to his nose, sniffed it. Removed one of his gloves and gingerly crushed the petal, then sniffed his fingers. Then he stepped back. "What do you think?" Asked Betrand, anxiously. Walter nodded. "Definitely the same thing. Same flower, same bush, same thorns. It is the same as the one growing on my farm, same as the one Helena has wrapped around one of her trees. There's a few minor differences, but nothing I'd say was significant. As a botanist, I mean." Bertrand screwed up his face in thought for a moment then, as if he were exploring the idea, he said: "But all the other plants were different?" Walter nodded again. "Yes. I've not seen the same aberration twice in any of the farms, or the woods. They were all unrelated, effectively unique, and to be honest with you a lot stranger than this bush although ..." He pointed then to the ground beneath the thorny briar. "Do you see? The grass is dead. I saw that in the other cases too. I'll wager that within a fortnight every other small plant within three paces of the bush will be dead. I can't explain it, but I have suspicions. I think the bush is pulling something out of the soil. We'd best hope it doesn't spread." He pondered, tugging his earlobe again. Peered around the rest of the field. A trio of yeomen were hard at work clearing unnaturally vital weeds, and a small sapling that semed to all the world to be trying to hit them with one of it's thin, springy branches. "But it's not showing much sign of -" Walter stopped. Bertrand had gone white, like a man who had seen a ghost. He was looking past Walter, at the bush. Walter turned. The petals were falling from the blue flowers. One by one they curled up, died, and dropped off. Where the flowers had been, there were now dozens of tiny pods - a little like rose hips. Even as they watched, these hips dessicated and popped audibly and dropped off until only one was left. That one fruit continued to swell turning a deep ruby red as it did so. Bertrand cried out a warning convinced it was about to explode ... but then it stopped. Nestled in among the thorny fronts, a crimson fruit a little smaller than a man's fist. "Well that was unexpected," said Walter calmly. He leant in to examine the fruit, prodded it with a bare finger and regretted it immediately. It seemed firm to the touch, and he was taken with how full of vitality it was. He had to fight down the urge to take a bite out of it - it looked delivious. He chewed his moustache thoughtfully instead, and then made up his mind. "I think we're going to have to get Lady Julienne involved. Send a runner up to the manor and ask if she can spare us an hour or to of her time. You might also discreetly send someone to ask the Circle of the White Hare if they want to come and look at this. I think this is beyond the two of us now, my friend - and whatever is going on here is a damn sight more unnatural than ..." He gestured to the yeomen still wrestling with the new sapling in the middle of the wheat field. "Than whatever is going on everywhere else." ----------------------------- Edited: There was just too much text here for sanity. So I have edited it down a little. Weird monsters attacking Astolat, Cassinea, and Semmerholm? Check Odd plants, obviously related in some way to the magic of the vallorn? Check. Strange seed pod fruit things full of Spring mana growing in farms and forests? Check. Opportunities to permanently cultivate aforementioned strange plants to add a permanent income of weird tainted spring mana to your personal resource - as long as you are in Astolat, Casinea, or Semmerholm? Checks all round. You can read up on this event at your leisure on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Strange_harvest ---------------- Apologies for the delay. The picture is from wikicomons and represents a milkweed pod ... a terrible terrible milkweed pod SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-03T20:09:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/833613413401307 It's Imperial Art Season I am told! Here is another excellent opportunity to design things, and receive a prize fund (as I understand it) donated via the Assembly of Pride. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-03T13:00:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/833492403413408 ++THE HILLS RISE WILD++ "West of Segura, the hills rise wild, and there are valleys there no human being has ever seen." ----------------------------------------- Reinos, the Northern Hills ----------------------------------------- Shortly after the Spring Equniox, apparently in response to an Imperial presence in Faraden, the Jotun orcs launched an invasion of the northern Lasambrian Hills. During the Summer Solstice, a delegation of Lasambrian orcs approached the Empire to enlist their aid against the Jotun. General Tiesto Hierro, representing the largest orc clan in the Hills, negotiated a treaty securing aid for his people. As a result, the Senate voted to abrogate the Jotun peace treaty. Instructions were given to the civil service to assist Imperial captains wishing to fight the Jotun alongside the Hierro. At a rough estimate, perhaps as many as thirty Imperial captains have taken their companies to the northern Lasambrian hills. This represents a fighting strength of more than three thousand Imperial citizens under arms. While the majority of those going to fight in the foreign conflict are from Wintermark and Varushka, every Imperial nation is represented. In conjunction with the potent Imperial magic used to enchant the general of the Lasambrian force, every effort is made to integrate the Empire's disciplined soldiers with the unruly horde of the Hierro army. The orcs of the Lasambrian Hills are roughly divided into three clans; Hierro, Corazón, and Naguerro. The Hierro represent the strongest of the three; their chieftan is responsible for bringing the other two clans into the loose alliance that helped them organise the recent conquest of Segura. They seem to be the most practical in their attitudes to the Empire. The second most populous clan are the Corazón. Much of northern Reinos is claimed by this clan and they have taken the brunt of the Jotun advance. In contrast to the Hierro and the Naguerro, the Corazón are somewhat ambivalent toward the Empire - but they make little secret of the fact that they do not particularly like the human warriors. While they accept in theory the neccessity of foreign aid, reports of interactions between Imperials and Corazón make it clear that they resent the fact of their presence. The Naguerro, the smallest of the three clans ... are not currently in Reinos. Anecdotally, they do not like the Empire at all. ------------------------------------------- Kalino, the southern hills ------------------------------------------- As part of their treaty with the Empire, General Tiesto of the Hierro agreed to a strategy consolidating Lasambrian forces in Reinos to resist the Jotun. This strategy did not sit well with the chieftans of the smallest of the three Lasambrian clans. Called the "witch-clan", known even among the barbarians for their superstitious ways and suspicion of the Empire, the Naguerro control much of eastern Kalino. They have been desperately trying to resist the invasion of the Iron Confederacy from the south. The Hierro demand to abandon Kalino proved utterly unacceptable to the Naguerro. They have ended their alliance with the Hierro and Corazón and recalled their remaining warriors to the southern hills to protect their homes. While the internal politics of the tribes of the Lasambrian Hills are murky at best to Imperial eyes, there is some evidence that the leaders of the Naguerro place some of blame for this perceived betrayal by their allies squarely at the feet of the treaty with the Empire. No Imperial forces are present in Kalino, but a few details regarding the campaign there have been pieced together from dispatches from Reinos, and the stories of Suranni merchants visiting the Brass Coast. Stories trickle into the Empire that the Naguerro and the Iron Confederacy are not the only forces with an interest in the conquest of Kalino. A "major" force of Grendel orcs, both ships and soldiers, have made landfall along the eastern coast. It seems likely that this force represents - either in part or in whole - the naval force that moved south from Feroz shortly after the Summer Solstice. ----------------------------------- The Broken Hills ----------------------------------- Precise details are scant at this time, but the news coming out of the northern Hills - out of the territory of Reinos - is not good. By all accounts, the beleaguered Lasambrian forces in Reinos are outnumbered four-to-one by the invading Jotun armies. The presence of the Imperial forces slows their advance a little, but that is all. In the last weeks before the Autumn Equinox, dispatches from the south-western front indicate that the Jotun have decisively routed the Lasambrians and taken control of more than half the territory. The Hierro are falling back, desperately. Their army will not survive another season against the Jotun. In the last month, there are suspicions that the Hierro have attempted to contact the Jotun generals to negotiate an end to the invasion ... and been categorically rebuffed. By contrast - and despite the presence of not one but two foreign armies in Kalino - it appears the Naguerro are actually holding their own. No concrete information has come out of the south as yet, but it seems that the Iron Confederacy advance has slowed to a crawl. This is in spite of conservative estimates of three-times as many Suranni soldiers as Naguerro orcs in Kalino, and the presence of the Grendel ships and warriors. Speculation about how the Naguerro are managing to hold the Suranni at bay is rife. It is likely that the Suranni ambassador - or diplomats from the ducal court of the so-called "Iron Wolf" - will be visiting Anvil during the Autumn Equniox. Perhaps they will know the truth of the situation. ----------------------------------------- From the Jotun, no word ---------------------------------------- There is no way that the presence of three thousand Imperial soldiers in Lasambria can have gone unnoticed. Shortly before the Summer Solstice Gudmundur Arason, King of Narkyst, Jarl-of-Jarl of the Jotun made the position of the barbarians very clear "If your armies or your military units march to help the Lasambrians then you must know that the treaty between us will be no more." So far, however, there has been no further communication between the Empire and the Jotun. --------------------------------------------------------- The OOC Bit All the Empire knows for sure is that the Jotun have won in the northern Lasambrian hills. As is typical, our plan here is to give a more detailed write-up of events in Reinos to the captains of the military units actually committed there - so if you want to know more, you will need to track down one of those captains and ask them about their summer in Reinos. That's all the winds of war for now - anyone who sent their troops to the Tunnels of Kaban in downtime will likewise need to wait for the event to get a feel for how the Axos campaign is going. You can read all the Winds of War on our forums here -> http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/announcements/ <- and when I have a few minutes spare they will get uploaded to the main wiki for leisurely perusal. Winds of Fortune will begin to trickle in over the next two days. I also think it's worth mentioning that the late-booking deadline for the Summer Solstice is Firday evening, so if you haven't booked now why not get on it and avoid the hassle of a gate booking? -------------------------- Picture is from Peter Parker, an up-and-coming photographer from America who ... nah I'm kidding. It's Tom Garnett from the Winter Solstice earlier in the year. I have no idea who the orc is but for now they are the poster child for the Lasambrian campaign ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-03T12:43:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/833470946748887 Hi everybody - just to let people know that we've opened up the downtime inventory so people can transfer materials if they need to and magicians with enough mana have a short window to submit requests for arcane preparations. If you want to move or use anything then you'll need to be quick - we're sorting the packs for the event tomorrow which means that at 6pm I'll empty the inventory of everyone who is booked for the event so it can be put in your pack. Midnight tomorrow is also the late booking deadline for booking for the event - you need to send payment by then or pay the gate price if you haven't already done so. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-02T08:59:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832907480138567 ++THE DEATH OF DEATH++ Whenever someone says "could this get any worse?" veterans of the Reikos campaign will wince and change the subject. The rain keeps up throughout the Summer months and well into Autumn. The mud is only the half of it - the stinking mud, made feculant and pestilential by the rampant magic of Spring. Everywhere the waters rise, washing away topsoil, causing tree and ruined chapter alike to become treacherous or deadly. Everything is soaking wet, all the time, and the water is tainted. An apt metaphor for Reikos, perhaps. Thanks to the Druj sorcery, even the smallest wound may fester gangrenously ... or become an invitation to maggots and flies to burrow under the skin and require amputation. Bad enough on a trek through the woodlands ... but on a battlefield? Then there is the miasma. The Quiet Step and the Granite Pillar are gone, and new armies have taken their place. The Strong Reeds and the Bounders, hearty men and women who think they understand a rough campaign. The Citadel Guard, concealing their revulsion at the corrupted, corrupting war zone into which they have marched. The Wolves of War, seasoned League troops supported by hard-bitten Varushkan wagon-raiders who have fought the Wolves in Karsk and for whom a few orcs and a little bad weather hold no terrors. By the time they reach the Valiant Pegasus, sheltering in the ruins of Haros, they have been exposed to the Druj miasma for nearly a week. It is difficult to decide which has the more profound effect on these newcomers - the terrible crushing weight of the miasma, and the rain, and the dark magic ... or the soul-numbed state of the Highborn soldiers when they finally reach them. One shocked officer mutters that there is little to tell between the shambling Highborn siege engineers and the shambling unliving corpses that accompany them. Oh, how insightful that seemed at the time. How untrue a comparison it quickly proved to be. The corpses bolstering the Valiant Pegasus - provided by the darkest magic of the Winter realm - do not last the month. At first the collapse appears to be a few isolated incidents. A corpse here and there ruptures wetly, bloated with internal gases - the preservative magic that keeps their flesh intact no match for the rotting touch of the Rivers of Death. Nobody spots the spores until it is too late. By that time, the fungus has spread through the unquiet dead like the Reikos Flux is spreading through the living soldiers ... but where one in ten humans fall seriously ill, all the husks succumb to the spreading fungus that devours their dead flesh. Some of the mushrooms are quite beautiful - eggshell blue, or the gentle flush of delicate rose - others stink to high heaven. It is almost a mercy when the last of the husks splits apart, releasing heavy yellow spores into the air. The rain is a blessing, in a way - it stops the spores spreading for a start. While they do not seem to be able to find purchase on living flesh, they infest damp leather and canvas if given the chance. A thousand corpses, animated and brought from Spiral, undone in less than a week, no longer suitable as hosts for the ravenous Winter spirits bound within them. Now unbound ... in a land where death reigns like a pagan king ... where the dead often lie unburied because there is nobody left to dig their graves ... The first encounters with wild husks occur as the last major enclaves of Druj resistance are rooted out of Haros Water, and the five Imperial armies set their sights on the great citadel of Urith Barath ... of High Chalcis, as was. A few patrols report gaunt and ghoulish figures, some human, mostly orcs, engaged in unspeakable feasts. They flee in the face of armed men and women ... but then return to skulk in the shadows waiting for weakness to strike so they may feed. It is scant consolation, but engagements with these scattered gangs of baleful grues indicate they are physically very weak - and show signs of being consumed by the same fungal spores that riddled the dead flesh of their original hosts. The road to High Chalcis is marked with horrors. Now and again, the scouts spy a slave encampment. Some are obviously abandoned - the bodies of the slaughtered slaves lying where they fell ... or shambling slowly around their pens ridden by Winter spirits ... these are horrible but easy enough to pass by. Even the wagon raiders accompanying the Wolves of War leave the slave camps untouched (and they are among some of the first to break into ruined or abandoned Druj positions during the slow advance westward). The worst though ... the worst are the ones where the slaves obviously still live. In some cases, the Druj have withdrawn and not even bothered to put them out of their misery, leaving them to die of starvation (because nobody will die of thirst in Reikos this season), or of the flux. Those are the worst, because the orders are to leave the camps alone, rather than risk refugees that might spread the pestilence of the Reikos Flux to other parts of the Empire. A few Druj guerrillas take advantage once they notice the Imperial troops giving the slave camps a wide berth, and retreat into them when the armies draw near. The citadel of Urith Barath - a great wall of white granite and black stone quarried and built by slaves. Barbed black iron spikes, and the tattered banners of the chapters of Highguard adorn the walls. One great gate of blackened weirwood, and a field of sharpened stakes, scattered with waterlogged trenches. The walls are garrisoned by pitiless orc warriors, and over it all flies the banner of the stone toad. It is a terrifying sight, like a vision of some heathen underworld given flesh. Even without the miasma, the thought of assaulting the citadel would be a sobering one. The five armies draw up around the lower hills, over twenty-thousand Imperial troops .. many of them sick in body or spirit from their exposure to this accursed land where once the gardens of Highguard flourished. The Valiant Pegasus lead the attack, supported by the Marchers, the Urizeni, and the League army with their Varushkan mercenaries. Perhaps this is how the Druj armies in Holberg felt, assaulting the walls of Holfried. The result is not catastrophically dissimilar. Between the Druj miasma of fear, and the rotting, festering magic of Spring, and the savage defence of the garrison of Urith Barath the Empire is thrown back time and again. Over the course of the first two months of the siege, maybe as many as fifteen-hundred Imperial troops are killed, or maimed, poisoned, or broken in spirit so that they simply cannot go on. If there was any doubt that orcs are untouched by the Reikos flux, the armies of the Empire see ample proof of it during the terrible siege of what was once High Chalcis. The defenders are hale an healthy - while the Spring corruption of the red-running-rivers assails their bodies with the same indiscriminate voracity with which it attacks the Imperials, the Flux finds no purchase on them. Likewise, the three companies of Imperial orcs that fight alongside the Wolves of War remain in good health throughout - not a one of them falls to the flux. It seems this disease is solely for the human enemies of the Stone Toad. And oh, does it take it's toll! The soldiers of the Valiant Pegasus begin to fall first, and most seriously, but it is an indiscriminate killer. As Autumn approaches, it becomes common practice to take a role call each morning to see who has passed away in the night. Or to find the empty bedroll left by a poor soldier whose death has opened a door for a hungry Winter spirit to find a corpse to wear. Another two thousand Marcher yeomen, Urizen sentinels, League mercenaries, and Highborn champions killed by sickness. One in ten dead of disease. It is no way for a warrior of the Empire to die. And in the end? Has it been worth it? Two months of sustained siege has cut the garrison, toppled one of the two central towers, and reduced the strength of Urith Barath by perhaps half - perhaps not so much. The Druj remain inside their walls, hunkered down for a long siege, watching with pitiless eyes as Spring magic and disease do their work for them ... and helping the reaper along a little with their arrows, and their spears, and their poisons, and their spite. ------------------------------ Grim to write, hopefully grim to read. A variety of factors - disease, dread miasma, Spring magic, thunderous deluge, wicked bastard orcs, a giant castle - have left the Imperial troops with significant casualties, and significant damage to the walls of Urith Barath. It's very hard to predict how this situation will develop - the castle and it's defenders have nowhere to go, but the Imperial forces have taken a serious blow to their strength and all five armies are now thoroughly infested with the Reikos flux. On the plus side ... actually I feel bad even typing those words ... the Empire has finished clearing the Druj out of Haros Water, so that's two regions of Reikos now in Imperial hands. They've made precisely zero headway in conquering High Chalcis, however (the region, rather than the fortification) - and trust me without the Valiant Pegasus storming the walls the situation would have been even worse. I expect another Winds of Fortune tracing the progress of the Reikos Flux this afternoon or Wednesday, so watch this space. But anyone - other than an orc - who believes they were in Reikos this downtime is more than welcome to come and pick up a Reikos Flux card before time in. But don't feel you have to - participation (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Reikos_flux#Participation) is entirely voluntary. There may be one more winds of war covering a remaining theatre of engagement, but there is likely to be a break here as my PHB is on a site visit this afternoon and I ideally need him to adjust some adjectives and sign off before I put the next one up. The photo is Arilia Corvidea of the Suns of Couros looking suitably grim (as portrayed by karen funnell). It is another fine Tom Garnett shot. The quote ... bonus chocolate frog if you can tell me the reference without Googling it. #grimdarkftw,#thequarryisstillhauntedaswell, #nomnomnomfugusghouls SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-02T07:49:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832886230140692 ++NIGHT'S WATCH++ Nan Carter looked out across the dark moor and shivered despite the warmth. She was painfully aware that her armour - sized for her older sister - did not really fit her. She hated the smell of stale sweat that seemed baked into the gambeson. She hated the weight of the metal. She hated standing watch, truth be told. She understood why it was important but ... At least she wasn't alone. Little Jim Thatcher was there too, and Old Gadge. Jim stood with her out under the night sky, while Old Gadge lounged under the rough slate of the open-topped watchtower smoking something foul smelling in his little clay pipe. "Do you think it is true," Asked Jim without warning. His voice broke slightly, and she could tell he was blushing. "That the barbarian orcs have gone away? That it's over?" Nan shook her head. Jim was two years younger than her, and for a moment that little gap felt like all the years in the world. "I don't think so," she said, gently. "I heard from one of the orcs - one of our orcs you know? - that there were raids up and down the western borders up as far as Sermersuaq and down as far as Fort Braydon on the Brass Coast. If they've not been near us for a few months it's because they're busy. Elsewhere." She spoke with what she imagined was self-assured confidence, but the fact of the matter was that she had barely exchanged two words with the Imperial orc legionnaire when he was talking to her father about beating the dints out of his helmet. She had listened, wide eyed, as the soldier regaled the smithy with his stories of the war in Holberg; the battle with the Thule in distant Hercynia; and the slow raising of the tempo of war between the Empire and the Jotun. Little Jim Thatcher started to cry then; he was young, and while he was no coward ... he was young. Nan ignored it and looked straight ahead across the Mourn under the stars. After a few minutes her fellow guard snuffled into a handkerchief and stood up straight. They both pretended nothing had happened. Presently, Jim spoke up again. "But the Empire is going to win right? I mean ... it's just orcs isn't it? We'll give them a good hiding and they'll go scurrying off back to where they come from with their tails between their legs." He broke off, thoughtful. Nan anticipated his next question. "No Jim, orcs don't have tails." He opened his mouth, probably to claim that was not what he was going to say, and then shut it again. Nan cast around for something encouraging to say, and then Old Gadge spoke up. He had moved silently from his position on the other side of the tower, and was now leaning between them, his arms folded on the parapet. "It won't be that easy," he said bluntly. "It's going to be a nasty war. It's been brewing too long and it's gotten all stewed. There will be a river of blood before anyone goes scurrying anywhere - and it might be us and not them." Jim started to snuffle again, and Old Gadge cut him off. "And you can stop that right now, youngster. There's no point pretending things are different to what they are. Wishes are for courting and falling stars and nothing more. If the Jotun haven't been by in a few months it's not because they've given up. It's because the patrols and the garrison keep them out - that and the treaty they signed with the Senators in Anvil. Mark my words, they ha'nt forgotten about Overton. How could they?" He gestured towards the nearby construction with his pipe, a ruby red ember illuminating the weatherbeaten skin of his half-hand, half the fingers of which he had left on a battlefield he never spoke of. "They ha'nt forgotten the castle here, neither. Come Spring we'll be arse deep in Jotun, mark my words. No general, not a human nor an orc, will rest easy while their enemy has a castle between them and what they want. And those raids you hear'd tell of Nan? They're just the start of it all. They're testing the waters, like, finding the right spot to cast their hook and catch a nice fat catfish. It's when the raids stop altogether we'll need to worry because that'll mean they are coming. And when that happens ..." He tailed off, and sighed. "... then you'll have to make a choice Jim. And you too Nan. Fight, and maybe die, and see the ones you love die and be powerless to help them ... or surrender, and maybe live like those spineless cowards I hear'd tell of up Alderley way who call themselves Yegarra now and fight against their blood." Nan had never heard Old Gadge say so many words all in one go. She looked at his face, a little astonished. He did not look at either of the young guards and stared off into the darkness. Into the past. "Oh, children." he said at least, his voice low. "And maybe you won't get to make that choice after all, because someone else makes it for you. And you'll have to live with the consequences of that through this life, and mebbes the next." He sucked on his pipe, and turned away, and under his breath said: "and maybe, maybe if you are cursed beyond reckoning, you'll have to make that choice for someone else, and it will haunt you to your grave and beyond." ------------------ Nothing is happening in Overton. Imperial forces are supporting the garrison there, and continuing to keep a close eye on the Jotun occupation force. The nastiest rumour to recently surface is that there are humans - who should be Marchers - who have grown up under the Jotun and prefer their rulership to membership of the Empire. It's not clear how many there are but ... when the storm finally breaks and the cold war heats up ... there may be some very hard choices indeed to be made in the Marches. That was a bit gloomy. Next one should be much more upbeat and ... oh. It's Reikos. Never mind. ------------------ Tom Garnett photograph of Marchers marching moodily over moorlands. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-01T21:18:17+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832658343496814 ++DRIFTING SUMMER DAYS++ The two knights circled each other, shields raised, probing for any weakness. The cheering was like a physical thing, a wall of noise crashing again and again. Here and there across the tourney field, chirurgeons tended to fallen knights and war-witches - dragging them out of the way when the last two warriors got too close. The sun was taking it's toll - sweat, heat, and exhaustion - and a misstep was inevitable. Sir Jocasta winced at the final blow - she fancied he could hear the bone breaking over the triumphant roar of the crowd. The victor was lifted up onto the shoulders of four burly yeomen, and carried to Lady de Cassilon's pavillion at the far end of the field to receive her honours. A physick was already crouching beside the loser, and rapidly unbuckling armour, and preparing cerulean mazzarine to apply to the shattered limb. The changeling next to her handed her a goblet of sweet golden wine, gestured towards the shadow of a nearby marquee. "Is this what you do here, you de Cassilons?" She asked. Her companion laughed. "No, no. We are pulling out all the stops to impress you - normally we do this kind of tourney only every few months. Or for special occasions. Or, yes, on particularly fine days. Like this, in fact." The shade was very welcome. Outside, the tourney was clearly over and the cheering had died down. Trestle tables were being moved onto the sward, and one of the Golden Sun troubadours was leading an enthusiastic chorus of de Cassilons and soldiers in a rendition of The Curse of Sir Colwyn marked more for it's energy than precision. Sir Jocasta inclined her head towards a table where a small group were gathered, deep in animated conversation. Two were smartly-dressed yeomen in their Tourney best; one an obvious noble in smart teal robes; the fourth member a tiny gnome woman with outrageously pointed ears and inhumanly bushy eyebrows ... and the fifth was half again the height of a human being, with protruding tusks and orc-like features. The five were discussing - or arguing - the application of some of the magical laws to a theoretical ritual intended to enchant a castle to be resistant to comets. "And how common is that?" Fraser de Cassilon grinned lopsidedly. His vibrant purple eyes glittered with good humour. "The heralds? Reasonably common. You know, of course, that we sealed our borders with Meraud's aid? After an eternal comes to your aid like that it would seem churlish to turn them away. You understand surely - I mean ..." He inclined his chin towards a shadowed corner where an unhappy bird creature sat, shoulders hunched, nursing a bowl of wine in taloned fingers. It stared out towards the singing throng and made as if to rise - then fell back when Sir Jocasta growled at it and shook her head. "Don't blame me for the birds! I have no idea where they came from, nor why the general tolerates them. Dreadful, miserable things if you ask me." The herald of Lashonar clearly heard her voice - a little too loud - and looked hurt. She ignored it. "I might see if I can track down one of your witches," mused Fraser. "They are sure to know and I am sure the tale will be worth the listening. But for now, let's have some food. It is a good idea to line your stomach before the serious celebration starts - there will be some good vintages tonight I wager. You would not believe how potent wine brewed from grapes cultured in a regio of the Summer realm can be." He smiled impishly, but then became more serious. "We must seem frivolous to you, Jocasta, but it is not really who we are. Tomorrow, Fleuriel will have the retainers taking inventory and seperating out anything that can be repaired. He is very good at that - and we have had more than enough time to lay in stocks of boots, and tents, and shields, and ..." He waved one arm vaguely. "Things of that nature. The wounded will be cared for - in spirit as well as body - and when your army marches off to war again, it will be stronger and more than ready to face the peril and the glory of the battlefield." He lowered his head slightly. "Today is a celebration - not only because you are our guests, but because of what you represent. A new start. We were hurt - all of us - by what happened but we have had a decade or more to come to terms with it. If we seem flighty, it is just ... well I think we are glad to finally been able to drop that wall of mists without shaming ourselves. To be frank I find it all a little embarassing - I was barely a squire when the mists were raised. I'm glad in all honesty to see the back of it. I want to see the world! I've read about it in books, and heard about it from some of the older courtiers but ... Casinea! Sermersuaq! Volodmartz! Feroz!" He rolled the words around in his mouth with obvious pleasure. Sir Jocasta saw the Lashonari herald perk up and shot it a hard stare as her companion continued. "They sound wonderful, strange and exotic. I want ... well I want to get out of here for a start. Maybe I will come to Anvil with the others. But either way, I want to see the whole Empire!" He touched her hand then. and there was more than the acustomed warmth in his eyes. "I would like you to show it to me ... I hope you would like that too." Sir Jocasta sipped her wine, and allowed herself a slight smile. Three months of this kind of attention ... she could get used to it. ---------------------- The Golden Sun - with their birdy entourage in tow (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sing_a_sad_song) - are spending the long Summer days and short Summer nights in Weirwater as guests at Spiral Castle (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Weirwater#Spiral_Castle) where they can enjoy the many opportunities for diversion that the House de Cassilon has to offer. Including, but not limited to, a great deal of additional resupply. During the Autumn equinox, a new Castellan of Spiral Castle (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Castellan_of_Spiral_Castle) will be appointed (the first in over a decade), and apparently a number of nobles from the estranged house will be travelling to Anvil to catch up on all the politics - and glory - they have missed during a decade behind their wall of magical mists. Whatever else happens, it will presumably make the generals along the eastern front a little happier knowing that they once again have access to the resources of the changeling castle. -------------------- Not a Tom Garnett picture. Honestly, all this swanning around in the sun .. oh well, bound to be some action soon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-01T20:13:17+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832532990176016 ++INTERLUDE : SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY++ Samson of Stonewatch tried again. He seemed to be having difficulty believing what he was hearing - or perhaps he was just struggling with the thought of the report he would need to make to his superiors. "I hear what you are saying, but can you explain it again? I just want to be sure we are all clear, yes?" Behind the Highborn scout, just out of his line of sight, his companion rolled her eyes and leant on her heavy spear. Efra folded his arms, and controlled the urge to grind his teeth. His daughter clung to his leg and gazed in wide-eyed wonderment at the lightly armoured Unconquered and the yeoman in the harness of polished steel. "I don't know how many times or how many ways I can explain it. The ... the orc ambassador came back with his entourage and an escort of Imperial soldiers. He paused long enough to buy some fresh oranges from Madame Lupita, and then the three of them boarded a launch and rowed straight to their ship without looking back. Within the hour, they were unfurling sails and weighing anchor and ... and then a little after that, they were gone. Just ... gone. "And no, to answer your question again, we saw no sign of anyone coming ashore. And yes, we did keep a vigilant watch on them. They were a massive force of ships and orcs threatening to burn our town to the ground ... of course we kept an eye on them!" Samson grimaced. "But ... why did nobody ... follow them? At least to find out where they were going?" Efra breathed a rude word under his breath. "What can I say. This is the sea, which is entirely flat and open. It is almost completely unlike, say, a forest through which you might cleverly track an enemy army for days. It lacks ... caves and hollow logs you can hide in if your quarry spots you and decides to give chase. Also, it is a navy. It will follow the coast. It is going south so ... that is the direction they came from after all ..." He sucked his moustache thoughtfully. "Also - and I am not an expert by any means - while most of their vessels were fat warships there were enough clearly trimmed for speed that I can see why nobody decided to follow them." He gestured then along the street to where Madame Lupita was roundly telling off a group of youths - no more than children - who were lazing around drinking lemonade instead of dismantling the barricade that still blocked half of the street. "To be honest, I think we were all just a little relieved that the Grendel were not going to drag us all off in chains, or turning our town into a battlefield." The Highborn took a very deep breath and started to speak: "The ''courageous'' thing to do ..." His companion interrupted him. "Whatever the courageous thing to do might have been Samson, the wise thing to do was to stay put and worry about protecting their families and their homes. Wouldn't you agree?" Emotions warred on the Unconquered's face, but after a moment he nodded. Efra realised he was much younger than he had first assumed, barely into his twenties; probably he wore the full beard to try and appear older. The Freeborn relented then. "I did hear tell that Camira i Riqueza and her fishing boat saw the Grendel heading south - I think she was poking around the waters of Osseni again despite all the warnings - and they looked as if they were in a hurry. Full sail supported by oars and such like. She said they definitely had the air of people late for an appointment. But then, she is a naga and says things like that all the time. Does that help at all?" Samson sighed and shook his head. "Not ... not massively so. I think the general was expecting a fight with the Grendel and instead ... well." The young man looked so crestfallen that Efra took pity and patted him on the arm. "Cheer up - there may not be Grendel, but I happen to have some particularly fine peach brandy ... which I will be happy to sell your soldiers at a surprisingly bargain price!" -------------------- No Grendel in Feroz when the armies get there. They've gone south, it appears, with their navy and with the army that may or may not have been embarked on it. So the Seventh Wave, the Tusks, and the Fire of the South spend a pleasant late Summer and early Autumn in sunny Feroz. The weather is quite fine; and the Freeborn have promised to ensure a good time even in the absence of Grendel to fight. I understand. ------------- Constanza i Kalamar i Guerra (Irina Goodwin) appears amused by these developments. I will admit this story is a little tongue-in-cheeck, but then I imagine these interludes as palate cleansers between the main events of Imperials and Barbarians murdering each other. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-01T16:50:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832409296855052 ++THE SIEGE OF FORT MEZUDAN++ Following the Summer Solstice, the Granite Pillar and the Quiet Step pull out of Reikos and march down through the mountains of Morrow and Redoubt. They cross the eastern border into Spiral, and the sole remaining piece of territory held by the Urizen. For the soldiers of these two armies, it is as if the sun has come out from behind the clouds. Months of fighting the Druj under the influence of their foul miasma of dread are behind them. Purified of the Reikos flux, and with the opportunity for a toe-to-toe battle with a barbarian army under an open sky ... it is like a breath of fresh air. Now and again, a soldier will simply break into a broad grin or laugh for no obvious reason - it is as if they are surprised by their own ability to feel joy again. They may die in battle at any moment ... but at least they are out of Reikos and away from the horror and despair and the mud. The Granite Pillar quickly take charge at the citadel known locally as the Fist, smoothly slipping into the role filled until recently by the Valiant Pegasus. The Quiet Step immediately dispatch scouts to spy out the enemy positions and get a feel for their likely strategies. The Urizen garrison meanwhile offers what aid they can - and several declarations of thanks to the Master of Imperial Works without whom the castle would likely never have been completed. For their part, the Grendel forces waste no time in launching their assault into Ateri; their ultimate goal the capture of Fort Mezudan and with it the final vestige of Urizen resistance in Spiral. They push quickly through the outlying foothills. The Highborn and Navarri defenders meet their advance, holding where they can and withdrawing in a disciplined fashion back towards the castle where they cannot. The Granite Pillar excel in the defence - not only do they coordinate opportunities for the Navarr scouts to sneak past the Grendel lines, but they are able to anticipate the strategy, and blunt the force, of the big barbarian push. Indeed, the fact they are outnumbered seems to play to the strengths of the Highborn troops - their smaller forces are more mobile, and it is clear that their carefully laid down fall-back positions and lines of support and defence give the Imperial forces a significant advantage in the face of an enemy perhaps twice their size. Still, the defenders are unable to hold the foothills of Ateri. Several spires fall to the Grendel as the defenders withdraw back to the Fist. There they make a stand. A little under six weeks since the negotiations at Anvil, a lone orc emissary strides arrogantly up the road beneath the castle and imperiously demands the surrender of the fort to the Salt Lords of the Broken Shore. The defenders politely decline to give up their positions. As the emissary returns to the armies advancing through the hills, great braying horns begin to sound signalling the beginning of the Siege of Fort Mezudan. The Grendel have been preparing for months - battering rams, a siege tower, and heavy catapults are all moved into position while forces possessed of great scaling ladders and grappling-lines push toward the walls under the cover of sustained missile fire. A powerful barbarian orc force fighting beneath banners bearing the image of a dark bird on a white background lead the attempt to storm the walls, trying to force the defenders back with an overwhelming assault. The orc forces are well supplied by their navy, still anchored off the southern coast, and it provides a constant stream of fresh troops to replace those injured in the ensuing battles. Even behind the reinforced walls of Fort Mezudan, the defenders are pushed to the limit holding the Grendel at bay. The enemy takes advantage of any weakness to press their attack, with the castle and the Granite Pillar suffering the bulk of the damage. Estimates suggest both sides have suffered similar casualties, but there is little doubt that the Grendel have won the first stage of the engagement with the Imperial forces. Without the Granite Pillar and the Quiet Step, however, there is no doubt the castle would have fallen before the Grendel during the first assault. Still, the orcs of the Broken Shore now control nearly half the region and if they can drive the defenders back from Fort Mezudan nothing will stand between then and complete domination of the territory. --------------------------- The Grendel have won a small victory, but Fort Mezudan still stands. They are a little under half-way through conquering the surrounding area, and are focusing their attention on destroying or capturing the castle. One of the biggest factors preventing the barbarians taking Mezudan was the presence of the Granite Pillar - a disciplined army facing three armies engaged in a full-on attack against a defended position provided a significant bonus to the Empire. Oh, and by the by - there is no sign of the hostages the Grendel took during the recent consolidation of their position. On the plus side, this means that the children are not being endangered by Imperial counter-attacks, but on the minus-side it means they are likely still imprisoned on the Grendel ships off the southern coast ... assuming they have not been moved further afield. ----------------------------- Natalus of the Auric Horizen (probably), and Tanwyn Ankarien, and someone else (as portrayed by Terry Hanchett, Izzy Sanders, and someone else). Because Urizen, and because the other picture I found that was really nice turned out to be people from Varushka and Dawn looking at a map. Typical. Reminds me - Tom's Summer Solstice album is here (https://www.facebook.com/garnett.tom/media_set?set=a.1120442654650365.1073741933.100000539247809&type=3). Full of lovely shots. #nearlydonenow, #isittimeforaninterlude, #nomoredepsairmudandcorpses SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-09-01T15:14:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/832340020195313 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-28T17:39:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/830685667027415 Don't forget that today is the deadline for sending payment for an early booking for the final event of the year. Midnight tonight is also the official deadline for submitting downtime - we'll close the system some time over the weekend and start processing ready for the next event. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-26T05:48:43+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/829592867136695 “A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure.” --------------------------------------------------------------- It is a simple fact that Navarri brewers make the best ales. They travel all over the Empire gathering only the best ingredients to add to the hops grown around their wayhouses and steadings. It is said that these brew masters refined palates are derived from tasting beers from all the other nations and adopting their most successful approaches to blend with traditional Navarr methods. Of course these ‘facts’ are often carried from place to place by Navarri messengers ... but Navarri messengers are notoriously unbiased, are they not? Whether the boastful claims are true or not the people of Navarr do love their beer and welcome the Pride and Prosperity that can come from brewing. As summer gives way to autumn more and more posters appear in inns and taverns and excitement begins to grow. The Navarr are hosting a beer festival in Anvil and brewers from all nations are invited to enter. Will they cement their reputation as brewers or will another nation prove they’re more skilled? --------------------------------------------------------------- From 5pm onwards on the Saturday of the Autumn Equinox the people of Navarr welcome all comers into the heart of their camp for Autumnfest! Brewers and lovers of beer alike are all welcome to join in this festival of Pride and Prosperity. Entrants may submit as many different beers as they like and as much beer as they like, to allow demonstrations of prosperity. There is no minimum volume required for entry, to allow even the smallest brewery to have Pride, however at least 1 pint is advised, for judging purposes. Beers will be judged out of 30 (10 from each judge), and the judges’ decision is final. After the competition, any remaining beer will be available to Imperial citizens for a donation. This will be operated as a Freeborn-style "honesty" bar with a suggested donation of 3 rings per pint. All profits will go towards the cost of building a College of Summer Magic to further improve the arcane prowess and martial options of the Empire. --------------------------------------------------------------- Poster from Kay Thomas; words from Kay Thomas and Adam Sal North. It's a beerfest people! A fun opportunity, and I know for a *fact* that a dedicated bunch of cheap students - I mean, skilled brewers - can definitely make a load of homebrew in a week that will deinitely not make you very, very ill ;) Ask me about the terrible conflux of home-brew lager and desperation some time. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-25T12:35:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/829239290505386 The Varushkan people visiting Anvil cordially invite the rest of the Empire to attend a traditional Winter Market on the second day of the Equinox. Come for the stalls and peddlars, stay for the hot wine and storytelling! ========= You can learn a little more about the custom of the WInter Market (and a little about the Shadow Market that follows it) on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Varushka_culture_and_customs#The_Winter_Market SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-24T22:57:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/829016643860984 The Highborn Ira of Felix's Watch, Custodian of the Imperial War Memorial, wishes it to be known that he is organising a competition to design an Imperial monument. The competition closes on the first midnight of the next summit, so get your draughting pencils nice and sharp and hop to it! ============ It's a little early to be starting with these announcements, but why not begin as you mean to go on ;) You can learn more about the Custodian of the Imperial War Memorial here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Custodian_of_the_Imperial_War_Memorial SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-20T17:22:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/827135814049067 ECHOES OF FORTUNE, INTIMATIONS OF WAR! Okay! Raff here, and if you're reading this it means the Boss has opened Downtime. The plan remains to have it open for a week, and close it on the Early Booking Deadline. He'll be e-mailing people officially to let them know what is going on. This is effectively a short - okay, a long - Winds of Fortune post to provide context to some of the things you might see on your downtime, and to clarify some of the outcomes of the politics that took place at the last event. I haven't covered everything here; but what we have done is added a RESOLUTION section to each of the Winds of Fortune (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune) from last event. Many a/effects on personal resources will have a link on them referring to a page on the wiki that you can click to learn more. We'll also do a proper set of Winds of War/Winds of Fortune updates nearer the event, some of which will have arisen out of events this event. Right! Onwards! I'll start with what I think is the Big One: ---------- ***ECHOES OF WAR : JOTUN*** The Imperial Senate abrogated the ceasefire with the Jotun, so that they could offer military support to the Lasambrian orcs in northern Lasambria. If you have a military unit, you will have the option to assign that military unit to support the Hierro defenders in Reinos (not Reikos - Reinos. Totally different territory names). This will work just like the options earlier this year to assign units to help the Faraden, or the Axou. You will not receive a share of the Guerdon, nor will you generate Raiding loot - indeed, you will not receive *anything* in terms of resources if you choose to take this downtime action. It is worth noting that there does not appear to have been any official attempt to let the Jotun know the ceasfire is over. The first they will know about it is if Imperial troops show up in Lasambria. It's also worth noting that there is no Imperial army in Lasambria - your troops will be fighting alongside the barbarian bandits that occupy the arid hills. ***ECHOES OF WAR : THULE*** The Imperial Senate voted to accept the Thule peace treaty. The details will go up on the main wiki as soon as I have sorted them out, but the gist appears to be that the Thule withdraw their forces in Karsk to Krevsaty, ceding Branoc and Crowslook to the Varushkans. At the same time, the Empire cedes the region of Silver Peaks in Sermersuaq to the Thule. This means that the Empire no longer controls the Stonefield Ice Caves - which means Ogmundr Kaldrheim will receive no more ilium, and loses his seat on the Bourse, and Wintermark no longer controls that national position. There are a few other clauses but the other important one is that raiding the Thule is no longer legal. As a consequence, we have removed the option to raid the Thule. ***ECHOES OF WAR : EVERYONE ELSE*** Four addtional treaties were presented during the final senate session; peace treaties with the Druj and the Grendel, as well as treaties with the independent Barrens orcs and the Iron Confederacy. The Senate declined them all. This means that the Empire is still at war with the Druj and the Grendel; and that no official agreements have been made with either the Iron Confederacy or the Barrens orcs. Addendum: if you have a military unit, you can find the "Hierro" under Support, and the current stage of the Axos campaign "Tunnels of Kaban" under Assist. This is because one is an actual army, and the other is ... well it's not an army per se. I suggest nobody worries about it. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : CIVIL SERVANTS AHOY!*** The Senate has reinstated the civil servant observers on all fleets sailing from the Empire. This means that it is not possible to commit acts of piracy against foreign nations (Asavean Archipelago, Principalities of Jarm, Commonwealth, Sumaah Republic, Sarcophan Delves); nor is it possible to use your fleet to trade with barbarian forces (Jotun, Grendel). ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : JARMISH POLITICS*** First the good news; the port at Rigia has benefitted greatly from visits by Imperial fleets, and used it's growing prominence to secure trade deals within Jarm that have increased the amount of green iron it provides to visiting captains. Hurrah! The bad news is quite bad however. Shortly after the Summer Solstice, the House of Princes passed a resolution making it a crime for anyone in Jarm to trade crystal mana to Imperial citizens. Consequently, the ports of Kavor, Vezak and Rigia no longer offer mana crystals to visitng captains. This is in addition to the problems encountered by captains visiting northern and southern Jarm. Jarmish politics are murky at the best of times, and this appears to be a move aimed as much at the "upstart" eastern Princes as at their Imperial allies. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : THE ANGER OF THE SUMAAH REPUBLIC*** The Sumaah Republic has closed the port of Zemeh to Imperial citizens. It has expelled traders and diplomats alike. In a short official statement, the House of the People has declared that it will not continue to associate with those who ally themselves with idolatrous slavers; nor with an Empire that refuses to acknowledge or address the concerns of a sovereign power. This means that you can no longer send your fleet to Zemeh, nor trade with the Sumaah Republic. There is likely to be more information about this situation in the official Winds of Fortune pre-Autumn Equinox. It is important to note that the Sumaah are still foreigners, even if they are in the throes of a political tantrum. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : THE COMMON GOOD*** The Commonwealth remains unimpressed with the Empire; however, the Senate passed a motion during the Summer Solstice to build an embassy. This appears to have helped stop the situation there getting any worse, but Imperial captains are still encountering increased tariffs and bureacracy. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : SEEDS OF GLOOM*** If you live in Casinea, Astolat and Semmerholm, the Vallorn report suggests some light miasma near the borders accompanied by light showers of ettercaps, fading away as the season progresses. If you are the owner of a farm or forest resource in Casinea, Astolat, or Semmerholm however things are not so cut an dried. A wave of invisible vegetative mutation spreads quickly through these three territories, having the most pronounced effect on cultivated plants and trees. About a quarter of your produce will be effected, and effectively unusuable. It's not all bad - or at least it is differently bad. Some of the weird fruits created by this effect (as appropriate to your resource) appear to possess the properties of mana strongly attuned to the Spring realm. You can learn more about his here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Lonely,_dark_and_deep), and there will almost certainly be a Winds of Fortune nearer the event explaining this occurrence in more detail. ***ECHOES OF FORTUNE : THE DOOM THAT CAME TO URIZEN*** Oh yes, one last thing. The territories of Redoubt, Zenith, and Morrow are suffering unseasonal poor weather and ... oh God ... magicians are beginging to feel increasingly uncomfortable. In some cases they become depressed and lethargic, in others short tempered and aggressive. It's also halved the production of crystal mana throughout Imperial Urizen ... but frankly I am less worried about that than I am about the whole "short tempered, aggressive magicians"in a nation stuffed to the gills with people capable of wielding the somewhat limitless forces of creation. ----- Right that's it for now - but I anticipate a few more updates over the next week, not least when I finally get the assorted treaties that were or were not taken properly presented in the Senate Sessions section of the wiki. Good luck with your downtime clickery. ----------------- #deargodthatwasacomplexevent, #letshopewedonthavetomaketheseinterludesaregularthing, #onthewholeithinkwewon The photograph is from Tom Garnett, by the bye. I believe it is the big map the Generals use. Theres some gorgeous shots in the same album - with any luck he will be moved to share it here ;) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-11T20:57:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/823305167765465 Matt here, just to let everyone know, we're going to take the main server down tomorrow so that we can take it to ODC for the weekend. We're aiming to have it back up and running for Wednesday 19th and to open downtime that day. It will be open for one week to allow players to submit their downtime, we'll email everyone (who has asked for Empire emails) once it opens and again just before it closes. The downtime deadline will also be the early booking deadline for the last event of the year. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-11T19:17:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/823278824434766 Raff here. Just a short one. The Boss and I have been poking a few wiki pages here and there as part of our relaxing fortnight post event. The most recent one - and one that is somewhat relevant to people with an interest in Imperial histry - is the new Currency page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Currency) which talks (among other things) about what Imperial coins are IC and where they came from and such. If all goes to plan, a few other long-overdue bits of setting info might materialise over the next week or so - maybe even the mythical "5 Mindblowing Techonologies the Empire Has That You Might Not Expect". Maybe. I've also seen a few questions about downtime. Most of you probably know that this weekend coming is the second Odyssey event of the year (http://odyssey.profounddecisions.co.uk/Main_Page), and the current plan - such as it is - is to try and get downtime open as soon after that event as is humanly possible. After such a ... busy ... event as the Summer Solstice there's all sorts of stuff to catch up on, and what I'm hoping we will do is for the first time write an "interlude" Winds of War and/or Fortune that cover the fallout from the last event that might be relevant to the limited choices people make over downtime (obvious examples are significant changes to foreign relations; which damn treaties the Empire signed; where the Imperial armies are; and so on). In the meantime, keep your eyes on http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Recent_history - the Synod judgements from last event are already up (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgments), and hopefully we will see both senate motions and conclave declarations before the end of the week. I think that's everything relevant for now. Good luck if you are off to the Lands of the Middle Sea this weekend! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-08-07T13:56:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/820968671332448 This is a quick update to remind everyone of the current rules for stealing game items which you can find on the wiki: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Playing_the_game#Stealing_Items The key thing everyone should know is that if you are stealing an item then you should take the ribbon and the item together. Once you hve escaped the scene of the crime - go immediately to GOD. You MUST hand in the stolen phys-rep within 30 minutes of taking it. In GOD you can remove the ribbon and attach it to a new item. The only time anyone should just take an item ribbon is if you are looting an item from the battlefield and the player wants to keep their phys-rep for any reason. At any other time you must take the item and the ribbon together. On that note we have a stolen item whose phys-rep was not returned last event. It's a 5' long bamboo effect staff taken from the House de Gauvain tent in Dawn on the Saturday of the last event, sometime after 22.00. If anyone has seen it can they please let me know so that we can help the player get his physrep back - thanks! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-22T15:21:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/814085262020789 Hi Folks, just time for a quick final update. We've got an enormous number of players booked for the next event, (always a good problem to have!) so we have had to make a few last minute changes. We've swapped the Dawnish and Brass Coast camp over. This has made the field layout easier for everyone involved and allows us to help the Dawnish enlarge their tourney area better for the Grand Tournament of Cathan Canae. We've also designated two dedicated parking areas, both in the field adjacent to the Quiet Camp. The first is for players who are not staying on site overnight - allowing them to get on and off site easily. Next to is an area for players who have IC tents but no OOC tents - so don't need to park next to their car. Parking cars in this field will allow us to get more campers in the main field next to the main toilet blocks (where there is an extra block ordered for the event). http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Summer_Solstice_2015#Site_Map SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-21T23:31:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/813759672053348 Interlude The last rays of the setting sun reached out to stain the Tower's crenellations with faded glory. Agravaine stood atop the battlements and stared into the distance, his thoughts lost in the haunting sorrow of the herald's lament. A lifetime of questing had filled his memories with ghosts but now that wretched song was calling them home. As the melancholy gripped him, his thoughts turned to the bitter news his squire had brought him. His ghosts had fought and died for this bleak vista, he would not share the niggardly tale of betrayal with them. He cursed aloud and snarling he chased the thoughts from his mind. Come the dawn he would sally forth, he thought - leave the song and the sorrows here in the Tower - the quest would clear his dolor. ---- Hopefully linked to this post is Weirwater, the sorrowful tune sung by the exotic heralds of the Night Realm who have accompanied the Dawnish armies on campaign in Holberg. If your character has been part of the fighting there this season they will likely have heard it many times. We asked the Empire bards team to create a piece of music to represent this mystical song, something with an unwordly glamour that could move players. As a plot writer I am constantly amazed at how lucky I am to get to work alongside such talented people. People who can turn our crazy ideas into props, costumes, scenes... and even songs! As we make the final preparations for the next event I hope you all enjoy this interlude as much as I have. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/music/daisy/weirwater.mp4 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-17T16:12:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811761408919841 Today is the final deadline for late booking for the next event. Make sure you send payment by the deadline if you haven't already done so if you are planning to come to the event, otherwise you'll have to pay the gate price. If you have sent payment by bank transfer in the last couple of days but your account hasn't been updated yet, don't worry, your payment will be processed and registered on Tuesday morning. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-16T23:27:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811498695612779 ++CURSE THE DARKNESS++ A little over a fortnight after the Spring Equinox, a great navy of red-sailed ships enters the coastal waters of Spiral from the south. They anchor amid the shattered remains of Apulus, and disgorge thousands of additional Grendel troops along the southern coast. They bear plenty of supplies, and offer continual support to the newly beached army and the Grendel forces already present. The forces already in Spiral strike north without warning through to Ossuary. They hit the Legacy hard and fast, taking the defenders by surprise. They quickly overwhelm the token Urizen force, and by the time reinforcements from Fort Mezudan reach them, it is already too late. The sentinels are able to retreat, rescuing a few survivors and escorting them north into Zenith. The Grendel troops plunder the Legacy, and then part of their force takes up a defensible position while the rest marches south and west towards Fort Mezudan. They overrun most of the spires they encounter, joining up with Grendel scouts as they travel. They re-establish uncontested control over Ankra and Cinon. They establish a base at Damakan's Forge, quickly turning the ruined spire into an armed camp. Meanwhile, the newly arrived army crushes all resistance in Apulus and Apstrus, then turns their attention to Screed and the Black Plateau. They strike in force, rounding up many straggling Urizen magicians seeking to help those freed from the Plateau's fading influence. They leave well-defended positions behind them as they march. Wherever they go, the Grendel give the Urizen a choice - surrender or die. Those who refuse to surrender are offered no mercy, and the offer is not made a second time. Those who surrender are divested of their magical resources and sent north to the Legacy or south to Apulus where they are set to work constructing siege engines. The Grendel spare any child under the age of fifteen that they encounter, and make a great show of sending them south to the navy off the southern coast. There they are held aboard the Grendel flagships. A winged messenger received by Illuminate Nissea in Fort Mezudan reassures her that the Grendel will not harm the captured children, but it would be a shame if their lives were to be placed in peril by the Urizen. The commander of the Grendel forces in Spiral, who identifies himself as Garaigh the Gentle at Apulus, includes a politely worded request for the Imperial garrison at Fort Mezudan to either surrender themselves, or retreat westward to Redoubt. They have been given until the end of the Summer Solstice to give the Grendel their decision. He closes by stressing that, unlike the Empire, the Grendel can be trusted to keep their word - but their magnanimous offer will not be repeated. ============== The Grendel have crushed the Legacy, and taken the region of Ossuary, with overwhelming force. They have plundered a portion of the mithril produced there, although the majority has made it safely into Zenith and will be delivred to Sibella of the Banner of the Phoenix. It may well be the last such shipment for a time - she has effectively lost her Bourse seat. Had the Grendel continued their march into Ateri, they would most likely not have taken the region but would have inflicted significant damage on Fort Mezudan. As it was, they focused their attention on securing their presence in the other regions, and rounding up as many Urizen as possible. In addition to their land-based forces, the presence of the Grendel navy provides significant support to the forces engaged in conquering Urizen. #thatsthelastwindofwarfornow, #haveagoodnight, #letstryandmakeitagreatevent SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-16T23:12:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811492185613430 **THE LIBERATION OF HOLBERG++ Spring in the forests of Holberg, in the woodlands of Utterlund and Misericorde. Infused with a malignant, despicable evil that hates humankind, and also with the tattered remnants of the Druj occupation forces. Once, Utterlund was a tamed woodland - a hunting preserve for the rich and the bored, or those who sought an escape from the constant company of other humans. Once, Misericorde was a haunt of bandits and brigands, a wilderland bordering the Semmerlak on one side and one bank of the great river running along the southern border of the Mallum. Now, they are the final battlefield of the Liberation of Holberg, a campaign thirty years in the making. It has been a long, long battle. Two fortifications and countless Imperial lives to finally push the Druj here, to the edge of the Empire. They have raised the trees of Utterlund and Misericorde against the Empire, but the magic they have unleashed is indiscriminate - the Druj are no more protected from it than the armies are. The Imperial forces sweep from the plains of Ennerlund into the forest as the days grow longer. The trees are twisted and unwholesome - shaped by Druj magic, or perhaps just Druj malice. The previously welcoming southern woodlands have become a maze of thickets and hook-bladed thorns. The vines and briars themselves are alive, driven by hateful instinct to trip and tear, and sometimes constrict and crush. Without warning, a tree might strike with mighty branches against a passing column - or a cadre of Druj ambushers might emerge shrieking from the undergrowth to strike with poisoned spears and barbed arrows before retreating into the gloom. The Drakes and the Fire of the South press the Druj on all sides - the Freeborn troops full of Summer enchantment that pushes them to particularly powerful attacks against their orcish foe. Together the soldiers of the Marches and the Brass Coast seek out the retreating Druj and put them to sword and pike. Whenever they engage the orcs, they seek to fall back deeper into the woods and try to flank the Imperial positions. The disciplined Imperial troops resist the lure to separate, methodical in their pursuit. Some of the orcs have already fled - back into the Mallum, across the river. One army still fights beneath the serpent banner, three others beneath the banners of the scorpion. The southern woods are twisted, but they are still reasonably open compared to the wilder forest along the river to the north. Over several weeks, the Druj give up their positions and retreat before the advancing Imperials. This season, the Knights of Eleonaris fight alongside the Dawnish warriors of the Eastern Sky. Crimson surcotes and scarlet banners flutter in the gloom. They are armoured in bloodgold, wielding wide-bladed spears and rune-inscribed arrows of sharpened flint. Proud and imperious, they show their foes no mercy - and yet they show little friendship to the humans they fight alongside. They seem to chafe under the leadership of the Dawnish commanders, barely able to contain their dislike of the mortals they fight alongside. Yet, over the course of the campaign, it seems their attitude softens. They show a little more respect - having seen the Dawnish knights in battle. The Summer Storm strike straight to the heart of the Druj forces. They are ruthless and unflinching in their attack. They pursue the Scorpion Sting, pursue the tattered remnants of the army that once ruled proudly from the fallen citadel of Rebeshof. There is no mercy for the Druj of the Scorpion Sting. The Imperial orcs slew their Het, and now they are coming for the rest of the army. In the woods around twisted Sorensdromen - once a gentle park where lovers would walk and whisper sweet words - the Druj have established a supply camp. Cut off from the main force by the Imperial advance, the orcs there attempt to surrender to the Summer Storm. Their words are met with steel and shallow graves. The Druj will not weasel their way out in the face of Imperial fury, not this time. The Golden Sun scour the woods for stragglers - continuing the grinding advance that flushes out Druj assassins and puts them to the sword. Along with the Summer Storm, they pay special attention to the stragglers of the Scorpion Sting. Caught between the hammer of the orcs and the anvil of Dawn, the soldiers of the Scorpion Sting lose engagement after engagement. Towards the mid-point of the campaign, the Imperial forces have pushed the remaining Druj back into Misericorde. The battle turns even more vicious. Here the Druj have a slight advantage, more used to fighting in the tangled paths and claustrophobic forests of the east. In some places, the Imperial forces burn them out - where the Druj cannot be flushed from their bolt holes, they perish in fire. In the end ... in the end the Druj break. Caught between the river and the Empire they choose to take their chances with the river. It becomes clear that their rout was not entirely unplanned - that have taken precautions. Many of their troops have already fled on makeshift rafts and crude pontoons, across the river to the north and east. At the final tally, the Empire estimates another three thousand or so orcs have been killed, or drowned in the river crossing. The Empire in turn has lost perhaps a third of that number - but that is still a thousand soldiers. The Summer Storm bore the brunt of the casualties in their headlong rush to cut the enemy down; but in return, they tore the enemy to ribbons. The Scorpion Sting alone lags behind - maybe as few as a thousand troops remain, perhaps a little more. They seem reticent to flee across the river - perhaps they expect quarter. Perhaps they fear the judgement of the Druj for their failure to keep Holberg. Regardless, they are slow to cross the river. A concerted strike from Imperial heroes might be sufficient to break them completely - to rout them before they can make the dubious safety of the Mallum. For now, though, the armies of the Empire take stock. This is a day that will be remembered by the League for years to come. The Liberation of Holberg ... is complete. ========== Complete victory. Druj armies either retreated to the Mallum or in the middle of so doing. All seven regions of Holberg territory now in Imperial hands. Some casualties for the Empire, three times as many for the orcs. Resounding victory. Now all we need is a finishing move ... and we might have a fatality. We've also got the Holberg spoils of war up here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Holberg_spoils_of_war which work like normal spoils of war (see http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spoils_of_war) - for all the mentioning of "investment" and "patrons" what we *mean* is "who is going to swap their resource for this upgraded one in Holberg"? If only there was a player event this weekend in which such things could be politicked about IC by characters with an interest in such things ... #thirtyyearsinthemaking. #didimentionspoilsofwar, #istillsayironbergwouldhavebeencool The picture is Oliver Facey's image of D'Eon of House Novarrion, as played by Joff Leader. I thought it captured just the right mood. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-16T20:44:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811446422284673 ++GRALM AND ULL++ The Thule launch an overwhelming assault against Imperial positions the week after the Spring Equinox. Their warbeasts lead the fray, under the fluttering banners of the ice hound. Well over twenty-thousand orcs attack the Imperial forces, trying to claim the last areas of the Silver Peaks they do not already control. Their forces are heavily supported by Thule battle-magic. Their warbeasts, their twisted dire creatures, and the orcs who fight alongside them burn with a berserk rage that urges them to inflict terrible casualties - slaughtering the weak, the injured or those cut off from their allies. The barbarian armies are again supported by several thousand knights of the Crimson Queen, Eleonaris. They fight on, raising their crimson banners under the bright sun. Their captains ride sleekly muscled golden beasts larger than an ox which are to cats what a hurricane is to the gentle rains of spring. They relish every chance to strike against the Empire, and especially seek out the Dawnish knights - they mock them, and they mock especially the name of the Eastern Sky fighting in distant Holberg. The Imperial troops are not without their own supernatural allies - the great tower of black iron and glacier ice conjured by Imperial magicians does not melt under the Summer heat. if anything, it becomes more beautiful and terrible, sunlight causing it to glitter and shimmer like a vast jewel. The hulking, fur-wrapped, tattooed creatures - the orc-like giants that garrison the walls - bellow their delight as the Knights of Eleonaris attack the walls, and slaughter Summer knight and barbarian orc with equal gusto. The citadel is a major feature in the defence of Sermersuaq - providing a safe haven for the injured, a central base of operations for the commanders, and a symbol of Imperial defiance overlooking the Stonefield Ice Caves. The Winter Sun add to the garrison, responding with tireless endurance to news of other Imperial forces under threat. it is they that track and kill the Thule raiding parties that seek to slip down into Suaq Fount and the East Flows, preventing any attempt to circle round the Imperial line. The shambling undead that accompany the Red Wind Corsairs have none of the cold brillance of the Summer knights, none of the unyielding fortitude of Cathan Canae's guardians, none of the cold discipline of the Imperial orcs. Under the influence of the powerful spring magic infusing Sermersuaq, a number of them have begun to sprout fungus and moss, and even flowers. It is sometimes easy to forget that there are human and orc corpses, driven by flesh-hungry Winter spirits, hidden beneath the garlands of greenery that slowly overtake them. The Freeborn soldiers have no time for the defensive measures of their companions. They push out from Imperial positions, and take the battle to the Thule. As before, they focus on attacking baggage trains and camps - higher up in the mountains than any other Imperial force chooses to roam. They use their unliving auxilliaries to shield their forces while they loot the Thule, but they suffer significant losses in the process. The WIntermark soldiers openly call them maggots now, and will have little to do with them. So much blood! So much death! The Fist of the Mountains, supported by the power of the Autumn Archmage's Great Enchantment, refuse to cede even one inch of ground. They fight beside the Hounds of Glory, and each Dawnish knight has sworn an oath to keep the Thule back or to die trying. Between them, they hold the line against the Thule. They make them pay for each assault they launch ... and the Thule do not have enough spirit to pay the bill when it comes due. While the orcs fight savagely, breaking against the defences of the Empire, the warlocks who direct the barbarian armies do so with cold precision and strategic brilliance. They withdraw from Imperial traps before they can close, and demonstrate preternatural knowledge of the Empire's movements. At the same time, the Thule hunters again demonstrate uncanny awareness of the hills, mountains and valleys in which they fight - there are reports of orc raiders who make impossible charges down the side of sheer cliffs, or sally forth from cave mouths which disappear as suddenly as they appeared. That said, the armies of the Green Shield, Hounds of Glory and Golden Axe demonstarte similar strategic insight. Over the course of the three months of hard campaigning, it becomes clear that the defensive stratergy of the Imperial commanders will win the day over the brute aggression of the orcs. Win the day? Yes. The Imperial forces manage to hold their positions for the first time since the war began. The curse of tradition is broken, and the Green Shield and Fist of the Mountain are joined in fellowship once more. With the addition of the newly arrived Varushkan forces under the Golden Axe, the tide at last begins to turn. The Thule claim no new territory, take no ground ... and more than that ... they are forced to pull back slightly. The reason? The attacks by the Red Wind Corsairs. While the rest of the Empire focused their attention on defence, the Freeborn attacked - and the damage they inflicted on the baggage trains and the high-peak camps has begun to take its toll. A daring raid into the Stonefields, attacking a Thule supply position is the final straw for the orcs - the Freeborn claim a bounty of tempest jade and crystal mana, and the Empire takes back a little ground. Only a little - the Thule cede the southernmost parts of the Stonefields - but it is a start. So much death! But life, also. This is Spring under the influence of the magic that sings in every drop of dew. The Thule thought to poison the waters, but the Varushkan magicians not only turned aside their curse, they turned it back on itself. Carpets of spring flowers turn the mountains and the cold plains alike into a rainbow of ocean blue, and milk white, and delicate lilac. The beasts feel the magic moving in their blood, and the trees in their sap. The fish in the great lakes teem so densely that a hunter could walk from one side of the Atkonartoq to the other without getting one's boots wet. If it were not for the barbarian orcs, it would be a good time to be a hunter, or a fisher, or a herder, or a farmer in Sermersuaq. It is certainly a good time to be a healer - a cup of water, with or without herbs infused, will cure almost any physical ailment. So much blood! Even with the enchantments of life singing in the streams, the death toll continues to be terrible. Over a thousand Imperial troops are lost - aye, even in victory there are over a thousand men and women who will not fight again. The Thule death toll is reckoned to be at least half again as much, perhaps even higher. For now the tide of battle has shifted in the Empire's a favour ... but the Thule still hold the upper passes and most of the Stonefields. Their curses still rain misfortune across the plains and lakes of Sermersuaq. The Empire has won a small victory here, but the campaign is not the war. The Empire receives an unlooked-for reminder that time is running out when Imperial orc patrols capture and destroy two large warbands of Jotun orcs who are reaving down into Stark and the Suaq Wastes. Expeditionary, probing raids but raids nonetheless. If the Jotun join the battle in Sermersuaq then even this small victory over the Thule might prove to be nothing more than a prelude to destruction. ========== The Empire wins in Sermersuaq, and drives the Thule back a little bit. Lots of people on both sides die, but less than would have without the Rivers of Life. All in all ... a good result for the Empire. I just hope that when the Rivers of Life stop flowing we don't see an embarassing S-curve of animal populations like wot I learned about in the Biology A-levels. Holberg next. Definitely. #bearsandwolverinesareanimalstoo, #Rememberikkastears, #bloodyJotun The picture is Oliver Facey's shot of the Suaq played by Gary Longford who I am almst 78% certain is Garth of the Renawerd. It seemed a good fit. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-16T16:59:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811362362293079 ++HARD RAIN FALLING++ Reikos never changes, not any more. Life changes, death ... death is the end of change. The main forces of the Stone Toad withdraw into their great citadel in the east, into Urith Barath, which the Empire called High Chalcis. They seal their gates, and they set siege engines of vicious cruelty on the walls. There they wait for the Empire to come to them. They have mostly abandoned the rest of Reikos to the Empire ... but actually reclaiming the territory for the Empire is no less challenging. Traps and guerilla ambushers are only the half of it. The Druj have poisoned wells, and in some places entire sections of previously fertile land are sour and sickly. In one farmstead outside Haros, a malignant curse awaits Navarr scouts that inflicts madness and mind-clenching terror. In another, the walls of an entire chapter were so infused with suffering and grief that it required the assistance of multiple guides and Highborn priests to enable the soldiers to enter and search for waiting Druj. Then there is the matter of the tormented ghosts of the Vigilant Swan, who resist all efforts to reopen the white granite quarry. After a while, the stake-lined pits and night-time attacks are seen as preferable to the ... other things ... The main impediment to gaining ground in Reikos remains the miasma of dread that infuses the very air itself. It is omnipresent, a pall of despair that saps the will to fight - and in some cases the will to live. It grinds away every positive emtion, and even threatens virtuous thought. At night, the nightmares come - spun from the minds of the sleeping soldiers, from their personal fears, and from their private grief. One Highborn magister comments that it is as if the three armies - the Granite Pillar, the Quiet Step and the Valiant Pegasus - are somehow outside the world. The Empire seems impossibly distant - it is easy to forget sometimes that joy and love exist in the world at all. The priests of both Highguard and Navarr are hard-pressed to keep the spectre of dread under control so that the armies can keep pressing forward. While the Valiant Pegasus and the Granite Pillar push forward into Haros Water, the Navarr are more cautious. In the end, and after a season of fighting concentrated around the southern regions, the Empire has made little progress. Still, while there are plenty of little skirmishes, most interaction with the Druj involves finding their (invariably trapped and despoiled) abandoned positions and baggage trains. As a consequence there are few significant casualties among the Imperial forces. Scant consolation, perhaps. The slow trudge forward becomes much worse, however, in the final fortnight before the Summer Solstice. Out of nowhere, heavy black clouds race across the whole of Reikos, born in a tumultuous gyre above the walls of Urith ... of High Chalcis. Thunder roars, lightning flashes ... within minutes everyone and everything is soaked to the skin. The thick mud becomes almost liquid underfoot, every ditch and pothole begins to fill with dirty water. The oxen pulling the Imperial baggage trains panic, overturning wagons and breaking wheels, and crushing one poor drover to death in their panic. Visibility drops, speaking to someone further away than arm's length becomes next to impossible. Ten minutes after the thunderous deluge begins, it becomes even worse. The clouds lighten, tinged with a sickly sunset crimson. The rain turns the colour of blood - after only a short time, it seems like every soldier is drenched in gore, as if they have waded through a slaughterhouse. Some of the soldiers in the Quiet Step and the Valiant Pegasus begin to panic - the world itself seems to be coming to and end ... ... but after a few more minutes, the blood-rain ceases. The torrential downpour continues but soon washes away the crimson taint. The magisters and the vates mutter and grumble. Rituals are preformed. Divinations sought. The rain continues, day and night, with barely a few hours irregular respite during which the air is filled with midges and flies. Those who have fought in Holberg recognise the sickening taste in the air - the taste of water infested with corrupted Spring magic. The unliving husks accompanying the Valiant Pegasus - their orc bodies and human corpses increasingly indistringuishble - begin to rot .. but the magic of Winter that infuses them means the rot does not progress far. Instead, they just begin to *stink*. The rivers are running red, with defilement. And, everywhere, they begin to rise as the rain continues. And then ... then, people begin to fall sick ... ... very sick. =========== Lots going on here. The Druj forces here under the banner of the Stone Toad - like the Towerjacks of Holberg before them - have withdrawn into their black citadel and closed the gates. There are the occasional patrols and ambushes but no significant engagements with the advancing Imperial forces. Still, the presence of the citadel combined with the dread miasma means that progress will almost certainly continue to be very slow indeed. Some progress has been made in Reikos ... but not very much. The Empire is closer to expanding their foothold to include Haros Water, but it will take at least another season to do so. The problems with reopening the Vigilant Swan have already been discussed (you can learn more about them here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Unquiet_dead), but they are far from the only ghosts haunting Reikos in the wake of Druj atrocities. And after several seasons without any significant magical threat, a two-pronged assault has been launched against the Empire. Unrelenting torrential rain, and the tainted corruption of Spring magic unleashed and turned ugly. Someone should definitely look into those ... ... oh and did I mention people getting sick? I'm sure it's nothing. Probably all blow over by the event. I'd *definitely* be surprised if there was more to come on that topic! Hooo yes. Either way, I suspect it will be a long campaign season in Reikos once the Summer Solstice is done. ------- The picture is Orin of the Companions of Tarw (as portrayed by Tom Morrison). I know he's not *neccessarily* in Reikos, but I really liked the resonance this picture had with this War Report. #coughcoughitoldyouiwasill, #springmagicforthewin, #nothingominousheregoodnessn SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-16T14:23:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811305288965453 ++UNEASY PEACE++ The sun is bright, but the ice is slippery, as they say in Korotny. A strained "peace" continues in Karsk. The Northern Eagle and the Black Thorns maintain their positions; the forces loyal to the sovereign of Branoc gather around the great hill there, but maintain a careful distance from the Thule occupation force. The army of unliving, accused troops under Varushkan control fade into the hills of Nitrost, unseen except for the occasional glimpse on nights of the new moon. The twin citadels of ice and bone in Moresvah and Nitrost remain, unmelting, as Spring turns to Summer. The grim heralds who garrison their walls chafe under their enforced inaction, but the Thule do not come. The supernatural vitality that has surged through the waterways of Karsk has faded away; the last remnants of it's touch visible only in what promises to be a bumper crop for the Varushkan farms after years of poor yields in a warzone. Across the no-mans-land between the western regions under Imperial control, and the eastern regions dominated by the orcs there are occasional minor engagements between scouts or patrols, but nothing comes of them. In Kosti and Veresk, things seem almost to be back to normal. There is some talk of a joint venture between the younger members of the two vales to start a new settlement in Lestasny, and put the shame of Isember into the past where it belongs. Wagons of mithril, escorted by warriors from the Malinov, Sloev and Pravin families of Moresvah wend north to deliver military supplies and more volunteers to the Northern Eagle. This will be the final such delivery - a year has passed since the Imperial heroes resolved the issue with the Three Sisters and the Thule invaders. They are grateful, but it is time to focus on their own concerns again. Now that Karsk is liberated - or at least the parts of Karsk that the three families care about. Another caravan wends north and west, this time from the Imperial warehouses at Vorota. It is laden with wains of mithril, a gift from the Varushkan people to their allies in Karsk. A contingent of fur-and-leather clad men and women meet it at the eastern "border" of the northern hills. There is a guarded welcome, a temporary camp with a rough wooden pallisade is set up and sealed against the night. The hillsfolk of Branoc and the hillsfolk of Nitrost share an evening of hospitality before the people of the Broken Hill take the wagons the rest of the way, back to their secluded vales. The Thule ... are silent. There is rumour of delegation coming down out of the peaks, but there is no sign that their forces here are any less alert than they were last season. As to the rumours of an army of rampaging husks and disembodied spirits in the woods south-western Lestaznic forests ... they seem to have come to nothing. Nothing more has been heard. It seems that the problem has completely resolved itself without Imperial intervention. Karsk slumbers. ========= First Winds of War for Summer 379YE and it's not even the weekend. Karsk is comparatively peaceful (for Varushka). No changes of note, apart from a bit of emergency resupply. The photograph is an Oliver Facey picture of Janosh Vaskovich Kovar of the Vor'Azi (Andy Mccullough) looking pensive and suspicious. Immagonna try to illustrate Winds of War with PC photographs as much as possible this time round, wish me luck. As usual, all the Winds of War will get rounded up onto a wiki page once the final one is posted here and on the forums (http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/announcements/?sid=fdccb9e01a826cab1e5b5433b40ea749) Right then ... I'll see if I can't get Holberg up next, I know you're all *really keen* to know how that is going SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-12T19:21:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/809784829117499 We have now updated the wiki with the new rules changes for spontaneous magic. You can find a description of the new rules here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spontaneous_magic). We have also updated the Rules Update 2015 page to describe the new changes, the reasoning behind them, and the IC explanation. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2015#Spontaneous_Magic). There is also a tiny update to the use of ritual texts in formulaic rituals to bring it into line with the new streamlined rules for the costs for spontaneous magic. In summary, the essential problem was that the system was still placing far too great a load on our crew to support it. Critically most of the requests were not actually being cast - encouraging people to cast the magic they were requesting was a key goal of the changes at the start of the year but we had failed to achive that. Hopefully the new system will mean that we receive far less requests for arcane preparations for a a spontaneous magic - but that the same number - or more - get cast. We have a few more minor rules changes to go up over the next 24hours - once we have everything updated on the wiki then we'll email all players (who have ticked to receive Empire emails) to make them aware of the updates and the new content. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-11T14:10:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/809176062511709 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-11T14:10:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/811717105590938 Gwalter of the Boundarymen ( Michael Barry) has compiled this handy visual guide to the many events happening in the run-up to the Summer Solstice. They're even arranged roughly geographically, so you can even see which ones are most pertinent to your own nation. You can learn more about any or all of these ecents on the main wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-07-11T14:10:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/812294708866511 The old woman whispered and muttered to herself, gently shaking an old rattle filled with baby teeth. Beneath the raven-feather-and-dragonbone mask, her amber eyes were fixed on those of the young Grimnir opposite. He felt light headed, from the sweet smelling smoke and the three bowls of mead she had bid him drink, and was glad he was sitting down. Without looking, the mystic reached out one stick-thin arm and grabbed the kettle from the fire. In a smooth motion she poured the boiling water into his lap. He winced in spite of himself. She chuckled. Despite the carelessness of her movement, not a drop splashed - although he was intensely aware of the heat from the wooden bowl so dangerously close to his groin. The mystic did not speak, but mimed raising the bowl. He remembered her instructions then, with a start. He leant forward, and inhaled a deep breath of the scented steam. The sweet, sharp scent caused his nostrils to tingle and chilled his lungs. His head swam. Rainbows gathered in his peripheral vision, vanishing when he turned to look at them. He caught himself giggling. He looked down at his hands - the old mystic must have taken the bowl without him realising. The fire was lower than he remembered. He felt ... displaced, as if his skin were too tight for his body. Then he was distracted by one of the new tattoos on his forearm, the swooping hawk and the soaring falcon. He fancied he could see them beating their wings. His hostess poked him with a long dry stick, and offered him a tall boiled-leather pot. He reached inside, feeling the coolness of the mammoth ivory tokens within engulf his fingers. He grabbed a handful and without looking at them threw them onto the mat in front of him. His vision blurred - then narrowed - then danced with colours. The old woman snapped her fingers, then pointed to one of the runes. "Gralm," she rasped. She held one jagged fingernail just above it's surface, almost close enough to touch. "It is the crossroads. It is the skein. It is the choice you must make - to go to south, or to stay in Skarsind. It's the hero's road." She grinned, showing her jagged yellow teeth. She snapped them suddenly together and grinned. "It is also death. All roads end in death, and lover's meeting." She pointed to the second rune, again stopping just short of touching it. "Ull!"she anounced fiercely. "It is the tossed coin, the rolled dice. The lightning strike, the unforeseen chance. The life that happens while you are making other plans. It is a powerful rune. It is ... great deeds, for good or ill. A hero's rune." Then she pointed to the third rune - leaning forward and peering at it. She held her entire face just above it, sniffing. "This ... is the other rune. The twenty-seventh. See, it is blank? It is the unknown and the unknowable, the rune without a name, the mystery, the secret that you knew before you were born and will know after you are dead. It is the road, the road of a thousand choices, Walk the road turning left and right, choosing your path and then look back to see that there is only a straight road behind you with no turnings. Look ahead and see no more choices." She rolled back on her haunches and studied her guest carefully. "Many mystics do not include the blank rune among their stones." She sucked her teeth thoughtfully. "I am one of those. Here." She upended the pot then, spilling all the remaining runestones. They bounced and scattered across the cloth, clacking and clattering together. They were all blank, all empty, just tablets of mammoth ivory scattered around the first two runes he had cast down. The mystic stirred them all together with one sharp taloned fingernail, and laughed - a sharp barking laugh like a dog. Or a wolf. Then she pushed her mask up, and the young warrior could see she was smiling - a particularly mirthless smile. "Well my boy, I don't know what to tell you. The runes say your choice is important, and will shape your life ... but they also say you have to make it alone ..." ================== Across the Empire, wherever diviners cast the runes or look to them for guidance, the same two keep cropping up over and over. Gralm, the Crossroads. Ull, the Coin. The runes of destiny and chance. The twenty-seventh rune also - even where that rune is not included in the casting, it turns up unlooked for. In the League, everyone seems to have decided to perform the same plays, with the same themes. This season, when the sun has set and the temperature has lessened, the troupes and the guisers and the mummers tell old stories that set the Prince and the Witch against each other. Where the prince seeks the advice of the witch, however - a common enough trope in these sorts of plays - as often as not the actors falter and forget their lines. Where the Prince lays out her choice - to marry, to seek the Throne, to have her enemy slain - her voice sometimes takes on a bewitching timbre that stirs the audience as never before, and sends at least one dramaturgist into retirement with the knowledge she will never again match the performance she has just given. The Urizen search the night skies diligently for signs; the Hakima find their own excuses to take blankets and bottles of wine out under the Summer stars. There they look for the signs of the world above reflecting what is already afoot in the world below. It is a sky full of birds. They find the Phoenix easily enough, and muse on the transformation of the self through learning, wisdom and understanding. Some of them mark the path of a falling star, a single tear shed by the phoenix that traces a crimson arc across the shadowed world to all to earth somewhere in the mountains of Urizen. Is this the sign they seek? Perhaps not, the Wanderer forms no conjunction with the phoenix despite the portent. Rather, it seems to stand in alignment with absent stars - with the Stork which eschews the heavens in Summer months. Only when the astronomancers realise that the conjunction is with hidden stars, do they mark how the sky reflects what the runecasters and the dramturgists already know. Choices. Fateful, significant choices that might shape a life, a skein ... an Empire. A chance to weave a new fate, or confound an old one. A crossroads, from which a traveller must choose one road or another. There will be no turning back, as the Solstice approaches, and no garauntee of a second chance. The Urizen say the Stork means making the right choice for the right reasons; in Highguard they call it the Decision to be Virtuous. It is about accepting responsibility for your own destiny, being the master of your own fate. Accepting that things matter, and that the decisions and actions we take in life influence them. It is about accepting that you must choose, or you must stay where you are until hunger, or thirst, or old age catch up with you - like one that travels a lonely road and, looking back once, walks on and knows the darkness that follows at their heel. =============== There are tides in the world. Usually they are most obvious when the stars align, but it must be remembered that the stars as often as not reflect the world; they do not shape it. The runes heralded the shifting of those arcane currents first, and the stars followed suit. In this case, a conjunction of chance and fate; a conjunction that suggests that the right choices can shape the world. The stork, the crossroads, the Prince and the Witch. Call it a conjunction; it's as good a name as any. Under this conjunction, rituals that seek guidance are harder to perform. The magnitude of Signs and Portents , Whispering Shadow Courtiers and Dreams in the Witch House are each increased by two for all casters. The conjunction may have similar effects on similar rituals, especially those that draw on the intuitive, divinatory powers of Night. In contrast, the rituals that support choices that have already been made - specifically Call Winged Messenger , The Ambassadorial Gatekeeper and The Ethereal Courier each have their magnitude reduced by 2 for all performances. Indeed, any ritualists who have mastered these rituals may choose to substitute green iron for crystal mana when perofrming these rituals. Every two measures of green iron spent count as one crystal mana. Many players will not even notice there is a conjunction taking place. Others may choose to view this as an opportunity to focus some of their role-playing around embracing or avoiding difficult or significant choices. Sensitive characters will experience dreams of crossroads, and games of chance. They may also have frustrating dreams in which they seek guidance from absent friends, family members, or authority figures that ultimately proves impossible to understand or appears irrelevant. These dreams will also feature images of birds, especially ravens, and spiders spinning glistening or metallic webs. You can find out more about the Gralm and Ull, about the Prince and the Witch, and about the Stork on the main wiki. ================= Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other ... (Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) ================= There we go - done. There might be a fwe more posts but they will be about festivities rather than large events. As always, you can learn about this "conjunction" and the many. many other events that lead up to the Summer Solstice on the main wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/379YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_fortune See you in a field soon ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-26T20:18:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/802581023171213 The early booking deadline for the next event, the Summer Solstice, is midnight Sunday. Please make sure you send payment before the deadline if you haven't already done so. I also want to remind all players that they need to get their weapons checked as early as possible, before they go in-character. Apparently increasing numbers of players are leaving the check until they go on the battlefield, which is causing us major delays at that point. Help us keep the battles running smoothly by getting your kit checked well in advance. Finally, a helmet like the one shown below was lost on the battle at the first event this year. We were hoping it would turn up in lost property, but there was no sign of it by event two. It's a Dragon Armoury helmet and pretty expensive, so if anyone has seen it we would really appreciate help getting it back to the player who has lost it. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-24T18:12:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/801608189935163 So then. Last-but-one weekend was a plot meeting in Coventry during which we did a bunch of work on the Jotun. Next weekend is another plot meeting in Coventry during which ... well I'm not sure yet. Stuff probably will happen. This weekend past, though, saw the Boss and I heading up North of the Wall to visit GJ and talk rules (and also have a barbque but you didn't need to know that). Obviously, we try to do most of our big rules changes over Winter, but we're constantly looking at things all through the year. In fact, we made some significant changes to the game before E-1 and part of the reason for this meeting (apart from the cooked meat) was to look at some of the things we'd done and how they were turning out. We also wrote some plot, but you don't need to know about that. ARCANE PROJECTIONS ================== I think Thomas Paine said it best when he said "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." I don't know how many of you actually did an Arcane Projection but I think GJ got the impression it was everyone and their dog. The net result was that a lot of players spent a lot of time queuing to see a ref which was the absolute last thing we wanted, so we'd obviously got something wrong. We kicked around the idea of removing APs from general access and making them a "thing" that various people could hand out (Grandmasters, Dean/Provost and Warmage as it happened). We still have this option in reserve, but it made us a little nervous. Part of the draw of spontaneous magic is the ability to do things that are, if not naughty, then at least a little suspect. Plus we didn't think this would neccessarily cut down on what we might term "frivolous" arcane projections. It was also really useful to talk about what we wanted. While there is an element of magical research in Arcane Projections what we really want is for players to create and cast one-off magical effects. And that latter - the spontaneous magic being actually cast on the field - was happening in only a handful of cases. Instead many players were trying to use them for magical research which is not something they were ever intended to support - hence why the system coped so badly when players tried that. So we're looking at some changes designed to the system to support that will hopefully put the focus of spontaneous magic back on the casting on rituals. We're still hammering out the final details, but they will be up on the wiki before the next event. Hopefully we'll get it right this time and this will stop players having to spend long periods queuing in GOD and mean no need for any further changes. Exact details are subject to change so I will be cautious about going into them. One thing we are agreed on though is that we're dropping the 50% mark-up for spontaneous effects. What we failed to take into account when we first came up with it is that the real cost of a spontaneous magic effect is that you cannot master it. Adding an extra 50% on top of the base magnitude was just too much, and also made it harder to work out what the actual magnitude was. The boss in particular was easily confused when GJ and I talked magnitudes of APs, bless. OTHER MAGIC GUBBINS =================== We've also looked on a couple of rituals. Changes to who you can target with Whispers through the Black Gate and a new use for Timeless Hammer Rhythm are more-or-less live. I'm expecting a proper write-up of Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea as well in the next couple of days - the main problem is that it's actually too low a magnitude to do the thing we think it does. There's another ritual that's getting a big change ... but I don't want to talk about that one just yet. Oh and we have a new Declaration (Declaration of Dissemination) designed to help support some plot elements that were causing us some troubles - namely foreigners who want to buy rituals from the Conclave. There's another Declaration but we've just had to go back to the drawing board on it because I got back to discover that we'd said you categorically couldn't remove a ritual from Imperial lore. Bloody civil servants. NAVIES AND VESSELS =================== We put navies on the wiki before E1 and this weekend saw us revisiting the actual rules for moving them round and doing stuff with them. We locked down several things to do with movement - and spent a bit of time reminding ourselves that this is not the age of exploration or of longitude and latitude and cannons and so on. At the moment we are happy with a model where navies stay close to the coast rather than head out across open waters, mostly because it makes for a more strategic game. Navies will not be dashing all over the globe blockading ports; they'll be sticking fairly close to land and fighting in coastal areas. We worked through as many permutations of "imperial army is transported by navy" as we could come up with and I think we're happy with where we are. Questions such as "if you can't resupply a navy at sea can you resupply an army on a boat?" were addressed and answered. Finally, we revisited the use of personal resources and came up with a compromise we were all happy with. As it stands it is likely there will be a way for existing resources to help navies but it is unlikely to be as straightforward as it is for military units assisting an army. Oh we also decided to change the name of the fleet resource, mostly because we just could not keep navy and fleet straight in our heads (I have no idea how the PCs do it). It is likely that the fleet resource will become either "vessel" or"ship". I'll let you know if we decide to go through with that. I fancy "ship" but we did have a lot of fun saying "vessel" in our worst Chekov accents. ARMY QUALITIES ============== On the whole we're happy with army qualities - we're tweaking the numbers involved with one or two of them as a result of having misjudged the mechanics but mostly we think they're working as intending. We've also taken a look at Fast (and are probably boosting it's usefulness and allowing it to move as far as it likes in one season - but it still has to stop when it enters a non-Imperial territory), and Magic (it's likely the special report is coming off it - after all, the ability to target rituals is what makes this a cool quality). One thing we also looked at was the idea that qualities should feel as unique as we can make them - that the list of qualities we've already created is a list of known qualities within the Empire, not an exhaustive list of all the qualities ever. We also discussed the possibility of opportunities that will allow some diversification of existing qualities, to continue to increase the focus on the army rather than it's interchangable mechanical DT bonuses. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. THE BIG MAP ============ Then we set up camp in the front room of Daisy Abbott, and then spent an afternoon talking (and in the case of the woman with the talent, drawing) maps. Our territory map now has much more detail including Faraden, Iron Confederacy, Axos, all of Druj, all of Jotun and a few other places. It's pleasingly large - loads of places for the Empire to fight over. We've still got a long way to go (there is still a whole load of detailed territory-level maps to make, for example) but we're happy we've been able to fill in the broad details on the continent the Empire is at least. #othersideofthehedge, #itsnotasbadasitlooks, #theresotherstufftoobutImnotsayinganythinguntilwerereadytoedit (The photo by the by, is an Oliver Facey snap of a Mark Cordoroy creation - a construct of Estavus, don't'cha-know. You can find Cordoroy Creations on Facebook, or on their website here -> http://www.markcordory.com/Site/Welcome.html). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-22T10:44:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/800622406700408 Raff here. I've been following Ladies who LARP on and off for a while, and I was pleased to see one of Empire's younger players featured as part of their 100 Larping Ladies list. If you're not familiar with this site, you might enjoy giving it a look over - or getting in touch with them to talk about your own experiences. Obviously, you'll want to focus on how great Empire is, but you can mention other LRP games if you must ;) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-09T11:39:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/794717533957562 Over the last few years Luca Da Rè has made some awesome montages for Empire and other games. His latest work is now up on youtube complete with a stirring sound track to go with the amazing events of the Spring Equinox. Thanks to Luca for making these videos and thanks to Beth Dooner, Oliver Facey, and Tom Garnett for their cool photographs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC0QEdrcHDw&feature=youtu.be SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-03T16:03:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/790655394363776 We get the odd request to film at events these days. We turn down the media companies, since they rarely ever pan out and are always incredibly rude if they do turn up. But I'm always happy to invite students and up and coming film makers because in my experience they have a real passion for what they do - the same sort of passion that we all bring to our hobby. Because of that it's usually a pleasure to work with them. Last weekend Lina Halim and her team came to the event and did some filming near GOD and hopefully also some filming in Anvil before the game started. It's early days yet, but they've got a Facebook page together to give people some sneak previews while they finish off the editing. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out! https://www.facebook.com/fromtheempiredocumentary SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-06-02T13:06:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/790086317754017 The website is now open for downtime submissions following the last event. Please make sure that you submit quickly - as the site will be open for just over one week. Downtime submissions will close on midnight on the 9th. We've emailed everyone (who has their account set to get Empire emails) to let them know that downtime is open - but please make sure you share the message on as there are always people who don't hear about it until too late. I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who turned up to monster the battles last event with fantastic kit. This really helped make the battles look better as well as making life easier for our costume crew. A win for everyone - to thank you to everyone who made that extra effort. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-31T11:32:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/788978564531459 An old friend of mine once told me a great wisdom I still hold dear - "Nobody really froths about the thing an NPC did at an event - the best war stories are the things you did." There are some cool war stories out about the last event - all with different views of the amazing things that happened. As a game organizer, nothing is more rewarding than reading those stories. The game only truely exists in the moments where it happens live in the field, it's wonderful when those moments are every bit as epic as the stories in the setting itself. Of course war stories are filled with bias, they're one person's view of events. For me that's what makes the whole thing all the cooler. Real life is not binary - real life is a complex mix of events, motivations, interpretations. Our media takes a reductionist view, trying to simplify everything down to a single narrative - but in reality life is loaded with ambiguity and nuance. LRP often fails to achieve that degree of complexity. We usually end up with simple narratives that are clear and unambiguous. In fact it's hard to have a heroic lrp that isn't clear and unambiguous. If that's your game that's cool - but the goal of Empire is to create a PvP political game - by its essential nature that means a game in which each character is likely the hero (or the anti-hero) in their own head whilst simultaneously being the villain (or at least the antagonist) for others. So the more people who have different versions of the same events - each equally valid to them - the more successful the event has been. I've edited this post and dropped the link because while I'm delighted to read the cool stories from the event it was in danger of turning into an IC conversation and we do strongly encourage people to keep those valuable disagreements to the event! But I hope people continue to write their own war stories and put them on blogs where others can see them because they show new players how awesome the game can be - and they give the game team who don't get to play something to get keen about for the next event. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-31T11:04:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/788971574532158 Having introduced methods into the system which let you examine the historical significance of an item - we realize that some groups and characters already have items from their background which ought to respond, but currently don't, due to being player-created items. In the spirit of collaboration with our players to make a better game, we'd like to hear about these items! If you've got an item which you think should have IC significance - maybe it's the ancient banner of your order or the carefully preserved sword of your ancestors - but it doesn't currently have a ribbon, or only has a standard artisanry ribbon, please get in touch at empire.plot@profounddecisions.co.uk and we'll see what we can do to make it a more solid part of the world. No guarantees - we'll only be issuing a limited quantity of these, to ensure that the world is not suddenly festooned in ribbon! - but we're looking forwards to hearing about all the items of significance you've created and making sure they can be properly recognised and incorporated into the setting. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-21T18:40:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/784123588350290 For those who are not aware - the BBC have announced that the rail strike on Monday has been called off so all trains are now running: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32832191 We had a handful of players who cancelled their tickets as they were unable to make the event with no trains running the last day. If you had an original booking that was cancelled in the last week due to the train strike then PD are happy to reinstate your booking at the original price (since your pack is waiting for you in GOD!). The weather here currently is best described as "glorious" - and the forecast for the weekend is good. We'll see most of you soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-20T22:37:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/783749708387678 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-20T15:11:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/783508748411774 Matt here with some final event updates. ------------------------------------------------------------ Reports from the site indicate that the ground is in good condition despite the rain yesterday and the forecast for the week ahead is excellent, so we are looking forward to a great event. The local residents were really impressed and pleased with the effort that everyone made to moderate their speed on the surrounding roads. Thank you to everyone for demonstrating that this is a considerate if somewhat crazy hobby. Unfortunately there were a few issues with people parking their cars on the grass verges around the site. While I understand that the mud last event meant that people were worried about getting on and off the site, there should be no problems with this for the rest of the year. The surrounding roads are narrow and the verges are soft and easily damaged so please don't park there. ------------------------------------------------------------ We have finished updating the wiki with the latest event information including a site map showing the layout of the site including the toilets. All the player toilet blocks are now arranged in pairs so there will always be at least one unit available even if the other is being serviced. The update includes the latest in-character information with news of events that are happening in the Empire and the latest reports from the war against the barbarians. ------------------------------------------------------------ We get so many emails these days that it is difficult to keep up. To help we're trying to encourage players to use the right email address - as this really helps you to get an answer quicker. Emailing me at my personal address will get you an answer eventually - but it could well take a week before I can pass it to the person who can actually deal with it. The main contact details are on the wiki but to summarize if you are have any query about the setting or the plot at an event then the best email to use is empire.plot@profounddecisions.co.uk. That email address is picked up by directly by members of our plot team - people who have a far better grasp of the plot than I do! If you have any query about the Empire event rules then email that to empire.rules@profounddecisions.co.uk. This is picked up by both of our head referees, they are the ultimate authority for any ref ruling in the system. If you have any kind of downtime query - or just a query about your PD account, payments, tickets etc, then send that to admin@profounddecisions.co.uk. That is pulled by Cordie who runs the office and can sort any query quickly and effectively for you. Don't forget to include your real name and your CID in any email you send us - it makes it much quicker for us to find your account and sort things for you. ------------------------------------------------------------ We'll see you all soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-19T13:48:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/783060895123226 "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Aiden Summersong, Guide of Navarr. It has been a harsh winter for the people of Navarr, journeys along trods hampered by not only the foul weather the season brings but increased barbarian attacks against the wandering nation. The stridings of Liathaven have been struck most heavily, with many Jotun raids against a beleaguered people isolated from the Empire by orc and vallornspawn. To make their plight worse the citizens of Navarr find themselves under the grip of the Realm of Winter, ill fortune befalling workers and walkers alike. Supplies are low, tempers are stretched to breaking point. Despite all this, the people endure. As it ever was. As the unforgiving winter gives way to a new spring, the trods are becoming easier to walk and an air of new hope and new beginnings take hold. It is time for the Welcoming. The Navarr are famed for their celebrations at the changing of the seasons but none more so than the Welcoming of Spring. It is a time for revelry, feasting, raucous music and wild dancing. A time for new starts, for abandoning grudges, and for putting aside past failures to concentrate on the possibilities of a new year. The beginning of the Welcoming is heralded with a ceremonial hunt lead by the Vates of the nation, each adopting a costume, mask or headdress representing a prey animal. The specifics of the hunt differ each year, challenging the people of Navarr to practice their skills and come together in a celebration that reminds them of the nature of spring. But the Welcoming is not just for the people of Navarr - all the peoples of the Empire are invited to join in the grand festival. In Anvil at the Spring Equinox the Navarri embody this spirit by staging a grand travelling carnival, visiting the camps of other nations. They bring with them food, song, stories and challenges among entertainments and invite everyone to join in their procession to celebrate the season and to forge new ties with people of other nations. The carnival leads all who will follow back to the Navarri camp for more games and entertainment alongside food and (copious amounts of) drink to ensure that the revelries last well into the night. ============== The Welcoming is on the Saturday of the event (weather permitting) starting with the Vate hunt at 3:00pm and the travelling carnival making its way around the camps from 5:00pm onwards. The Navarr welcome the participation of citizens of other nations, of course, and look forward to seeing you there! h You can learn more about the Welcoming (and indeed several other customs of the Navarr) on our wiki here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Navarr_culture_and_customs#Welcoming -------- The photograph is Eosffair of the Pathfinders Striding (as played by Toria Standfield), courtesy of Jo Perridge. The words were put next to each other by Kay Thomas, and then had niggling little pointy haired boss changes made to them by Andy Raff. (EDIT) Correcting credits - I'd mistaken the parcel delivery guy for the author. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-17T11:00:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/782117085217607 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-15T10:27:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/781181595311156 Today is the deadline for late booking for the next Empire. If you're planning to book the event in advance and haven't already done so then you need to send payment today to avoid paying the gate price. If you have sent payment by bank transfer in the 48 hours, then don't worry it will appear on your PD account on Tuesday. We are planning to update the wiki over the weekend and the next few days with the events in the campaign leading up to the Spring Equinox, and also with OOC details for the event. We'll put a note on Facebook and email everyone who has asked for Empire emails one last time once all the updates are complete. We found a pair of forged Bourse notes at the last event. Please note that these are not legal in our system - they are not something a character can forge. If your character is lucky enough to have a Bourse note for mithril, white granite or weirwood then check carefully to ensure that the note has a horse watermark embossed in the circle under the crown where it says "Imperial Bourse", otherwise it won't be accepted if you hand it in. Finally, a rail strike has been announced for 5pm on the bank holiday Monday of the event. It's impossible to tell yet how much disruption this will cause but if anybody does get caught out and ends up unable to get home, then we can accommodate you on site for 24 hours until the strike is over. See you soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-05-05T20:51:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/776716169091032 Last reminder for the deadline for downtime and for early booking for the next event. Please make sure you submit your downtime by midnight tomorrow and have payment sent by that deadline if you're making an early booking. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-04-29T20:58:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/774459025983413 A quick announcement to let everyone know that downtime is now open. It will be open until midnight on the 6th May - please make sure you submit your downtime before the deadline as we will be aiming to start processing soon afterwards. We've also moved the early booking deadline back to the 6th May to make sure everyone has a chance to book at the early rate. Make sure you send payment before this deadline if you haven't already done so. Sorry for the long delay in getting downtime open and updating everyone but I've been ill for a couple of weeks and only able to get to work for a few hours each day. I'm now back and not planning to be ill again before 2020 but I have a backlog of emails and issues to deal with, so if you are waiting for a response then please be patient - I'll get to your email as soon as I can. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-04-07T23:01:50+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/764036273692355 We're going to be onsite until Thursday night at the earliest. If anyone is able to join us either tomorrow or Thursday helping us tidy up the site, then that would be awesome. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-04-01T10:42:26+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/760909530671696 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-04-01T09:51:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/760917334004249 Escon (Highguard Egregore) on one of the exciting new elements we'll be introducing this year. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-31T22:21:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/760733724022610 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-31T18:34:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/760673264028656 We're packing down the servers soon, so anyone who hasn't booked yet has just a few hours left. We've made up over 1500 packs which will be ready in GOD when you arrive for everyone who has already booked. There is just time for a last few updates before the event begins! Firstly, if you haven't noticed already, we've updated the rules for Spontaneous magic. Anyone attempting to create a spontaneous magic effect will need to create an arcane projection. Ritual magicians can obtain these from our Head Referee at set times throughout the event (see http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spontaneous_magic#Preparing_an_Arcane_Projection for the updated schedule). This update also includes lots of new information on ritual theory which will be of use to anyone interested in magic in Empire, and a handful of rituals like Sum of the Parts, have had their details or magnitude adjusted. See the latest changes on the wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates) We've also updated the rules for the Test of Arms, making much clearer what the age requirement for young players taking the test are (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Test_of_Arms). Please make sure you read the new rules carefully if you are attending the event with a young player who is interested in taking the test. We're looking forwards to running this years events at a new location, but a new site always brings lots of challenges. So if you find yourself at a loose end on Thursday or Friday why not lend a hand. Our red hats would welcome a hand from anyone who knows how to put a tent up. We're also working on upgrading the existing sets so there is loads of set-building to do for anyone who can use a saw or a hammer. The PD wardrobe took a bit of a battering over winter, so we've also got a great big pile of costume to repair! If you are free for an hour or so Midday Friday please join us for a mending circle. Any help will be appreciated. Midday at Monster where there will be a sign to the exact location. Please bring scissors, needles and any spare thread you would like to donate. And finally a word from our sponsors... If you want to look your best for the festivals this season then get your hair done at Blood, Sweat and Shears, at the Shattered Tower camp in Highguard! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-26T10:35:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/757976454298337 Hi everyone, we've updated the volunteer monster timetable to take better account of some of the planned IC activities (hopefully more on those later today) for the event - we have swapped the Varushka and League volunteer slots. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-25T23:54:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/757746557654660 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-25T23:42:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/757787624317220 Andy Raff gets to do all the fun stuff - I get the boring logistical updates. Anyway - site map is now up. Along with other bits and pieces about the event. You can find it here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Winter_Solstice_2015 Camp planners are hard at work laying out plans for each camp to make Anvil look as awesome as possible. Not everyone is on Facebook, so if you have mates who are bringing IC canvas to the event but who don't use Facebook, please help the folk planning the camp layouts by passing on the information. We've updated the rules for the Test of Arms for young players. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Test_of_Arms) The Test is still based on individual assessment, but we've raised the minimum age to 14. I've explained the reasoning in length on the Empire parents Facebook group - but the simply explanation is about improving battlefield safety for all participants Finally - a new thing! Although the backup site is not perfect we have a good sized space for battles and large quests this year and we'd like to make the most of it. So we're asking those people who enjoy the battles and the quests to consider monstering one extra time during the weekend. It's not mandatory - this is purely volunteering - but if we get a reasonable number of volunteers it will allow us to put on a lot of extra IC quests. All the details are on the page. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-24T22:50:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/757341047695211 Alright! A long update because I've been singularly failing to update things due to all the other work. As always, when we change stuff we put it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates and when the Boss remembers he transfers appropraite bits to the rules changes page and then e-mails people. But this page is a better place to look than obsessively refreshing the Recent Changes list. ==Winds of Fortune== This is something I am quite excited by to be honest, and represents a lot of hard work especially from Dan Williams. We're trialing out http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/378YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_fortune for this event. These are opportunities - like random events in a board game although not entirely random. They present things that are happening in the world that effect the people in it. Four of them are proper opportunities - one-off chances for the Empire to gain advantages with side-effects (or suffer reversals with possible up-sides). These nay or may relating to boggart faeces. (Boggarts being, before I forget, a classification of eternal beastie - essentially vermin of the Realms that are at the bottom end of whatever scale it is that Eternals are at the top of). In each case, a number of suggestions have been laid out IC by the civil service for ways these situations could be capitalised on - or these problems solved (depending how you look at it). There's also a section for more event-like ... events ... things that anyone in the Empire might know about that have a wide-scale effect (the weird effects on Miaren, Kallavesa and the whole of Wintermark). In future these might form part of Winds of Magic but - as I'm sure you can imagine - we're probably not doing a big magical effect this event given all the changes to magic we've done already ... If these go well - and by well I mean people engage with them - I'm hoping we'll see a lot more. ==Ritual Theory== Some of you will already have seen this, but we've finall (finally!) put up a load of in-character details about magic theory as it relates to rituals. You can learn about it here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Ritual_theory. It deals with known laws and limits of magic, and there is a page on each of the six realms that talks about what is, isn't and could be appropriate or inappropriate for the realms. We've still got a little way to go - we focused entirely on things that were relevant to people who might want to make arcane projections (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spontaneous_magic#Arcane_Projection) that create spontaneous magical effects. One of the big things this does is to do with Eternals. It's always been the case that you can't make a ritual that deals with an Eternal without that Eternal's assistance, but we've made that a lot more solid and applied it to all areas of the game - including spontaneous missives and boxes. You need the assistance of the target Eternal to make a missive ritual. Although you'll be pleased to know that Missive for Sadogua continues to work fine! We've made a few modifications based on this. Operate portal now has a functionality where it can be used to communicate with an Eternal *who is expecting the communication* - and we've modified Swim Leviathan's Depths to use this new method of communication and showcase how it works. The gist is that if Sadogua (say) makes a deal to swamp something for 21 measures of dragonbone, rather that doing a ritual to send that stuff to Sadogua you would bring it to the Imperial regio at an agreed time, cast Operate portal, and exchange goods with a herald, or a big giant glowing head, or a hole in space or what have you. This also gives some extra uses to enmity (which prevents this happening), but that's a very specific thing. ==Navies== I wasn't sure we would get this up before the event, if I'm honest ... but we did. Huzzah! Most of the information around how they get build is here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_navy There's some information missing because we evaluated it and it was a massive amount of work to get it sorted in time and frankly not entirely relevant given the empire hasn't got an Imperial navy. I did consider spoilering it more, but I just wasn't comfortable telling people things they would base their decisions IC on that might turn out not to be true. ==Winds of War== These have been delayed, but if everything goes to plan they will go up tomorrow. We noticed at the last minute that we'd failed to take into account some rituals (on both sides) that were fairly significant. The results are in now sorted and getting written up. Just to tease; of the various theatres of war, the empire has won more engagments than it's lost. And if you have been keeping an eagle eye out you might already know one of the places the Empire has won hands-down. You'll find out more (dear God I hope) tomorrow. #othersideofthehedge, #freddossoonanditwillallbeworthit, #itstwomonthstotheventright SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-21T16:10:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/755841727845143 The final booking deadline for the first event is midnight Sunday. If you are coming to the event then please make sure you send payment by then if you haven't done so already. We have updated the wiki with new setting material on ritual theory intended for anyone playing a character with an interest in ritual magic and the realms. We will update the rules pages for spells like operate portal and Swim Leviathan's Depths in the next few days. We also added a new page detailing times and costs to construct navies. This is the last of the updates completed over the winter providing information on a range of commissions that the Imperial Senate can approve. Finally here's a sneak photo of the latest developments from the Mandala workshop - where they are hard at work on a new site prop for the event. Only two weeks to the event now - we'll see you all soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-13T10:53:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/752020104893972 Hi everyone, we've updated the website and the wiki with details of the new site at Spernall near Alcester (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Upper_Spernall_Farm). The update includes directions and a detailed list of local amenities as well as a rough guide to the area compiled by John Shockley who lives there. We'll put more information up, hopefully next week, showing how Anvil and the site will be laid out. One thing we are asking everyone who drives to the event to do is keep their speed down on the last few miles of the journey around Spernall and Great Alne. The local residents have responded really positively to our discussions with them, but they are worried about the traffic. Given how dangerous rural roads can be, those concerns are very valid. So please make an effort to use the route we have described and only fall back on your satnav if you get lost. And most importantly keep your speed down to 40mph or below. If we want our neighbours to recognize that live roleplaying is a wonderful hobby then the only way to achieve that is to respect them and their wishes. The new site includes a brewery! Sadly a little modern for incorporating into Anvil... but it apparently brews some fantastic beer. They have a shop on site that sells a range of stuff and they're looking forward to welcoming us to the site. They have a click and collect service for ordering in advance (http://www.bottleshack.uk/) and they also do brewery tours and are looking at laying on some extra tours over the weekend for anyone who wants to look around. Finally the late booking deadline is coming up - send payment by midnight on the 22nd, to book your ticket (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/tickets) if you haven't already done so. We have well over a thousand players already booked for the event and we're looking forward to seeing you there. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-10T15:41:39+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/750516975044285 LRPers lay siege to local newspaper! The local newspaper is running a fairly regular series of paper and web stories about our forthcoming event. Folks who are familiar with newspapers can see that coverage is actually broadly positive. While we really appreciate that everyone is keen to help, and the support is lovely, they probably don't need a thousand friendly LRPers leaving comments on their website. Please rest assured that we're in regular contact with the local press, we're working closely with them and we're happy with the coverage we're getting at the moment. The situation at the new site is secure. In addition we've talked to a lot of the locals and have had some good advice from them on how to keep any possible disruption to a minimum which will be putting up on the website before the end of the week. A few people have understandable concerns about traffic and noise but the majority are very positive and welcoming. We're aiming to get more site info on the wiki in the next few days. In the meantime, please be patient and rest assured that we have the local relations and the public relations in hand. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-06T20:48:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/748000155295967 Evening! Twice in one week? This has gone a bit Ferrero hasn't it? I thought I'd just take a few minutes to talk about the piece of work we finished this afternoon - the last three civilian commissions pages. We've now put up the details of how the Empire builds a couple of large projects: specifically, embassies, colleges of magic and rune forges. I'll just pick out a few points on each one as we go ===== AT THE HEART OF THE WEIRWOOD A DARK TOWER RISES Whether Tower of Grand Enchantment, Citadel of Glorious Thaumatury of Crumbling Old Castle of Child Endangerment, a college of magic does one thing very well: it increases the scope of Imperial magic. The Empire already has two colleges - the sprawling, lazy Lyceum and the rarefied, enlightened Halls of Knowledge. We've laid down the costs and procedures the Empire goes through to build more of them. I've spoken about colleges before; you can read about them here ->http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/College_of_Magic ===== WITH THIS WHITE GRANITE YOU ARE REALLY SPOILING US! The first few embassies have already been built - with Asavea and Jarm (although only one of them is actually open but that's another story). We've nailed the price down, and laid out clearly what an embassy does. It would be *very crude* to suggest that the point of an embassy is to get plot out of it. Cruse, but not entirely untrue. An embassy does a number of things - but one of them is that it invites a foreign nation to engage with the Empire diplomatically, politically and economically. We've already seen the early elements of that with the visit from the Asavean Ambassador, and hopefully we'll see a lot more activity as the Empire begins to engage with the other powers of the world. The ambassadors will find themselves in an interesting position - they not only represent the Empire to the distant might of the Plenum or the House of Princes or whoever, they may also find themselves representing the Commonwealth of the Bedelaar Huisbaas to the Empire. With hilarious consequences, no doubt. You can read about embassies here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Embassy ===== BRING ME SOME MITHRIL BARS, THE TEARS OF A CAT, A WARRIOR'S REGRET AND FOUR HUNDRED INGOTS OF ORICHALCUM AND I WILL MAKE YOU A FAIRLY GOOD SHIELD Finally, rune forge. These are something a bit new. They do for magic items and artisans what colleges of magic do for ritual magic and magicians. There are no rune forges in the Empire - when we started, we weren't sure if we were ever prepared to let PCs create new crafted items. We played it safe, but as the game continued it became clear we could deal with the work load, and could probably trust the players not to take the mickey with their item requests. They are ... not cheap. Still cheaper than an army though! So there's that. Once a college is complete, though, the master has some difficult decisions to make. A rune forge will do one of two things. Every six months or so it can create a unique magic item for the master or mistress - one that only they have. They can even master the art of making it themselves, if they like, and get a fairly exciting monopoly ... but they can't share that knowledge. Only people with the experience of making the item with the runeforge can understand how to recreate it. Or, they can pile up a small pile of ilium and make a schema. A schema works for an item like a ritual text works for a ritual - more or less - but one thing it *doesn't* do is act like the magic item it details. But the master (or mistress) can share the knowledge it contains with their allies ... or persuade the Senate to take their precious, precious schema away and let everyone have a go with it until it is all worn away to nothing but everyone in the Empire can make the item they slaved for months and months to work out how to make ... You can learn about runeforges here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Runeforge You may also want to call by http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Magic_items#Schema as well. Or not. ===== A NOT UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF PIE It's not all gravy and limitless jam roly poly though. The Empire only gets one embassy per foreign nation. The more colleges of magic it builds, the more it costs to sustain each one. It's the same with rune forges. The price starts to hike up *steeply* once you get past a couple. There's only so many magical theorists, copies of the Liber Paginarum Fulvarum and eager young interns with stars in their eyes. Only so many burly people prepared to pump bellows all day, only so many crates of cable ties, only so much magical gaffa tape. The colleges compete with each other for resources, as do the rune forges, and it's the Senate that picks up the tab. This is not an accident. We did this on purpose. Because we want you to fight over them. I thought about being subtle but bugger it, why not be straight? We think the game is improved by there being less mashed potato than people want. We expect people to fight not only over these commissions, but also over the materials needed to build them. We expect them to make deals and betray each other. Because compromise and treachery are fun! ===== IN THE POWER OF THE SENATE So ... these three join the existing three civillian commissions (ministry, sinecure and great work) and the three military commissions (army, spy network and fortification) as the large national- or Imperial-scale projects the Senate can authorise in an informed way. You can learn about those here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Commission I've been seeing a bit of excitement on the national facebooks recently about various commissions, and it makes me warm inside. These things are designed to drive game on the field, both in the Senate and in the nations, and I think that the game is now sophisticated enough that large amounts of "game" will happen without any intervention from us at all - I have a deck chair, a bottle of coke-zero-like-fizz and a bowl of bombay mix all set up for retiring to the shade so I can watch with interest what happens. Some of you may notice that navy is not yet written up and to you I say "lalalala I'm not listening" or possibly "Look! A badger!" *Sound of running feet* #othersideofthehedge, #Ianticipatenavycommissionrulesnextweek, #lastnationtogetacommissionthroughthesenateowesmefreddos PS) The photo of Sam "Crazy Carpenter" Harber is by the talented Jo Perridge. I've been really chuffed to see some photos of people making stuff at Empire. Picutres of awesome crafters is a nice palate cleanser after all the pictures of awesome heroes. PS2) Oh and Mark Wilkin says "Tell them to come to the forums to discuss the new commissions Raff or I'm hiding the bombay mix." You can tell him how cruel he is here -> http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/the-rules/runeforges-t1196.html SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-03-04T22:47:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/746723332090316 Okay, so. Raff here. It's been a while but I'll dive straight in. Many of you will have noticed an explosive bunch of changes on the wiki related to the Imperial Military Council. For those of you who want to skip the mild swearing and clever pop culture references, there's a section on the Wiki Updates that lays out what we've done and its here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates#Military_Council_Overhaul. As always, the boss will probably e-mail out about them at some point. There's a lot of changes that matter to about twenty-three people, and some changes that matter to everyone. I'll call out some highlights, and then witter on about them in a disjointed manner because I have been awake for *quite some time*. ***Military Council Meetings*** We've formalised the way military council meetings happen - at least a little bit. We've drawn a distinction between the Muster (friday evening's decision about the Sentinel Gate battles over the weekend) and the Council Sessions (business as usual). We've restricted who can talk - because we find that works well in other areas. One big change is that you don't get to speak just because you made eye-contact with a general. It means that adjutants have had a few changes made - which will be relevant to some. It's also allowed us to make use of the Right of Address, and we've restored that to the High Exorcist and given it to the Imperial Quartermaster as well. We've also laid out some formal powers for good old Pavel, the Herald of the Council - the civil servant whose job it is to referee the meetings. Unlike the highly controlled Senate, or the mechanisms of the Conclave, the Council will stay reasonably informal ... but it will also be run to a timetable, and when the time runs out the formal meeting ends. There should be no more run-on meetings that last for hours. ***Generals*** We've made a few changes and clarifications to generals. We've reinforced the idea that we felt was getting lost a bit in the shuffle - that the generals are *usually* members of their nation first and of the Imperial Military Council second. There's a couple of mechanisms for this, some more subtle than others, but the one I like best is repeatedly stressing that the campaign army does what the general tells it, and the general has absolute freedom to tell it to do what they want it to do (within the mechanics of the game). We're also actively encouraging the generals to get the back-up of their nation - and for the people of the nation to take an interest in what the generals are up to. ***Imperial Armies*** We've taken keywords round the back and shot them in the head. It was a mercy killing. Instead, each Imperial Army has a singular quality that tries to capture what it is that makes the army special. Theres a lot of reasons we did this but for me it was partly about "cool" (stacking keywords was not cool, it was mechanistic and turned campaign armies into hooks you hung bonuses on) and about "character"(I wanted to be able to dwell on what made the army a bit special, not on whether it was +1 to hit orcs or +1 to AC against trolls). Wherever we can we've coupled these qualities with a choice for their general - and often a price to pay. For example, A Glorious (or Heroic) army can capture a load of ground and slaughter a load of barbarians with a crazy balls-to-the-wall risky assault ... but theý'll lose soldiers doing it. Maybe *this* season they'll want to do something a bit less crazy and save the GLORY for when it will make a real difference. I also think it encourages the nations to create new armies rather than spend mithril making existing armies "better" (and by "better" I mean ... well I don't mean "better"). This will almost certainly create game on the field, which is always a plus. ***Military Units*** While only a few people get to wear General Hats at a time, an awful lot of people have military units. We've made some significant changes here. First, they can now assign to fortifications as well as Imperial armies. Coupled with a boost to the effectiveness of castles at repelling attackers, this allows for some cool roleplaying choices as well as some interesting strategic options. Second, we've finally implemented something (and by "we've" I mean "the Boss has") that we claimed at the beginning but was not *entirely* true. A raiding military unit will now have a chance to receive not just ingots and measures of raw materials but also herbs, crystal mana and cash. Finally, we've introduced the Imperial Guerdon (an olde worlde word meaning "a reward or recompense"). The Guerdon is a sum of money that is split between every military unit that assigns to help an Imperial Army or Fortification. It's not split evenly however - the bigger a military unit is, the larger a share it will get. The Imperial Senate controls the Guerdon - they can raise or lower it if they want to encourage or discourage people. The Guerdon is instead of the old "half the raiding amount" production that committed military units used to get. There's a couple of reasons for the Guerdon, but for me they're about the significant choice. You can raid, and fill your pockets with stuff; or, you can assign to help an Imperial army and take a bit of a gamble on what you'll get. My *hope* is that it will encourage people to think about what patriotism is worth - why *are* military units expected to help the Imperial Armies for free? Why *doesn't* the Senate or the Military Council pay them for the work they do? ***Downtime Interface*** One of the things I find depressing is seeing, when downtime opens, people asking on Facebook which army they are supposed to be supporting. Whenever I see this I die a little inside - it means that at the event, the military unit owner didn't engage with anything to do with the campaign. To me they look like they don't know or don't care where their army fights and that's a shame. With that in mind, we are (and here I mean "the boss is") hoping to make a few updates to the downtime interface that will make it easier for a captain to make an informed choice about where their unit assigns. if it comes off, the interface will let you find out where each general is campaigning and read the orders that the armies have been given. Fingers crossed. **Going Forward*** So whats next? The rest of the week we'll be working on the last couple of commissions for the Senate (college of magic. runeforge and embassy). Then after the weekend, a spurt of work on magic to get the last bunch of pages up and running. Oh and navies. Must not forget navies. Oh god navies. I'd forgotten them. We know how they work, I think - we just need to write it down. There's a few other bits and bobs, but we're running short on time - partly thanks to an overhaul I had optimistically assumed might occupy us for a week lasting nearly a month. It's doubtful we'll get much else done before the event. Unless my plan of closing my eyes and wishing *really hard* for another month between now and next week comes to fruition, of course. #theothersideofthehedge, #ohpleasegodgivemeanextramonth, #theheraldrunsonportandalsoport PS 1)If you fancy discussing this or any other Empire-y topic, why not call by our forums at http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/? They're ever so friendly and moderated by some very attractive young men. PS 2) Oh that reminds me! Big thanks up to the organisers of the 2015 UK LARP Awards or LarpCon UK or whatever. We sent them a bunch of reprobates and Paul Wilder and a stall, and we came away with several awards including Large LRP, Overall LRP and Creature Costume (Rhinooooooo!), and Oliver Facey's picutre of the Irontide stomping about won Best Photo. We also came right after first on Family Event. Not a bad little haul - although I am informed that the awards are not combat safe, which is a shame. Allegedly it was all a great laugh, and also had Johnny Ball. Not that I put too much stock in this kind of thing you understand - it's all a popularity contest and never recognises true merit #notbitter, #weepingintomymassivepillowtonight SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-02-15T10:59:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/737673126328670 Regrettably we have to announce that we are not now going to be developing a permanent LRP site at Honeybourne as we had hoped. The local community were convinced that we were going to be a major disruption to their lives and it was clear that overcoming that misconception was going to be an insurmountable problem. We are therefore going to operate all our events this year at a back-up site a few miles north of Alcester in Warwickshire. The nearest train station is at Redditch. We will update the website with details and directions to the new site in the next few weeks. We are obviously hugely disappointed by this development, but we want to reassure everyone that our ambition to secure a permanent LRP site is undiminished. Once the first event of the year is out of the way we will turn all our efforts back to this goal. When we do that, we'll let you know more about the options we're exploring and how people can get involved and help us make this happen. As we don't now have a permanent site to develop this year, we're instead going to focus our efforts in other areas. We've ordered two brand new mobile toilet blocks, to replace the aging units that we've been operating for some time. We hope these will be in place for Easter, but they will certainly be ready for May if not. The early booking deadline for the first Empire event of 2015 is Midnight tuesday. We've pushed the deadline back a few days to let people take account of the new site details. If you are planning to attend then please make sure you send payment before the deadline if you haven't already done so, otherwise you will need to pay the higher booking price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-02-06T19:22:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/732940620135254 Tents - there has been some confusion on times and dates for tent hire, and we've had some technical challenges as a result at our end. It's mostly my fault, as I've been somewhat distracted sorting the site matters. So... I'm very sorry about that - given the situation now, the fairest thing to do is put the tents up for hire at 7pm this Sunday. So the tents will be on the website - 7pm this Sunday. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-02-05T09:43:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/732290886866894 Hi folks, This is a quick update to let everyone know that we've run into a major challenge with our new site. Unfortunately the local community have been given the impression that our events are noisy and cause a lot of traffic and as a result it's now possible that we won't get a chance to prove that isn't the case. We're reviewing the situation and we'll make a final decision on what to do that gives the right balance between running the best possible events this year while keeping open the options to have an amazing site for the future. Obviously we have solid contingency plans for another site in the region, so all this years events will go ahead whatever happens. The temporary setback is terribly disappointing, but we don't want to operate a site somewhere that live roleplayers aren't welcome; that won't be fun for anyone. We'll let you know as soon as a final decision has been made and we'll update everyone here and by email with full site details once we do. No I can't answer *any* questions about it at the moment, but please be patient for a week and we'll answer everyone's questions once there are some definitive answers to give out. Matt Pennington SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-01-23T00:25:05+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/724491847646798 TIME IN! Okay this is part two of a bumper post - if you haven't read the one with the kitten on it, you should go and do that now, and also shouting "TIME IN" has possibly just confused you. This post talks about ritual magic, and then sketches out some "Future Attractions" and ends in a digression about Saturday Morning Cartoons and fur hats. ===RITUAL ACTIVITY=== I'll maybe talk about this in more detail later, but we've tidied up some of the concepts around ritual magic. There's now very clearly a delineation between formulaic ritual and spontaneous magic. We haven't changed anything about how rituals in Imperial Lore work, so much as just tidied them up and moved them all into one place. You can check the rules out here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Formulaic_ritual). One idea we've tried to get across is that you *never* perform a ritual that is in Imperial lore "spontaneously"- you just perform it. If you have mastery, you perform it more easily and more efficiently. But the spell doesn't change just because none of you have mastered it. If it's in imperial lore, it's like every single PC "knows" it well enough to cast. If you want to tweak the spell, even if you just want to create a different roleplaying effect, you need to sort it out as a spontaneous magical effect and ... ... well spontaneous magic has had some very significant changes. You should blame the Wanderer. CURSE YOU WANDERER! ===SPONTANEITY=== To create a spontaneous magic effect you will need to create an arcane projection. Its a lot like a ritual text, but it's valid only at the event you create it. The main perk from my point of view is that we'll put all the information on it. The perk from your point of view is that, if we can manage to find an artist to do us some nice h'occult designs, it'll be a pleasant little IC item that you can pass round your mates. Or steal from each other. If you have the projection, your coven can create the spontaneous magical effect whenever they want for that event. Bosh. Making one of these arcane projections is not a free process, nor is it usually instantaneous. It costs a mana crystal and it takes time - time during which you can do other stuff while you ponder the magical question besetting you. It will involve talking to the senior ref, and telling him exactly what you are trying to achieve. It's all explained in some detail on the spontaneous magic page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spontaneous_magic) along with a few other twiddles (sometimes a divination spell will uncover a spontaneous magic effect you can create without needing to spend mana or time, invariably related to whatever plot, asset or location you were examining - that's up to the plot writers though). It's important to note that an arcane projection only lasts for one event. We're doing this quite intentionally - we intend to review every arcane projection we hand out between events and make sure that all three Legs of the Milkstool of Ultimate Ritual Power (well, me, GJ and the Boss) are all in agreement on a given ritual. The "tides of magic and the power of the stars and wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff" might mean that IC it was possible to do an effect at the Summer event at magnitude 20 that we later decide was overcosted, or undercosted, or technically should only have worked on delicious, delicious dodo birds (who you can read about here if you are so inclined. (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Mundane_beasts#Dodo_Birds). One thing to bear in mind is that formulaic magic is always going to be "better" than weird novelty spontaneous magic in terms of how easily it is performed, how expensive it is in terms of crystal mana, and how you can manipulate it (with spontaneous magic you can't do things like spending orichalcum in place of mana or to reduce magnitude, for example, and your ability to add extra targets might be quite limited). Spontaneous magic is "better" than crusty old formulaic rituals when it comes to versatility and ... well I can't find a better synonym for "spontaneity" so I'm going to go with that. ===PROVOST, DEAN, TEXT=== We've given the provost and the dean the ability to get one (1) spontaneous arcane project for free each downtime, which will be waiting for them at the event. We've removed the ability to e-mail and ask for projections from everyone else. We've also changed things so that while the Dean and the Provost (and any future Collegiate Rulers) can only make a formulaic ritual out of an existing arcane project. Basically, they have to have IC at least glanced over the effect they want to cement before they can get their serv ... peers to make a ritual text out of it. With regard to ritual texts, we've made them a little bit more useful. Kind of. As part of our work firming up the difference between formulaic and spontaneous, a ritual text can always be used as an arcane projection for the ritual it contains. However if a member of your coven has mastered a ritual that is not in Imperial lore, and contributes to it's casting, you *all* cast it as if it were formulaic at the costed total rather than 50% extra. Which is quite a nice bonus I think. ===THE STARS ARE ... WELL YOU KNOW THE DRILL=== The boss talks in more detail about why we've made these changes on the wiki updates page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2015#Spontaneous_Magic) and I'm hoping to expand on them a little here and there. We expect the new system to take a little getting used to, but I think that after a short adjustment it will make the game better. By all means send queries to the usual addresses, but I'd like to ask you to be patient. We're only at the start of the Winter Roundup and we have a chunk of additional work still to do. One specific section we are still working on relates to sending messages and items to Eternals. We've not nailed down precisely how we want to handle that but it's a job that's earmarked "must be done before next event" so I will let you know as soon as I know what we are doing. The good news is that I an 78% certain the formulaic rituals that send stuff to eternals like boring old Ephisis'Scales and the non-stop-roller-coaster-excitement that is Missive for Sadogua will continue to work fine. Which is a relief, I'm sure you'll agree. ===READING THE IRON BREW GRANULES=== Do you get Iron Brew granules I wonder? Horrible thought. What's next then? First off, we need to repair all the tech we broke - and I don't just mean all the links. We need to finish off the spell pages, and fix all the items whose powers are now irrelevant then fix all the rituals whose effects just broke. Once we've done that, we need to finish work on the Eternals and Realms pages, and at least sketch out the "what's hot and what's not" for each realm of magic so your characters can construct reasonable spontaneous magic effects. Looking into the next month, we have some changes to a few military keywords; we need to sort out the Daggers category which we seem to have forgotten to do tonight; we need to actually write down all the naval campaign rules we agreed in frigid Glasgow; we need to finalise a few economic tweaks related to resources and we need to continue smoothing and tidying wiki content if we possibly can. ===FURTHER READING=== Oh I forgot - we also did some work on a few setting-related pages. Landskeepers (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Landskeeper) and Hakima (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Hakima) got a few cosmetic changes, and we made a whole page just for Corsairs (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire- wiki/Corsair). If you and your friends were gored or trampled to death recently, you might want to look over this new content and see if it gives you any ideas. These pages are always fun to knock together, and I'd dearly like to get a few more up and running before the next event. I've been looking thoughtfully at Volhov and Cabalists for some time now, for example. Oh and if you fancy a fun project, why not read our new gateway-drug tutorial in making a simple fur hat here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire- wiki/How_to_make_a_fur_hat). I understand costume making is one of the least addictive activities you can undertake, and easy to give up once started. ===EPILOGUE=== Right then that's done. Don't forget you can chat about these changes or indeed anything to do with Empire at our forums (http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/) but I am now quite knackered and all that remains for me to do before I sleep for a week is to grab a broom shank and shout "WHISPERED SECRETS OF A SHATTERED AGE, I SUMMON YOU ..!" #Othersideofthehedgeredux, #oneraffcoolpointupforgrabs, #ishouldhaveusedthepicofgroththeharbinger, #mustsleeeeeeeepbutcoffee PS I ruthlessly stole this picture which I assume may be the property of Hasbro but I think Saturday morning cartoons become public common property after ... fuck ... nearly 30 years or something I'm sure I read it somewhere. Also I have spent three days trying to find cool ways to find new ways of saying "By my power and the power of the six realms spring, earth, fire, whiskey, tofu and surprise I command you BE HEALED!!!" so hopefully the courts will go easy on me. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-01-22T22:54:02+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/724465964316053 Raff here. A day late, but it's been a busy 24 hours. I warn you this is not going to be a short post. You may want to skip it entirely and just enjoy the picture of the kitten and the cosmic fish. That said, on we go. The boss and I set out a little while ago to make the rules changes we'd agreed last year up in Ultima Thule with Graeme. Unfortunately, as we started to review the bits of the wiki we needed to change it became increasingy clear that parts of it were, to put it bluntly, a confused mess. So we spent a week reorganising rules pages and sorting out the purple navigation bar along the top of the wiki. We kind of threw a lot of pages up at two years ago, and as we added more content the entire thing was starting to creak alarmingly in places. We're not finished, by a long shot, but the core pages around the rules and magic are looking a lot more organised. It *should* be easier to find important content such as the tules on weapons and armour, on spellcasting, on magic items and on various calls. For example, we've actually clarified and made explicit a bunch of rules around bonding magic items (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Magic_items) that were previously a little bit ... difficult to find. Poke the menus. We've filled in some blanks, and will fill more in over the next month. Still needs more pictures, though, to my mind. So, on to the main event - the rules changes and new stuff. I've already mentioned venom, so immagonna skip over that. ===TIME FREEZE CELERITY=== When the boss asked me to check over the new TIME FREEZE call I was (briefly) ecstatic, with visions of finally dusting off all my celerity and teleport spell effects. Sadly, it turned out to be a trick and this was actually a safety call. Gutted. You can read about it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Calls#TIME_FREEZE) but the gist is If you hear this call, you should stop any fighting, stop talking and listen for further instructions. It's a call only referees will be making. At least until I convince everyone that what Empire needs is a bunch of superfast movement and turn-based combat. Oh and we also clarified the MAN DOWN call - because it turned out we had two slightly different versions of it. You can read the one-true-wording on the same page as TIME FREEZE. ===BATTLE MAGIC, MAGE BLOOD AND A LACK OF SYMPATHY=== It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that we're changing the rules on battle magic. I've mentioned it before obliquely, and the boss explains many of our reasons on the update page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update_2015). The short summary of the changes are: * No spells have sympathy. Weakness, Venom and Paralysis only effect their target. * Offensive spells no longer take 10 seconds to cast and can't be interrupted. They operate in a manner similar to heroic blows now, but with very different roleplaying and spell vocals. * You don't waste your mana. This is a general change and effects regular spellcasting as well - if the effect is interrupted or fails to take, you keep the mana. We're looking at ways we can extend this axiom to ritual magic as well, within certain parameters. * We've increased the reward for using the two standard (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Philtres_of_the_High_Peaks). They now restore 2 and 5 personal mana respectively, up from 1 and 3. While this change is mostly aimed at letting battle magicians cast more spells, I like it because it also gives a slight helping hand to apothecaries and it doesn't hurt that other spellcasters will be able to get a little extra bang for their magical buck. ===A DIGRESSION ABOUT PARALYSIS=== Another major rules change is that paralysis is now treated a little bit like impale. If the strike that carries the paralysis charge hits heavy armour, the spell doesn't work. MASS PARALYSIS still works on you even if you are in full plate and packing steel - but the normal spell needs to be employed with a bit more precision. Our main reasoning for this change is that without sympathy, paralysis simply overshadows warriors on the battlefield. We spent ages discussing other alternatives, but this is the restriction that is most convincing. ===THE PURGE=== Oh we added a new spell. You can find it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Purge). Purge is an offensive spell like swift heal, but where that spell restores all your hits this one purifies any venom or weakness - but it also blasts you free of any entangle or paralyse effects you might be under. The spell is one of the most requested incantations to date, and after a lot of discussion we decided it would make a cool addition to the game. Don't get too excited though - it's still a 2 mana point spell to cast. It should be available to spend experience points on ... now I think? Or possibly first thing in the morning. While you're looking at Purge, we've also expanded the spell list out so each spell get's it's own page though they are tabulated on the spellcasting page here (although they're all tabulated on the [url=http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spellcasting]spellcasting page[/url]). In addition to the streamlined rules, these spell pages will have some setting information, notes on the spells and - assuming I don't go insane before I find someone to help me with it - some sample spell vocals to give people who are suffering writer's block a head start. They're stubbed at the moment because I still have some content to create. It'll be great content, very now, very fetch. ===Gear of War=== We're well aware that these changes have "broken" a bunch of items and rituals and we're slowly working our way through fixing them up. Most of them are getting minor tweaks, some are getting more major tweaks, they should mostly end up doing similar or at least related things. You'll just need to be patient for a few days. I anticipate another post here once we're done, don't panic. ===Battlefield Rituals=== We introduced the idea of doing battlefield rituals - rituals you didn't need a ref for - last year. After seeing how they worked, we've made a few tweaks. The main change is that you won't be able to perform rituals that create ongoing enchantments without a ref. We've removed rituals that don't have an instantaneous or short-term effect. As the boss says, we think that the admin involved in an enchantment is just too much for a player to perform. ===Other Ritual Changes=== Damn. This is far too long. I'll talk about the ritual changes in my next post. ===In Conclusion=== Battle magic faster and more reliable; paralyse blocked by heavy armour; new spell; some potions new and improved flavour; TIME FREEZE! #othersideofthehedge, #Ihavenoideawherethebossfoundthispicandamafraidtoask, #couldntfindaceleritypicturesmorethspity, #Isaidtimefreezenotalking SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-01-14T21:57:54+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/720966721332644 Okay then. Raff here. Short one today - mostly I'm doing this to keep things ticking over and keep in the good habit of keeping people up to date. This last week saw a very successful meeting with the skirmish and battle team, as well as several more rules discussion. The boss and I also started the process of talking plot with plot teams, and I received a timely reminder of just how useful player character backgrounds are in creating plot both for individuals and with a larger impact. We had quite a cool discussion about the difference between a plot where a bunch of NPCs turn up with a problem, and a plot where a group of PCs have *already told us* they have that same problem. It's a license to write plot that people care about (or to connect plots up to the field in a more satisfactory way than sending out A N Other old man to complain about goblins) ... that still has the potential to rapidly snowball out of control and set fire to three villages and the Senate. Seriously - put a background in. Nothing may come of it, but whats the worst that can happen? Anyway ... since last we spoke we've continued rolling out the changes to the VENOM effect - both the Abraxus Stone (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Abraxus_Stone) and Vitality of Rushing Water ritual (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vitality_of_Rushing_Water) have had their effects changed. As a coincidence, we've also put up some information about the venomous effects of the Vallorn Miasma (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vallorn#Vallorn_Miasma) and a bestiary entry for the vallornspawn husks (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Vallornspawn_husks) which will hopefully provide a cool challenge for anyone exploring certain dangerous parts of the Empire - and for any Briar characters who don't feel they encounter enough bigotry. There's been one (1) actual proper rules change implemented in the last week, which was around roleplaying effects. You can read about it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_change_2015#Roleplaying_effects). We've been really pleased with roleplaying effects on the whole during the last two years, but it became clear that one of our concepts - that a good enough reason could let you effectively ignore a roleplaying effect - reduced their effectiveness and devalued them. There are still plenty of things that can change how a given character interacts with a roleplaying effect - the rules section lists the four most common - but the change to the rules underlines the fact that these are significant, "real" pieces of the game that represent something concrete creating sensations, emotions or what have you. You can still, as always, decide *how* to respond to the fear, anger, pride, nausea or whatever - but you do have to respond in *some way*. Over the next week, hopefully, we will be putting in place the changes to the way battle magic works. The venom and roleplaying effects changes are significant but require minimal effort in terms of wiki changes. The changes we have in mind to battle magic are a bit more significant. I've not been cleared to give you a full rundown yet, so take the following with the kind of barrel of salt normally reserved for claims about games in the Fable series. I will say categorically though that there'll be no change to either the battle mage skill or the rules for mage armour. We're happy with how those are working. Likewise we won't be implementing any "cast spells in armour" rules. Battlefield magicians who don't take precautions will remain more vulnerable to CLEAVE and IMPALE than their warrior cousins. We've got two core changes that are in the final sanity checking stages that we think will make roles for spellcasters on the battlefield more appealing and a bit more effective. We've looking closely at the prepare-then-hit model - where a magician has to spend some time casting a spell and then has a certain time to release it. This increasingly seemed at odds with our concept that a battlefield magician could use their spells to flexibly effect the flow of battle. We've taken a close look at how spells are used on a battlefield and I think the changes we're planning here will not only make offensive spells more useful, but streamline the rules a little better. We're also looking very closely at three specific spells - venom, weakness and paralysis. These three spells cause sympathetic feedback - the caster is hit by the same effect they are delivering - and that has meant they are almost never cast, and that people who are using them are often jumping through unneccessary hoops to get the best use out of them (compared to spells such as entangle, swiftheal or repel). Sympathy was a great, flavoursome idea when we came up with it but in the cold light of two years of gameplay, we're reassessing it's value. However, simply removing it would create it's own problems - problems that we are still working on coming up with a satisfactory solution to. Watch this space - or more usefully, the wiki. That's more or less it for now, I think. If anything else occurrs I'll let you know. #theothersideofthehedge, #burnthebriaritstheonlywaytobesure, #helphelpourcowsareonfire, #wheresmydamnpodcastson PS) The photograph is Alexander Locke showing off some magickal moves at a recent Open Skies Open House event, held at the Jarman Centre. Taken by Tom Garnett. The winning caption in my mind at the moment comes from Mercury Locke and is "What's this say? I ... prepared ..." and if you know why it is funny you win a Raff Cool Point SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2015-01-07T16:15:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/716231341806182 So first things first - happy New Year and that! It's Raff here, as I'm not convinced the Boss has noticed it's January yet. Right now that's out of the way, on we go with a minor news post. It's clearly a year for new stuff - the head of the make-up department has just gone into business for herself as Echidna Creations (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Echidna-Creations/607044692754994?ref=br_tf), making latex masks and prosthetics for LRP, Costplay, Theatre and also apparently something called "FUN" which I have heard might be some new youth fad. I've worked with Mim for a fair few years now (at Maelstrom and now Empire) and have very much enjoyed giving her a barely coherent brief for a make-up job and then being cheerfully surprised at how effectively she turns that into a burn victim, undead horror, tree-person or guy-shot-full-of-arrows. You should totally give her some business. The brooding visage that accompanies this post belongs to valued volunteer Joe Rooney, done up as a Briar by our regularly fantastic make-up department. I have nothing but respect for a man of such hariness to allow people to glue latex and ivy to them. Captions on a postcard, but I am currently hearing "I AM GROOT" in my head. Today also saw the first of the actual rules changes go up on the wiki. We've spent the last few months talking about changes, and now we're having to actually sit down and make the changes. We started with a straightforward one - the change to VENOM - which you can find here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_change_2015). The Boss does a characteristically good job of explaining our reasoning behind the change. I've just finished discussing how this change will effect Vitality of Rushing Water, Curse of Gangrenous Flesh and Abraxus Stone, and once he's run it past our Rules Scholars I'll let you know what it is. The tl;dr version is "Instead of VENOM dropping you to 0 hits, it reduces your Death Count to 30 seconds plus 10 seconds per rank of Fortitude." For me, this means more Druj with venom; the chance to use more plaguewulfs; the realistic prospect of a catoblepas or hydra in a field some time soon; and the opportunity to put at least a few quests into an area with a *proper* Vallorn miasma. Wheee! indeed. Some of the quick-off-the-recent-changes peanut gallery have already been discussing this change, and I don't doubt someone will be doing it over on our dedicated forums at (http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/) before the week is out. If you do call in be sure to check out (http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/art/icons-and-talismans-t1088.html) - as I've said numerous times before, one of the things I love about Empire is seeing people take stuff me and my colleagues have written and use it as an excuse to create beautiful IC items. This weekend past saw Violet Illuminations (https://www.facebook.com/groups/766689393388681/) run their first Empire Day sanctioned event, and next month a gang of Leaguers will be running the (https://www.facebook.com/events/372259482930647/). You can keep an eye on the sanctioned events this year by checking the wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sanctioned_events). If you're interested in running an event, then you can find details about how to do it on the wiki as well (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sanctioned_event_rules). Finally, a quick reminder that our early booking deadline is 15th February. From a purely selfish point of view, the more of you book for the early deadline the more cash I have to blow on IC trousers. This is a fairly dry post by Raff standards, I know, but as long as the New Year's Resolution holds out there'll be quite a few more over the next couple of months. #othersideofthehedge, #donttalktomeaboutpodcastsandfacebookpagesaboutpodcasts, #venomforthethroneofarhallogen PS) I'm also informed by the boss that the tent hiring page will go live this month as well - keep your eyes peeled as last event we sold out in less than two hours. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-12-23T18:43:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/705743599521623 It's manic here at the moment as we're working flat out on plans to get all our kit moved to our new site as well as lots of new improvements for the game for next year. However there is just time for this cool message (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEsW0h3FY9s&sns=em) that Luca Da Re has created for us to say thank you to all our players for making Empire so awesome. We'll see you all in the New Year! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-12-10T16:55:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/699416426821007 Hello! Raff here! It's been a while, I know, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to sketch out some of the things that have been happening on my side of the hedge since the last event. During a Previous Game, we tended to spend the Winter months refusing to talk about LRP and failing to get any work done - this year though we've actually pulled our socks up and got on with prepping for next year. Partly I blame the New Site excitement, partly I blame the fact that "prepping for next year" doesn't mean "hours and hours and hours of downtime coding for the Boss plus weeping." But I digress. I'm not going to talk about the New Site - I'm kind of excited but only in the abstract. The boss has confirmed that it is large, has trees, has flat bits without trees, and isn't near any power stations, main roads or Indian Burial Grounds and thats more or less all I care about. There was a lare delegation over to look at it this weekend past which resulted in some quite enthusiastic people frothing about it's potential. I'll miss Tournament Stud, but a New Site means I am one step closer to my goal of having a stone circle and a wizard's tower built for someone. From my point of view, the last month has mostly been about meetings to do with Plot and with the Game. The Plot Meeting at Warwick University was a long overdue chance for us to talk to plot writers about strategies and themes and the like that are of great interest to plot writers ... and not really to anyone else. It went very well. There was an overhead projector and lego. It generated action points and everything. The week after that, myself and the boss travelled to Ultima Thule in the Cold North to visit Graeme Jamieson in Glasgow and engage in a very long series of meetings about rules and game systems. We've had two years to look at the game now - we made some cautious changes last winter, but this Winter we had a large list of things to discuss and potential changes to make. We also had a lot more player feedback to look through and talk about, some of it quite insightful. I'm not going to lay out the specifics of any rules changes here - but I thought it might be worth talking about the areas of the game we've been looking at. As soon as I get the green light, I'll be able to talk about specific changes we're making in future Other Side of the Hedge posts. Or podcasts if certain people have their way. There's not much point inundating PeeDee with requests for information about the changes - all it'll really achieve will be to delay the changes being made. * Spontaneous Ritual Magic. Some of you have already predicted that a change was coming here - and you were not wrong. We spent a lot of time talking about how we can most effectively allow the players the freedom to use the ritual toolbox, balanced against the time it takes to properly evaluate a ritual. In the wake of the Grand Conjunction, there will be some changes as to how spontaneous rituals are costed and how those costings are received and who can use them. We're not removing spontaneous magical rituals - although that was an option - and we're hoping that the new method we're implementing will be OOC fair while also adding value to the abilities of the provost/dean and any similar positions. The boss plans to supplement the changes with a design blog on the main wiki which wil lay out our thinking in more detail. All I will say now is "free things make jolly Sadogua cry" and move on. * Military matters. We looked at ways we can make the experience of being a General more fun and less onerous. We also looked at the orders and keywords, especially those two keywords associated with the Barbarian armies that I disliked intensely; fortifications, and how to make them a bigger strategic element; Imperial naval units, how they are created, how they move around, how they fight and what if anything you can assign to help them out. I was especially pleased with our conclusions on the latter - not least because a lot of the answers were paraphrases of "a lot like an Imperial army". One of my concerns with navies was that we might end up creating a slew of additional rules for them that we didn't need - I think we've largely avoided that. * Roleplaying effects and ceremonial skills. We had a close look at roleplaying effects and on the whole were happy with them - although we are going to make one change to how players interact wit h these effects. The "if you have a really good reason" defence is being removed - we felt it cheapened the effectiveness of roleplaying effects on the field, and sent the wrong message about how important they were. This also lead us to look at some of the ceremonial skills, and discuss if there was any way we could cut down the need for referees without removing the effectiveness of the skills themselves, or ending up with dozens of show-me lammies for every character with the dedicate skill. Our conclusions on ceremonial skills were ... inconclusive ... but we're due another meeting with Dan Williams (who did the work on the ceremonial skills) at some point in the near future. * Battle magic. We talked a lot about the experience of battle magicians - specifically, the folk with mage armour who wanted to be more front-line than the ritual or healer-specialist magicians. Early on, we were clear that we wanted to make sure that battle magicians were different to warriors - both in terms of how they looked and what they did. During the meeting we discussed that we might have been over-cautious, and agreed that the inability to wear armour was a much bigger restriction, and had a more profound impact on battlefield effectiveness, than we had originally thought. Part of this discussion also looked at personal mana and how one gets it back - we're looking at some minor tweaks here and there to things like the mana recovery potions. * Venom and Impale. We spent a lot of time talking around these two calls, and around the lethality of the system. We agreed we were roughly happy with the actual lethality, but that there were some tweaks to make. VENOM at the moment seems a little too binary - it's created less game than we hoped. We've got a small change to how it effects your death count in the works, but before we can implement it we need to look at how it effects all the rituals, potions, skills and crafted items that deal with VENOM. If the changes work, they should make it more interesting to roleplay "being enVENOMed." There's been some concern expressed about the combo of VENOM + IMPALE but at the end of the day you *still* need to execute someone, who is not unconscious, and can make as much racket as they like IC - on the field at Anvil it potentially just cuts a second or two off the time it takes to kill people, rather than being the "IMBA INSTADEATH" some have been concerned it represents. You can't stop someone becoming TERMINAL with either VENOM or IMPALE. * Helmets and Armour. We talked about helmets and armour. We decided to leave them as they are. * Divination: Oh we spent a lot of time looking at divination rituals. For the most part the changes are minor, with some clarification and some clearer deliniation between ritual effects. Given that it'll probably be me making the changes, I'll expect them to be edited reasonably soon. About the biggest changes I can think of were to the way Whispering Shadow Courtiers works (it's losing it's focus on just people at Anvil and becoming a bit more general in the secrets it provides) and a few twiddles to Eyes of the Sun and Moon and Eyes of the High Places. Both these latter Campaign-divinations were written when we still had only a shaky idea of precisely what information the larger-scale game would include, and the edits reflect that. * Economy and resources: And then we spent what felt like a week talking about the IC economy - a discussion that is still going on. In fact we're Skyping about it tonight unless I'm incredibly lucky and an asteroid wipes out all life in the northern hemisphere by around seven o'clock. We started with a discussion of the releative worths of mines/forests, fleets and military units and then ranged far and wide. We also looked again at the idea of specialising/personalising personal resources as a way to increase investment in the game, and have some development work to do there that I hope we manage to get through before next event. As always, we'll be tracking changes as we make them on the http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates page of the wiki, and when there's enough of them the boss will send out an e-mail. Changes to the rules will probably come into effect at the next event - which means that they won't effect the downtime period that has just passed. Please don't e-mail PeeDee asking about the changes - we'll tell people what they are specifically as we make them. That's it for now - as always you can discuss this post or speculate about it on the Empire forums here -> http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ I'm now going to go back to psychically preparing myself for an economics discussion of which I reckon I will understand about 30% of the words being said. I'll let you know how it goes. PS) The picture is the new map of the Barrens, with some orcs on it. You can find out more about the Barrens - following the successful campaign of spying and mapping by an assortment of captains, generals and senators - here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Barrens). There's a similar page about the (for want of a better word) nation of Otkodov here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Otkodov) but the spying reports are a lot less conclusive and detailed for a couple of reasons - the large scale of the area for a start. Anyway. On with the motley - assuming anyone has any left! #othersideofthehedge, #rulesrulesrules, #isamarketfluidorliquidicanneverremember SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-11-21T11:25:20+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/690030917759558 We're delighted to be able to confirm that we are moving to a great new site for all our events next year. The new site is near Honeybourne in Worcestershire, it is considerably bigger than our old site, and it comes with the support of the owner to do everything we could possibly want. We are in the process of signing a long-term lease for the site and have started the application for planning permission to build everything we need to make an awesome LRP site. Obviously planning permission move marginally faster than a glacier, so nothing will happen quickly, but we'll continue to use our existing infrastructure (with improvements for the new year) until we get approval to build permanent replacements. We're obviously incredibly excited about the new permanent site. This is something we've been working to try to achieve for nearly seven years now. Permission to create permanent buildings on the site then will allow us to create something spectacular and give us the foundation to make major improvements to our games. And if we can get suitable planning permission then we can make the site available to the whole hobby when it's not in use for PD events. We'll release more details about the site in the new year when we send out the mailshot. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-10-29T15:04:25+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/678573095572007 Wotcha everyone - the website is now open for downtime and for bookings for 2015. We've emailed everyone who asked for Empire emails to let them know. If you are able to book early, please, please do so! We have a *LOAD* of projects we'd like to get started on this winter which will really help improve events for next year - but we need folk to book as soon as possible, so we can afford to start work on them. We haven't confirmed a site yet - our backup is to use Tournament Stud next year, but we are looking for a bigger and better site and have a few exciting prospects in the Midlands that we're pursuing. We'll let people know as soon as we have something definite. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-17T20:42:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/656800567749260 Thanks to Jo Perridge for this awesome shot of the war rhino. Thanks to all the players - for responding to the rhino - and Empire itself in such a cool way. Thanks to the six people bearing Tom Butterworth aloft - those folk are a little metaphor for all the crew at our event - their hard work carried the thing and made it awesome. And special thanks to Kiera and Bill Thomas for creating this little piece of LRP history. Like the rhino's legs - their part in all this is hidden away... But along with all the incredibly talented and creative people who put so much into Empire they deserve the credit for the moments they create. We'll see you next year folks! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-17T20:26:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/656795901083060 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-10T21:21:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/653071274788856 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-10T05:27:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/652952808134036 Everyone knows the story, surely? Thirty years ago this Saturday, the prosperous docks of Caricomare* were drowned during the worst storm in living memory, when the Gancio leapt from it's banks and flooded enthusiastically into the streets of Sarvos. Lost, perhaps forever, were the wondrous mechanical quays that cemented Caricomare's position as perhaps the most prosperous port in the Empire.** Obviously, the people begged the Senate for help but the price of recovering drowned Caricomare was considered simply too high - and I would be an absolute rascal if I suggested that any of the concerned citizens of Meade, Siroc, Cargo or Hedra did any celebrating when the decision was made ... Anyway. To mark the anniversary of this tragic occasion, the Carta Notturno are arranging a benefit social, with an eye towards finally raising sufficient funds in aid of its reconstruction. As I understand it, the do is mostly for the prosperous of the League, but ... well, they are hardly going to turn away wealthy potential donors, are they? It could well be the social event of the Autumn season, a place for those who consider themselves movers and shakers can rub shoulders and perhaps engage in a little politics away from the knowlessmen?*** * or Carciomare as they pronounce it in the bit of Tassato I come from. Sarvosans tend to get stroppy when you point out they are saying it wrong, mind. ** also a lot of warehouses, buildings belonging to wealthy merchant princes and indigent mountebanks alike, a certain number of innocent citizens (to the degree Sarvos *has* any innocent citizens) and more than a few rats and wild dogs. Oh and coincidentally the tomb of the Empress Giselle, the mortar on which barely had time to get dry. *** Assuming the entire League camp doesn't catch fire and fall into a swamp. I mean who would benefit from that ... except perhaps the concerned citizens of Meade, Siroc, Cargo and Hedra. Oh, I am a *scamp* (Hannah Earnshawe made the flier, which I have ruthlessly stolen. You can learn a little more about Caricomare on the wiki, here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sarvos. Forgive the scaffolding, it'll be coming down *any day now*) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-07T23:04:57+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/650920601670590 Ah! The Senate! A candid snap of Leighton Nilus and John of Meade relaxing after a particularly strenuous Senate Session! There's been a few long nights since the Summer Solstice, which John has spent compiling a useful little booklet that he calles "A speaker's guide to the Senate". It collects all the useful documents together in one place, and should be reasonable printer friendly. You can find it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/A_Speaker's_guide_to_the_Senate) While several of the documents are of most interest to those who are involved in the Senate directly a few pages in particular are worth calling out. I'm sure many citizens will find something to intrigue them in a discussion of various commissions (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Commission) - especially sinecures (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sinecure), ministries (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Ministry) and great works (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Great_work). Never before has so much information about what they are, how they work and - crucially - what they cost to construct been gathered together in one place! The new costs are based on awesome new protocols implemented by the civil service which use standardization on an Imperial scale to drive down costs - but result in uniform costings everywhere. That's not to say that occasional opportunities (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Opportunities) can't arise that offer cheaper or otherwise intriguing alternatives - but the permission of the Senate will almost certainly remain a constant. Remember, citizens of the Empire - you appoint your Senators. They work for you. And who wouldn't like a nice Great Work at the bottom of their drive ... ... oh and you might also want to have a look at this page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Throne) which talks at some lengths about the powers and responsibilities of the Empress or Emperor ... after all, it's good to be prepared. #Othersideofthehedge, #johnofmeadepoliticalpundit, #theresalsoanEphisispageIamquiteproudof SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-09-06T23:02:32+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/650314021731248 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-08-29T14:30:53+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/645534975542486 Don't forget that midnight tonight is the deadline for early booking for the event and for downtime submissions! You can still pay by bank transfer even on the last day, provided that you send payment by the deadline. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-08-15T22:34:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/639370809492236 We're now back from a very successful ODC and preparing for the last Empire of the year! The server is now open again for bookings and also for downtime submissions. The deadline is midnight Friday on the 29th August. Please make sure you have your downtime submitted by then. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-08-07T20:15:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/635571943205456 If you're at the Nine Worlds Geekfest 2014 over the weekend why not pop along to the PD stand at the Pop Up Market 3-5pm Sat and Sun. Mark Wilkin and Sarah Cook will talking to people about Empire and Odyssey at our stand and we'd love it if you could pop by to say hello. Also Sarah is running a LARP on Friday called Amnesia: A Supernatural Mystery 1:30-3:30pm in Room 42 which you should totally sign up to. See you there :). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-24T09:56:47+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/628698220559495 Hi folks, we're all on site now, but we're still beavering away frantically with preparations for the event. As part of that we've just uploaded several pages to the wiki which overhaul the section on the Senate, their processes and powers. Most of that update is about updating the presentation of the information, clarifying the text and hopefully making it easier for players to find and access the information they want. However we've also made some changes to this part of the game, notably eliminating procedural motions and extending the powers of the Throne with respect to the Synod. We've added an extensive section on the OOC design notes for the Senate and included more about the changes and why we've made them. We apologize for making this update so close to the event, unfortunately events over took us slightly as rumours swirl around the game that we might soon have candidates for The Throne making it essential to finalize any changes before this event. The process is not quite complete yet. The final stage is to overhaul and improve all the information provided for the costings needed to create things like sinecures, ministries and great works, to bring them into line with the level of detail for making armies and fortifications. We will aim to update these pages after the event when we have the time to ensure the presentation of the numbers is as clear as we can possibly make it. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Senate We look forward to seeing many as many of you as possible this weekend when it will be sunny and dry! *edit* We've updated the wiki changes pages with what I *think* is a complete list of the actual changes. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates#Senate_Pages_Overhauled SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-22T17:29:12+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/627901187305865 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-21T23:26:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/627588960670421 OUT OF THE EAST, OUT OF THE WEST What rough beasts are these, slouching towards Anvil? On the edge of Old Anduz, a band of barbarians wait watching the sun rise. Under a burnt orange banner they come, hands empty - weapons sheathed, shields stowed at their backs. They stop out of bowshot of the armies, insolently waiting. A captain of the host walks out, meets them. Discussions are swift and terse. They present letters - invitations to a parley. Invitations to Anvil, in the name of the Generals in Segura and a Senator of the Empire. The captain, at first, is incredulous but the orcs are adamant. They are invited to Anvil. They demand free passage, or an escort, to the place of parley. They demand the offered opportunity to hear what the Empire has to say to them, these dusty brigands out of the Lasambrian hills. The captain consents, quickly details a band three times the number of orcs to serve as escort. Calls for paper and ink, begins to draft messages to be sent ahead, warning the watchtowers and the garrisons along the route to Anvil. The small band of orcs ignore the Dawnish soldiers, for the most part. They begin the week-long trek toward the heart of the Empire, east through the brightening dawn. They are like a stone cast into a still pool. The rumour of their coming swirls around the marketplace of Anvil as the great and wise of the Empire begin to gather. If the orcs from the west, walking into the sunrise, cause a stir imagine the clamour caused by the orcs from the east ... On sunset, two days before the Solstice, a tiny band of orcs cross the border from the forlorn plains of Gray Charge in Reikos, crossing into Casinea, into Marehom. They make no attempt to conceal their presence, and are marked immediately by the scouts of the Seventh Wave. They set a small camp, in plain sight, in the middle of an open field. After an hour or so, one begins to drum quietly in the gathering dusk. As night falls, they light torches, set in a wide circle sixteen yards across, and return to their campfire. The scouts are cautious. They have encountered Druj trickery before. Yet there are no trees here to hide ambushers, nothing for a mile around save the Summer-dry plains of Casinea and a handful of orcs. This is not an army, nor a band of raiders come in force. They seem to be waiting. The scouts receive their orders, approach carefully through the gloom, arrows ready. The Druj barely stir, nor cease their drumming. A flag of truce hangs in their little camp, alongside a Druj banner. "We come in peace," says their leader, offering one of the scouts a bowl of hot vegetable stew. "We come in peace," he repeats, as something that might be a smile disfigures his face. "We wish to speak to your Senate ..." ---------------------------------------------------- Two groups of orcs, one from the arid hills of the south-east and one from out of the darkest west. One claiming invitiation of Generals and Senators, one come under a flag of truce. Perhaps the captains and scouts should have struck them down where they stood ... but such decisions are beyond the remit of captains and scouts. So now there may be barbarians in Anvil ... at least for a little time. Both delegations are small - less than half a dozen orcs in each. Both claim to wish to parley with the Empire. Neither will discuss their business with captanins, or with scouts; not until they reach the heart of the Empire, reach Anvil. Both have escorts of Imperial troops, who will send messengers ahead to warn Anvil in advance of their approach. It is likely that these orcs will want to speak to Senators and Generals ... but those worthies serve at the sufferance of their people, and there are likely to be many people in Anvil who have an opinion about what it means to treat with barbarians ... As an aside, the magistrates wish to remind the citizens of the Empire that both the orcs of the dry hills and the orcs of the west are barbarians. A barbarian is someone with whom the Empire is at war - and it is at war with Lasambrian and Druj alike. They have no protection under the law, but may be the subject of it. The magistrates will be available to clarify any uncertainty this may cause - and the Senate may of course issue a specific ruling on the matter of these barbarian ''diplomats.'' You can find out more about the Druj here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Druj). Not very much is actually known about the Lasambrian orcs, save that they come from the dry hills above Segura and Liathaven and that prior to 363YE they were little more than scattered tribes of bandits preying on border settlements and trade caravans passing between the Empire and Faraden or the Iron Confederacy. This might be an opportunity to find out more ... or it might not ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-21T12:27:25+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/627376010691716 I know you've seen this before, but I've just finished copying the Winds of War updates to the main wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/378YE_Summer_Solstice_winds_of_war). As far as we know they are all correct now - two fortresses in Karsk, the Thule are coming from the correct place and so on. I've also added a quick(ish) summary at the top so you can just skim that if you're the kind of person who wants to learn details in play ... or click the link that should take you to the appropriate campaign report. We've got a few more non-warfare event cards to play (I say non-war ... conflict builds character as we all know). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-21T01:26:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/627324460696871 ACROSS A WINE DARK OCEAN The sky is pomegranate red. The sun hangs for a moment on the horizon. A many-benched ship hastens across the wine dark sea out of the west, running before the gnashing teeth of a Summer storm, sails fattened by the hot breath of the God of the Lower Air. In a cabin of smooth weirwood, a tanned figure, unused to the northern chill, pulls an indigo wool mantle over a pale tunic, edged in azure dolphins. Across the fixed table, are strewn papers and letters and reports, some held down with lumps of bone-white coral, one with a ceramic bowl still half-full of yellow wine. At the bottom of the cup the curling arms of a golden octopus can be seen, rippled and distorted by the movement of the liquid. There is a knock at the door. A bare chested sailor, respectful, waits for the command to enter. "We shall call first at the embassy," says the ambassador. "We shall see if what they have built for us is appropriate for an emissary of the Plenum. We will need to arrange passage to their Senate. The ship will remain at Sarvos. Maintain readiness. You may have to set sail quickly." The captain presses hand over heart; before the door is fully closed, barked orders are tautening lines and furling sails, and a thudding drumbeat begins to reverberate through the hull. The ambassador picks up the bowl of pale wine, sips it, makes a face, puts the bowl back down again. Restless hands select first one document then another, but it is difficult to focus. On the far side of the cabin, on a blue cloth thrown over a sea-trunk, stands a dark wood statue of the triple-faced God of emissaries, spies and gamblers. The ambassador whispers a three-fold prayer. For good fortune, for a clear voice, for a receptive audience. Then chuckles wryly; shrugs, feels perhaps a little foolish; turns full attention to the diplomat's work as the vessel gathers speed, entering the Bay of Catazaar for the first time. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Asaveans are coming! Following the completion of an embassy building in Sarvos, the government of the Asavaean Archipelago - the Plenum - has sent an ambassador (and a small staff) to the Empire. They have requested a formal audience in the Senate at Anvil. The civil service have dusted off books and scrolls of protocol, and stand ready to brief the trade envoy and the Senators on what a ''formal audience'' is likely to entail. The magistrates remind the people that citizens of the Asavean Archipelago are foreigners, protected by and expected to honour all the laws of the Empire. Yet can an emissary of a nation built on slaves that worships heathen gods and spirits really be considered law abiding? Still, a formal ambassador is no trivial matter - they come with the weight of a nation behind them that, in it's time, claimed to rule half the known world. The Asavean star may be in decline, but this ambassador represents a grand nation almost the equal of the Empire itself. The opportunity exists for decisions to be made that may shape the relations between two world powers for years to come, The Asavean Ambassador is expected to arrive some time on Saturday, probably in the afternoon. You can learn more about the Asavean Archipelago as the Empire knows it here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Asavean_Archipelago). It is possibly worth taking especial note of the language section (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Asavean_Archipelago#Languages). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-19T13:33:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/626553404107310 Don't forget that tomorrow is the deadline for late booking for the next event. You need to make sure you send payment before midnight if you haven't done so already, to avoid paying the gate price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-07-08T16:44:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/621207017975282 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-06-30T09:33:42+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/616453705117280 Last call for downtime submissions for the last event - make sure you have your downtime submitted by midnight tonight please! It's also the deadline for early booking for the next event - from tomorrow the late booking price will apply. You can still pay by bank transfer or standing order, even on the deadline - you just have to *send* payment before the deadline (we allow several days for it to reach us). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-06-27T19:24:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/615116078584376 Don't forget that the early booking deadline and the downtime deadline are fast approaching (midnight on the 30th). Please note that there will be no admin or IT support tomorrow as I am off to the Marcher player event to have fun! Normal service will resume from Sunday afternoon onwards. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-30T19:40:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/601166239979360 It's been dry since this morning and the forecast is that it should stay that way. Most of the tents are dry now, so we're all set for the weekend! Hope to see you all there. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-30T10:10:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/600971773332140 There are a fair few tents belonging to players in the main field (and what looks like a sandy beige 4m bell tent in the OOC field). These tents will need to come down soon, as we need to roll the field to help it recover. If your tent is up, you should think about coming to take it down on Sunday - as that will be the warmest dryest day - otherwise we might just run a roller over it... :) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-29T14:54:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/600608633368454 Ever been to a take down party? It's wild. There is sex, drugs, rock and roll. And tents. Actually of the four... there is a lot more tents, than sex, drugs or rock and roll. In fact... usually there is no sex, drugs or rock and roll. But there are ALWAYS lots of tents. You can take that to the bank. It's too crazy for libertines. This weekend is take-down party! The site is drying out, the tents are drying out, heck even I am drying out. The Met Office have sacrificed six virgin chickens to ensure good weather. Nothing can stop us now. Ever wanted to learn how to take down a three pole marquee? Of course you have - that's the sort of skill that could land you a top job in the city. We're running a training course and it's completely free - we even provide the marquees! Course includes four slices of pizza and a free bar - if anyone can figure out how to make those funny tap things that beer comes out of work. Advanced courses for those already familiar with tents include rolling up cables, counting things into boxes and the ultimate... picking up shit and putting it in a skip. So why not join Profound Decisions this weekend - for an event that is guaranteed to have absolutely no roleplaying in it at all. There's no xp available - and best of all - it all happens live in the field - guaranteed no downtime element of any kind. The Grand PD Take-down Party Location: Tournament Stud Start: This Saturday morning Finish: When we're done/Sunday evening Open to: Everyone! This weekend we're going to take tents down like it's 1999. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-28T15:42:34+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/600145343414783 Just to let folks know, we're still in the field for the next few days, so anyone emailing will have to be patient. I'm hoping to be back in the office for the weekend, but we haven't got a single tent down yet so that target is currently best described as "optimistic". We'll get back and get the servers back up as soon as we can. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-27T09:23:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/599457176816933 Hi everyone, we're trying to track down Dan Woodman, who plays Darius in the Emerald Order as he hasn't returned home. If anyone knows Dan or knows where he is, can they let me know please. I would be grateful if someone could share this message to the Dawn FB group - thanks. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-21T21:34:06+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/596628707099780 THE STARS ARE RIGHT "April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain." Winter is done, and now the rains come. The Wanderer slips behind the heavy clouds, occluded for much of the last six weeks. Between the mountain and the phoenix, eleven bright stars are thrown into stark relief. Above the tail of the stork, five stars fade a little. A conjunction begins. Grim omens haunt the sky-watchers and students of the heavens. A master of astronomancy watches, aghast, as cracks scurry across the great curved lens of her celestial occulus. As it shatters into a hundred pieces, she hurries toward the heliopticon tower, clutching her robes around her as thunder rolls across an empty sky. The Drowned Man will be ascendant during the coming summit; it forms a transient conjunction with the Claw, which is descending. But what does that mean? The influence of a constellation is difficult to explain or measure. Do events in the mortal world cause the stars to fluctuate and change? Or does the motion of the stars and the celestial dance influence events in the mortal world? Is there even a difference? Events will tend to turn toward the rule the conjunction represents. The Sentinel Gate will tend to open more readily to certain places; certain forms of hearth and ritual magic may come easier, or be more powerful. In the shadow of the Drowned Man, say the sky watchers, things will tend to end poorly. Natural energies will run out of control or fail unexpectedly. It will rain. =-=-=-=- The influence of astronomancy is normally weak but pervasive – in this case, however, the conjunction of the Drowned Man ascendant and the Claw in decline will have a more measurable effect. Certain rituals are likely to be more powerful - specifically the curses known in the Empire as Thunderous Deluge, River's Run Red, Winter's Ghosts, and Withering Touch of Frost will all have increased effectiveness if performed during the coming summit. It is impossible to predict how powerful this effect will be with any certainty. Many players will not even notice there is a conjunction taking place. Others may choose to view this as an opportunity to focus some of their role-playing around embracing or overcoming misfortune, dread and abrupt endings. Some characters will experience dreams in which they are drowning, or being crushed; their nightmares will often include crushing pressure and darkness, and include elements of being unable to breathe or see. Tuplas of the Drowned Man such as Megas Vodyano or cold, beautiful Rusalka may haunt the sleep of sensitive individuals. Some characters will waken tired and drained, as if they have not slept (unless, of course, they have the vitality of the Briar to draw upon). The decision about whether to include these role-playing elements is in the hands of the players. It also means that characters are a little more likely to encounter themes relating to drowning, ending and misfortune during the event and that there may be incidents where natural creatures or plants act strangely. There may also be some plots that reference or include the IC fact that the Drowned Man and the Claw are in a mismatched conjunction. You can find out more about the Drowned Man here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Drowned_Man). You might also amuse yourself by watching this short YouTube clip which nobody who wasn't born in the 70s will entirely appreciate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6IVUvVsAs) ... but it serves as a timely reminder of what the drowned man is all about. The image, by the way, is a production still from Fallen Soldiers, (http://fallensoldiers.savagemedia.co.uk/ ); you may recognise the top of the head. #othersideofthehedge, #itmightnotrain, #watchtheskies SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-21T16:19:37+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/596529140443070 There is an update on the wiki with the new page for the Field Marshal (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Field_Marshal), the position the Military Council elect to take command for each battle. Obviously there are some changes here, mostly in terms of what has played out in the field weighed against what was on the wiki, I thought I’d try and talk through some of the thinking that underlies that clarification. The first point is a mea culpea that the wiki was so ambiguous in the first place. The previous text for the “field commander” was no more than a few lines, it implied being in command, but didn’t specify any legal support for that. When you looked elsewhere on the wiki, there was chunks of writing that flatly contradicted a legal obligation to follow a chain-of-command; the notes on the Constitution about how an army must be led by one of their own nation and the complete absence of any laws regarding the issue. The simple truth is that it was so vague because when it was written, no-one was quite sure how it would work. Obviously nature abhors a vacuum and each individual player – and NPC filled in their own explanation to fill the gaps. That would be fine if all the details filled out matched. The Military Council mostly made the perfectly reasonable assumption that the position had the power of command – that the commander could simply give out orders and that had to be followed. Other players took the equally valid interpretation that the absence of any laws saying they had to follow orders, meant they didn’t have to. In short it was a pretty dire mess, and frustratingly it was pretty clear that whatever ruling ended up being applied, it was going to upset half the players involved. Obviously it’s frustrating for the players to deal with something like this – where PD has to step in and make a ruling one way or the other – but it’s important to stress that it’s not something we like doing either. Fixing a mistake like this is a clear admission of failure, it’s something we didn’t notice was broken when we wrote the game. If we could have left it alone we would have done, but when half the players believe one thing and half the players believe another, that’s just not an option. We have to grasp the nettle, own up to the mistake, make a ruling… and disappoint someone. To make the decision we want back to the basic design template for the game. Doing that it’s very clear that the game is predicated on the notion that “heroes” don’t get given orders. If you look at the powers of The Throne – the thing you notice about the section where they get to tell people what to do – is that it isn’t there… An Empress is powerful – very powerful, but she can’t just order people around. The game design starts from the premise that a game where the powerful are first among equals is a lot more enjoyable for all parties than one where any individual can order other characters around. The problems that come in a PvP political game when characters are able to order other characters around are significant. If I order you to charge the orc line by yourself do you legally have to do it? If I stand by the Sentinel Gate and order you to hand over all your potions and magic items do you have to do it? If you’re a non-combatant… can I order you through the Sentinel Gate to fight? Many of our players would assume that the answer to at least some of these question was “no”. The question becomes how we turn that element of “reasonable judgement” into something that forms a part of the game. The legal system is really not well set up for handling this kind of judgement. The NPCs try to work to a simple set of laws, and decide whether a character broke them or not. There is a flexible element to the sentencing – based on pleas of virtue from the priest. But that is a far cry from an individual NPC having to judge on whether one PC’s order to another was reasonable. Magistrates being forced to try and make decisions on what was strategically and tactically valid – based on a battle they weren’t at – was not going to end happily for players or organizers. There is a group in the game though who are perfectly suited for making these kind of value judgements – namely other players. Other players don’t have to strive to be politically neutral, they don’t have to try and be fair or impartial, they don’t have to try not to be judgemental. Groups like the Synod have powers like revocation and excommunication precisely so that they can be judgemental. They can weigh up whether someone’s actions were reasonable or not - and act on that. Hence the latest update. Our expectation is that the Field Marshal appointed by the Military Council will take command on the battlefield. He or she will issue orders to the Imperial generals and from there to the volunteers who take the field. And – just as at the moment – some characters will choose to disobey those orders or ignore them. The fact that the Field Marshal can’t have them legally prosecuted for that – doesn’t diminish the fact that he can have them excoriated for it. Being unvirtuous isn’t a crime – but the Synod can still punish you for it. Using magic on someone isn’t a crime – but you can still be declared a sorcerer. The Field Marshal doesn’t have the legal system to throw against a citizen who disobeys them, but they are far from powerless. The Field Marshal is selected by the Military council, a slight against them is a slight against the Council. Individuals, groups, or nations that disdain the Military Council and their attempt to fight the Empire’s battles are taking enormous risks. No nation can survive for long against the barbarian threat without the Military Council to protect it – we would expect a nation that becomes a pariah in the view of the Council to suffer accordingly – and ultimately to get wiped out if they continue down that line. But how far and how fast down that line the players go – is down to the players. The IC explanation for the clarification is that the magistrates have consulted their records and their laws, following the time of crisis and discovered that while it is traditional for individuals to follow the orders of their generals and the generals of their field commanders, there is no legal requirement to do so. So IC, a civil servant did it – OOC, obviously this is a mistake by PD – we simply didn’t get the setting perfect on the first pass and this is one of the mistakes we’ve had to clean up as player actions have brought it to light. Our hope is that less will change in play than might be feared. Those nations that want to follow the sensible orders of their generals will continue to do so – and they will win the support and backing of the Military Council they support in turn. Those nations that want to cut a more independent path will continue to do so – and ultimately they will suffer as a result of those IC actions – in proportion to how those actions are judged. OOC we want players to have raging arguments about whether orders were reasonable, whether a field commander was a fool or a legion were disloyal. We want the Synod to denounce, revoke and excommunicate those whose actions harm the Empire. We just don’t want our NPCs acting as judge and juror for those deliberations – we want the players to do that! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-20T22:39:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/596196377143013 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-19T22:15:38+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/595772513852066 WAR ON THE WESTERN FRONT SPRING, 378YE Turn away now, from the spilled blood and the pyres of the eastern front. Trace the Hounds of Glory, arcing across the Empire like an arrow of fire, like a falling star, like a comet. The Three Sisters gaze down from the clear skies of Winter. In the Brass Coast they are called Erigo, Riqueze, Guerra – the three sisters who founded the nation of fire, sand and glass. The three sisters from whom all Freeborn descend. Do they whisper to the army that drives across the Empire? Do they whisper of ties of blood and the pain of regret? Ties of blood ... and of duty, binding soldier to soldier to soldier ... Alongside the Dawnish knights and war-witches march the heroes of the Empire. A sea of shields and swords; axes and banners; a forest of pikes and spears; a maelstrom of livery and heraldry, of spire sigil and chapterhouse marks. Bound together by a common cause – the defence of the Brass Coast. They are the hammer of the Empire. The army marches with the dawn and with the wind behind them. Necropolis to Sarvos to Madruga and then, as the Three Sisters drop beneath the horizon, a final mad push across the capricious Scorrero to Segura. The Red Wind Corsairs hold beleaguered Anozel against the bandits of the western hills, hold it against the coming of their allies. A cunning ruse has tricked the Lasombrian armies into caution – they believe there is another army in Segura. How right they are. The hammer of the Empire strikes against them, smashes them from the walls of Anozel, drives them back. Their camps in the Sorbal Grasses are burnt; the sweep of the campaign drives them from Anozoseri; the Imperials joined by freedom fighters out of the hills of Morajasse. Farm after farm reclaimed. In central Segura, the Lasambrians try a desperate retreat across the Iron Plains – the barbarians are in disarray but not defeated quite yet. The first engagements on those wide, windswept plains have gone to the Empire … but can they maintain their momentum? In the far north, at the edge of the world, the victory of Segura is echoed. The Summer Storm strikes in Hercynia, rampaging down from the hills of Skarsind to catch the orcs in the Glade of Shadows unpreapred. Treji is liberated! The orcs are scattered. They are no match for the Imperial orcs, arrayed in their finery, supported by the Navarr of Northpines and Old Ranging and Summersend. Treji is near to ruins; but many prisoners are released, returned to the bosoms of their stridings and their steadings, freed from enforced servitude to the Thule, no longer forced to make weapons and armour for their hated foes. Their commander escapes – Harak the Red and his surviving children are not among the fallen. They will surely seek vengeance – against the Navarr and the Imperial orcs – but for now they present no further threat to the Empire. Yet all is not well, here in the west. In Liathaven an army moves cautiously beneath the trees. Not all the Lasambrian forces are committed to Segura. The hillborn-barbarians work their way northward through the trees of Beacon Point, sending scouts into Western Scout. Reports are sketchy at best – the orcs burn steadings, slaughter stridings, steal everything that is not tied down, and the Navarr here are isolated from the Empire. In a land already oppressed by vallorn, sickness and Jotun. The Lasambrians seem unopposed. And what of the Jotun? The treaty still holds, but the folk of the Greensward are slowly being ground down by raiding barbarians. No more refugees are coming from the Mourn – the last stragglers report the campaign of capture is complete. Whatever the Jotun are up to in Mournwold it has entered a new phase. And yet the treaty still holds, and while it does the guttering candle of civilisation continues to burn in the Mourn ... but the winds off the downs are cold, and fierce, and much can happen in a year ... ----------- Second part - so much going on I needed to split it into two parts - so much awesome (also:GLORY!). I missed several things I know but after a certain point even I have to hold my hands up and say "enough words already! Go to bed! The generals as always will get more detailed reports. See you in a field soon - let's see if you can find some more awesome (also:GLORY!) for the second event. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-19T20:03:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/595726460523338 WAR ON THE EASTERN FRONT SPRING, 378YE As 378YE begins, as the sap begins to surge in the woodlands and the waters thaw, the standard of battle is raised against the eastern sky. In Karsk, the Thule fall back, driven from the hills towards the dawn. Despite the aid of dark forces, the barbarians are overmatched. Engagement after engagement ends in decisive victory for the Empire - Kpevnost, Moresvah and Nitrost are now under their control. The Thule leave their erstwhile allies, the traitors of Isember, to face the anger of the Empire. Yet there is trouble in store – despite the aid of the grateful miners of Moresvah, the imperial armies are battered - the fervour of their attack coupled with the magical might of their foes has meant many casualties. Carrion birds, scavenging rats and hungry Wolves feast well on the battlefields of Karsk. Let the inner eye glide south, towards Holberg. Two walls united under the Empire again, yet the forces of humanity are fought to a standstill. A vast Druj army fights beneath the banner of the Scorpion's Sting, terrible in their wrath and versed in the arts of siege and sabotage. The Imperial tide crashes against the fortifications of Rebeshof, but is driven back time and again. The orcs are on the defensive, clinging to their control of the Mines at Ennerlund with grim resolve. The forces use the forests and the marshes to their best advantage, flanking Imperial assaults and using their command of the terrain to harry and slow the Imperial advance. Yet so great is the fervour of the fallen soldiers of the Empire that they will not let death stop them fighting. On the last night of the Winter Solstice, a great wind roared down from the empty sky, a wailing surge pouring through the streets of Holberg and surging out across the battlefields of Holfried. The dead walk, pulling themselves from spikes, clawing their way from their graces. An army of walking corpses – human and orc alike – shambling forth to join the fray beneath the banner of the Winter Sun orcs. Without their aid, the Imperial forces would surely have been decimated ... as it is, Holberg is stalemated. The Barrens – something is happening in the Barrens. The watchers of Drycastle and the Towers of the Dawn speak of orcs fighting each other – pitched battles, a bloody slaughter. Armies turning against each other. As Winter turns to Spring, there are stories of whole tribes of orcs crossing the border from Brocéliande to the east – avoiding patrols. Deserting their hideaways beneath the green trees to heed some call from deep within the Barrens. The keen-eyed Navarr and the courageous scouts of Dawn speak of Druj banners, burning, burning in the rising sun ... Away from the mystery of the Barrens! Fly south, further south. To Therunin. The Black Thorns face two armies of Druj, fighting across the border from Reikos. Courageous, but outnumber by a force twice their size, they use the forest against their foe. The invaders pay for each inch of Navarri soil they claim with blood, but the defenders are slowly driven back, step by step. Nearly a thousand Navarr lay down their lives to hold their home against the barbarians. A great force of ten thousand orcs is closing in on Peakedge Stand ... a peaceful settlement, a haven for refugess ... sure to be a slaughterhouse if the Druj are not held back. Five fires on the eastern front, the last down by the bay. In Spiral, Highborn courage and Navarri cunning meet cold barbarian fury. Nearly matched, the orcs have the advantage – but they are denied their prize. The Imperial forces turn the tide of barbarians seeking to conquer the Ossuary – and claim the bounty mithril mined from the Legacy for their own. The Granite Pillar and the Quiet Step buy time as well – work has begun again on the Fist. The stone-crafters guild of Ateri works feverishly on the great fortress of Mezudan; will their work be completed in time? Or will they simply attract the ire of the barbarians. Fragmented reports from Spiral whisper of confusion – the orcs here do not fight beneath any known banner of the Druj. Something is amiss. There then the Eastern front in the war against the barbarians. Dark clouds gather, but the sun still shines bright and cold as the Spring gathers momentum. ---- There is more to come ... I'm having a whale of a time looking at the outcomes of actual player actions here. Picture is from the portfolio of the multi-talented Charlie Moss (http://www.charlottemoss.co.uk/#!/index/G0000KTiYgUmhbcA/12). I picked it because it captured that feeling of fighting hard, while leaving the viewer to make up their own mind if they are winning or losing ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-19T16:26:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/595658473863470 THE WELCOMING With the changing of the Seasons, let all the peoples of Anvil come and Celebrate with the Navarr! This is the birth of a new Spring. This is a time for celebration. Let there be revelry, feasting, raucous music and wild dancing. Let this also be a time for new beginnings. Let old grudges and past failures be laid aside. As the sun declines towards the horizon, the people of Navarr will travel the pathways of Anvil in celebration of the New Year. There will be feats of skill and merriment, displays of prowess and laughter. Come join with us, and raise your voices in songs of joy. When the evening gathers, we will begin the Hunt, where our Vates don the aspects of the beasts, and the Hunters strive to be proclaimed Master of the Hunt. When the sun sinks touches the horizon, challenges of mind and spirit will prepare the young and old for the challenges of the new year. As the sun sets over Anvil, come join us all in our camp. Join us in dance. Join us in song. Join us in food and in drink. Join us as we welcome the New Year and the new potential it represents. ---------------------------------- The Navarr of Striding and Steading invite the people of Anvil to join them in their celebration of new life and new beginning. The festivities begin on Saturday evening and continue until they finish ... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-16T09:34:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/594094720686512 Don't forget that midnight tonight is the final deadline for pre-booking the event at the late booking price. Tomorrow the price increases to the gate booking price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-14T21:35:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/593411847421466 I blame Graeme Jamieson. You'll see why later. It's been a while. How time flies. Genuinely. It's like a week before the next event, all of a sudden. The gap between E1 and E2 has been way to short and I am panicking just a little bit. I was going to talk about E1 a little but instead I've decided to say "good game, well played" and move on. This update is mostly about campaign battles. Last night we processed the downtime campaign, and while it was a bit of hassle (someone, naming no names*, had lost all their notes from before E1 so the first hour was spent trying to recreate that information from someone elses much better maintained notes**) compared to the incredible torment that was processing Maelstrom battles it was a breezy walk in the park followed by a nice dinner and a night of vigorous and satisfying love-making. Seriously. I cannot stress enough how much easier this shit is when you're not tracking [i]every single man at arms and what type of shoes he has on[/i]. People who complain about the downtime focus of Empire do not know they are born. At event one we had two-and-a-half "theatres of war" plus some outliers. This event has a very different feel - the generals are making use of the tactical orders although if there's a downside it's that they appear to have focused more on getting the hang of the orders and less on the narrative of what their orders are IC. I don't doubt that we'll be seeing more "invade Grozny!" and "fight of evil with the power of soap while digging trenches under the walls of Isengard" style stuff next event. I still have a bit of a mental block - I still keep thinking in terms of "battles" rather than "campaigns" - it's easy to forget that what we're trying to simulate here is the broad sweep of military campaigns. It's Sharpe or Wellington in Spain, not Gimli at Helm's Deep. I'm planning a proper write-up IC of the "State of the Empire's Campaigns" in the next couple of days, unless the boss gets there first. The last one went over well. Unlike the battle reports for Maelstrom which were a twelve person job mostly done by the one person who could bear the horror and took weeks, this one-fat-man job takes an hour, maybe ninety minutes if I really go overboard with the adjectives. "Is the Empire winning?" I hear you ask. "Yes, except where it isn't." I reply enigmatically. And giggle. What it [i]is[/i] doing is suggesting all sorts of cool stuff that people can roleplay around, with real effects on the game, and with plenty of potential for plot. I still remain in awe of what the battle team manage to do with the barely coherent "battle plans" we put together and then brief them on poorly at the last minute. Aaaaanyway. Given the entire process of sorting the battle took three hours this event, down from three separate meetings of three hours last event, I'm hoping that by next event (especially with the longer gap between events) it will be a) quicker still and b) done more than a week before the event. We shall see. Having downtime open early and close early is a bit like my holy grail but I doubt we'll ever see it as early as I'd like. That was Tuesday. Tonight's meeting revolved around a particular elephant with tiny stars glued all over it and a pointy hat with "wizzard" written on it. We've known for a while that the "Warfare" rituals were borked, we just weren't sure what to do about it. Mostly the problem lies in that they were written before we had a downtime campaign properly worked out and for some reason we tried to do it without mentioning any numbers***. The recent excitement with Bound By Common Cause, which I believe the Boss has touched on, solidified our concerns and made it clear we couldn't wait until Winter to sort things out. Luckily, someone (Hint: It wasn't the boss or me) had a good grasp of how to pitch the changes and now I'm a lot happier where we are. One of the things we wanted to do was make the high-end Campaign Army enchantments feel distinct while still maintaining utility. We also wanted to try and make which rituals are cast on who a strategic choice that reflected what the players involved were trying to achieve. * Knights of Glory gets a solid buff and I think is a great one for those moments where you need power at a point. * Quickening Cold Meat changes only a little bit but I think the change is interesting and it is more suited to a situation where an army expects to be in theater for an extended period - and where none of the neighbours start waving pitchforks about the way their beloved family members are shambling around giggling and eating people; * Clarity of the Master Strategist has had a buff that makes it a solid choice rather than the poor man, and it's the only one you can technically just pour power into until you run out of Day magicians; * Thunderous Tread of the Trees is more reliable in terms of what it will do - previously it just exploded pretty quickly and was very underwhelming; now it has the potential for clever and durable use. * Bound By Common Cause ... is kind of doing the same but not quite. The real advantage to BBCC from my point of view is the way it provides a specific army that people can go "support this army! It's great!" while pointing at it. I'm surprised where we ended up, but it fulfils my main two criteria. It's now comparable to other imperial army enchantments rather than off the freaking scale; and it still rewards people for encouraging lots of folk to support the campaign army it is performed on. Tomorrow we're going back to try and finish Frozen Citadel, Dripping Fen and Wooden Fastness. These three actually turned out much harder to work out than the others, to my surprise, but I should have seen it coming. Between writing these three effects and E3 last year how we thought fortifications, regions and indeed campaign battles worked changed entirely. We bodged a quick fix onto them but it wasn't satisfying and in many cases made little sense. We had nearly an hour arguing (about the same time as it took us to do three of the other rituals from start to finish) about whether we wanted people to cast three Frozen Citadels on the same territory or not. then decided we'd probably better call it a night. I'll let you know how it turns out later. The precise changes will all be implemented by Sunday and the wiki updated. Normally we'd leave it to Winter to make a big change like this but we have to look at how these rituals change before E2 because people will want to cast them. Oh I have no idea what the "IC explanation" will be. I'm currently favouring "a comet has changed the laws of magic" or "the ritual descriptions were written by someone who had never seen them cast based on hear-say from a roman bestiary writer." Mostly because my original explanation "A Scotsman did it and then ran away" is apparently racist. #newsfromtheothersideofthehedge, #seriouslynoemailsplease, #itllallcomeoutinthewashaskingjohnsaid PS) Please don't send angry e-mails to the boss based on what I have spoilered here, there's no point and it will just distract him from doing important stuff like sorting senate motions, programming the rest of RefNet and organising toilets. PPS) Oh and I totally caught up with my Eternals job. Apart from bloody Ephisis. Damn her eyes. Assuming she has any. PPPS) Photograph was grabbed from random internet search from this site: http://m100group.com/2014/01/10/the-decay-of-the-profession-of-arms-by-maj-matthew-cavanaugh/war-council/ I know it's lazy, but it is quite late and I am quite tired. (EDIT) Apparently it is a still from "Once Upon A Time" I am informed. * It was totally the Boss. ** Graeme. My notes are in crayon and say things like "Find excuse to kill Tim Baker!" and "Battle Opportunity Idea: Thule dispatch winged monkeys to kidnap all the Urizen generals and hold them hostage atop the tallest tree in the forest." *** Hint: the man writing them had no idea what any of the numbers were, and nor did anyone else. Wheeee! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-09T18:40:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/590984364330881 Items of worth are the Imperial Orcs’ connection to their history. Stories of the armour worn by great heroes are often worth more than the life of the warrior who wore it; the notches on a blade tell tales of freedom won in battle, or the tragic last stand of Imperials overwhelmed by barbarian hordes. Scraps of leather torn from barbarian warskirts and woven into Imperial banners sing the glory of the Empire’s armies; while bones of long dead kin remind the Imperial Orcs of their past and their burning desire to overcome their barbararic past. This spring, the Imperial Orcs will bring together items of worth from their people. Tales will be told around the fire, songs sung and drinks shared. Beware however; as the past collides with the present spirits will run high as the ancestors scream in the ears of those gathered. Competitions of arms will take place to honour the history of the relics of the Orcs, overseen by shamans who hear the spirits louder than any other. When the sun sets on the third day of the festival, all are welcome in the Imperial Orc camp. All nations are invited to bring their own items of worth. Come and aid the orc legions in drowning out the voices of their barbaric ancestors with your songs, tales, plays or rituals that honour the stories of that which you carry. Those that appeal to the honour, pride and history of the Imperial Orcs may be rewarded with items of worth from the legions – a gift not given lightly. More significantly – if your items are deemed worthy, they will be gladly borne into battle against the barbarian hordes, travelling within the legions and earning tales of worth until you are ready to collect them and return them to your own people to continue on their legacy. Bring your items, bring your drinks, tales and importantly – your kin. The Legions of the Imperial Orcs celebrate their past, and look to their future. --------------------- The picture is a lovely piece of work by this fellow -> http://bloodworxsander.deviantart.com/ which you can find here (http://bloodworxsander.deviantart.com/art/Orc-Armour-384374752), selected by Pel Pearcey. Any questions can be aimed at the Imperial Orcs, who have their own facebook group and everything. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-09T08:35:05+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/590752117687439 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-05-09T08:34:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/590752021020782 Don't forget that today is the early booking deadline for the next event. Make sure you send payment by the deadline if you haven't already done so. Midnight is also the downtime deadline. We're packing the packs tomorrow, so downtime will be closed by tomorrow morning! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-30T21:32:25+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/586634311432553 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-30T21:31:37+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/586634021432582 We've just emailed everyone who has ticked to receive Empire emails to let them know that downtime is now open for submissions. It will be open until midnight on the 9th May. This is now also the deadline for the early booking for the next event. We've also talked about some of the improvements that we are aiming for for the rest of this year. We had hoped to rebuilt the old toilet units over winter, but there was too many other things to do this winter so it has had to be postponed - probably for the year. Instead we'll update the existing facilities to make them more presentable and pleasant to use. Other than that our main focus is to try and get yet more crew! We still need more refs and we definitely need more NPCs for the skirmish team but also for talkie roles in Anvil. If you're interested get in touch! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-26T19:42:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/584590914970226 Beautiful photography really helps to illuminate and sell an event as well as providing everyone with some great memories. So we're really lucky to have the services of Charlotte Moss as our head photographer. She has now updated her website http://charlottemoss.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/Profound-Decisions/C0000DellC5QV_b8 and you can buy copies of the photographs or prints direct from her website. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-18T00:14:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/580464458716205 As the Winter Solstice draws closer, the heavens turn slowly towards spring. The Wanderer pauses a moment in his fateful journey; three distant stars grow just a little brighter, down near the horizon. They shift a little, a tiny distance imperceptible to the untrained eye. A conjunction unfolds. The College of Astronomancers of the Lyceum; the House of the Heavens in the high Halls of Knowledge; the starwatchers of Void in snow-dusted Volodmartz all agree. A conjunction of the Three Sisters will coincide with the coming summit. This erratic event occurs perhaps once in thirty years. The last such major conjunction occurred shortly before the death of Empress Giselle, before the final retreat from Holberg. The influence of a constellation is difficult to quantify or explain to anyone – even magicians – who has not made a study of astronomancy. Do the stars move events in the mortal world, or do events in the mortal world cause the stars to move? Each astronomancer thinks they know the answer, but it is impossible to prove either way. What they can agree on is that events will tend to turn towards the fundamental rule presented by the conjunction. The Seninel Gate will tend to open more readily to certain places rather than others; the influence of the stars will be felt a little more strongly on certain forms of hearth and ritual magic. This winter, say the sky wathcers, will be marked by blood-ties and sorrow. =-=-=-=- An astronomantic conjunction of this nature is uncommon, but not rare. The influence of astronomancy is weak, subtle and pervasive – it doesn't present a fundamental change to the game and it won't change the costs to perform spells or rituals for example. Many players might not even notice there is a conjunction taking place. Others may choose to view this as an opportunity to focus some of their role-playing around blood-relationships and family sorrows, or to flavour their spellcasting with themes appropriate to the constellation. What it means is that you are a little more likely to encounter themes relating to family and family ties during the event. There will also be some plots that reference or include the IC fact that the Three Sisters and the Wanderer are in conjunction – some events that happen only during a conjunction of the Three Sisters, for example. You can find out more about the Three Sisters here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Three_Sisters). This will probably be the last foreshadowing facebook post; I look forward to seeing you all in afield tomorrow evening. The image, by the bye, is taken from (http://pat-taylor.com/henry-moore-and-the-three-fates.php) and is just right for the Three Sisters. #othersideofthehedge, #fullofbeansandenthusiasm, #watchtheskies SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-16T14:36:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/579775558785095 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-16T14:36:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/579774095451908 Bling! Bling is beautiful in LRP. If I ever run a futuristic LRP game, I want people to have solid gold rims on their wheels... Having completed the overhaul of the Conclave - and been really pleased with the beautiful archmage staffs that Darren Stocker of Irregular Props created for them - we felt we should pursue the golden rule of bling - you can't have too much of a good thing. So we asked Stephen Lunn now officially the best crown maker in LRP to produce us some phys-reps for the archmage chains. Then - with barely a week to go to the event - we asked Richard Smith of Evenlode to make us six magical belts for the belt of stars. From you Mr Smith we expect the impossible! The belts are intended to reflect their makers as much as their wearers - the Dawnish artisans of Weirwater believe that magic should be glorious and they expect their wearers to be seeking out danger... They may or may not be disappointed, but we hope the archmage players won't be disappointed when they get their belts at the next event. They won't fit with every costume - of course not - but that is partially deliberate. The items are meant to stand out - and to single out the wearer - "Who is that pimped out wizard?" That's the archmage of bling baby... Hopefully as the game develops we'll be able to do more of this kind of thing - giving players who are wielding or wearing iconic items - suitably iconic looking phys-reps to go with them. When you handle the staff of summer... we want you to know you've got a powerful item in your hands, something with provenance. An item that is loaded with cultural meaning should look a little out of the ordinary. Many thanks to everyone at Evenlode. They are a fantastic company that makes beautiful stuff and we're really lucky to be able to work with them. Jessica Smith did a phenomenal amount of work on the art side when we were creating Empire and both Rich and Jess are great friends. Knowing we can go to people like Rich with a design at such short notice is a fantastic asset that helps make more plot possible as well as making the things we do look so much cooler. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-16T05:30:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/579752578787393 A communication from Grand Ilarch Restes of the Chambers of Issyk, Citadel of the Throne of Night: We extend the hand of welcome to the Empty Throne. At the Winter Solstice we will come among you desiring counsel and greater understanding. We send to you one who speaks with the voice of the Grand Ilarch of the Citadel. We seek friendship and the bounty it brings. We seek trade and the wealth that flows from it. We hope for the freedom to walk among you in peace. We hope for tolerance as we learn your laws and customs. We hope that we will find the open hand of amity and not the raised fist of war. We trust that fate will favour us with concord between your empire and the Nikitis Axou. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A trade delegation from Axos has given advance warning that they intend to visit Anvil during the coming summit. Their crimson-sailed ship is docked at Crown Quay in Necropolis. The delegation makes it's way to Anvil over-land, under a scarlet flag, bent on parley. They represent one of the great Citadels of Axos – the Chambers of Issyk, known to have trading partners across most of the Known World. They do not speak for all the Axou, but at least one influential ambassador is reportedly traveling with them along with a small cadre of bodyguard and – allegedly – at least one high ranking military officer. The Imperial Magistrates remind the Empire that, unless the Senate rules otherwise, the people of Axos are not barbarians. Their ways may be foreign, but they are extended the full protection of the law and expected in turn to abide by it. It is not illegal to speak or trade with them. It is as much a crime to kill or steal from one as it is to kill or steal from any Imperial citizen. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-15T23:51:34+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/579491548813496 Raff here. We've done some minor tweaking to the section of the wiki that deals with War (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/War), Imperial army movement and the like. It's most relevant to the twenty-or-so people whose characters are Generals (who now get their own title page) or adjutants, but it might be worth taking a look if you ever plan to * be * a general, or if you want to read about the thinking behind the way we built what I laughingly refer to as our “campaign rules.” We haven't changed a huge amount, and what we have changed is summarized here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Military_Council_design#A_Civil_Servant_did_it). None of this is required reading. Except for Liam Spinage (Pavel the Civil Servant) who needs to be word perfect on it by Friday. Good luck, Liam! #othersideofthehedge, #Ijustneed150morehours, #soonbeinafield SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-15T23:07:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/579481342147850 The Iron Raptors have resurfaced at Anvil after several years absence. Despite their lack of formal Imperial backing, this mercenary sodality still manages to maintain a comfortable existance on the margins of the Empire. They specialise in bringing cash-strapped heroes together with rich patrons with problems to solve, taking a percentage of the money offered for serving as middle-men. During the coming summit their current leader Master Aryton Scalmere in Anvil looking to do business. He has boldly staked a claim to a prime spot in the marketplace, opposite the Hub and it is likely he will have a handful of highly dangerous, poorly paid contracts that need fulfilling by people whose thirst for violence and risky activities outstrips their common sense. ---------- We're running a number of plots at the next event through the Iron Raptor enterprise. The Empire setting describes many dangers - raids into barbarian lands, attacks on bandit strongholds and battles with the creatures that lurk in the dark recesses of the Empire. The Raptors will help to bring this aspect of the setting to the fore by giving players - especially new players - a chance to risk life and limb in the dangerous wilds of the Empire. It is a chance for high adventure, for glory and for the more worldly - for some rings and crowns that will help you pay for your way in Anvil. You will be able to find the Raptors in the market place, or possibly in the tavern. The Iron Raptors are effectively mercenaries though they have nothing to do with the battles and wars of the Empire leaving that work to the League Free Companies. The kind of plots accessible through the Raptors are especially designed to appeal to new players who have not yet got involved with the politics of the Empire where a chance for adventure and reward appeals. For those with everything to gain - or nothing to lose - the Raptors offers a chance for adventure and glory. We're hoping that if the Iron Raptors are a success we'll be able to create some more of these on-the-field groups that offer plot opportunities directly to characters on the field. You can find out a bit more about them here (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Iron_Raptors) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-14T01:34:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/578635115565806 Final preparation for the event is now falling into place. The first tents are up on site, 1300 player packs have been completed so we can open god early and I've updated the wiki with the event details. I've also added a few extra pages to talk about monstering (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Barbarian). Most regular players are aware that if you play in one of the battles, you need to monster the other. We set this minimum requirement because we need to guarantee that there will be enough monsters to ensure the battles are challenging but we hope to make monstering as much fun as playing - rather than an obligation. A few players have already made their own monster kit which is what inspired the current thinking. Obviously nobody is required to do that, but the more effort you put into live roleplaying - the more fun it is. Traditionally we tend to focus our efforts on our character - which is only sensible. But if you want to have the best kit you can when you play, why would monstering be any different? To help anyone who is interested get started, we've got some exciting plans for event one. We've bought a huge shipment of cheap leather, around 18,000 square feet, and we're going to turn it into warskirts for our barbarian orcs. As part of that we're having a mammoth costume making session in the Hall of Worlds starting early Friday at the Easter event. Everyone is welcome to turn up and make their own warskirt. We'll have tools to work the leather and skilled people on hand to show you what to do. Time: We're aiming to start at 10:am and be done by 2pm, so the team can finish the set dressing of the hall. Don't worry if you're not there at the start, if you can't finish your warskirt in time you can always take it away and finish it later! Once you're done the costume is yours to keep! All we ask is that you wear it whenever you are playing a barbarian orc at Empire. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-12T20:06:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/578146248948026 WAR! As 377YE draws to a close, war beats it's iron drum beneath darkening skies. In the east, massed Imperial forces assault the armies of the Thule in Karsk and the savage Druj in Holberg. In Holberg the tide is turning; the enemy driven back ... one pace, another pace ... The people of Holberg can stand on their walls again and see Imperial forces united in glory, where before there was only ash-black and poison-green. In Karsk, the rapacious Thule fall back before the hammer of the Marches, the shield of Wintermark and the implacable tread of Varushkan boots ... they salt the earth where they can, bitter as only the Thule can be ... but still, they fall back. In Skarsind, the last fires of Thule oppression are extinguished beneath the boots of the Summer Storm; the forces there have fled back across the mountains to cower in their holes in barren Otkodov. There they lurk, licking their wounds and preparing for their next assault. Slowly, the Winterfolk return to their homes to see the devastation the barbarians have left behind; the armies are gone, but the taint of their shadowed touch remains and not all the dead lie still upon the battlefields. Further south, in Casinea and Bastion, Imperial forces stand ready to sweep eastward and reclaim the lands stolen from the Highborn. Dawnish, Highborn, Navarr - the armies ready themselves to drive a spear into the heart of the Druj. As the winter winds howl across the walls of Haros Water, around the towers of High Chalcis, and through the ghost-haunted glades of Broken Ridge unseen voices seem to whisper "Soon. Soon." In the west, the ceasefire holds between the Empire and the Jotun juggernaut. The borders are observed by the generals of both sides and if hot-heads and enthusiasts both Imperial and orcish take the opportunity to launch raids into each other's territory ... why, surely that is as it has always been? It cannot last. The Marchers will not forget their own, the brave yeomen of the Greensward suffering under the yoke of the savage raiders while the last Navarr in Liathaven strive to keep the flickering flames of civilisation alive in the face of their enemies, old and new. Not all the borders hold; rumours fly of barbarians moving north to Beacon Point and Western Scout. Not Jotun, nor Thule nor Druj - a mob of vicious orcs out of the Lasambrian Hills. An army of brigands and bandits maybe, but well armed despite it and keen to exploit the weakness of the Navarr in Liathaven. While the Red Wind Corsairs are slowly pushed back in Segura, the star of the Lasambrian Hills rises on the ascendant. The Freeborn army barely holds against two armies - how much worse if this third army is pushed back from Liathaven into the lands of the Brass Coast? In eastern Therunin, precariously connected to the Empire now by the passes of Morrow, answering rumours come of a force of Druj out of High Chalcis slinking over the borders into Peakedge Song. Druj scouts in Upper Tarn, sneaking through the marshes of Lower Tarn, bringing fire and poison and the death of peace. In northern Hercynia the isolated orcs of the Glen of Shadows have lit the beacons of war, gathering their forces for who knows what purpose. The banners of Harak the Red are flown above disciplined units of scattered Thulish auxillaries and hungry bandits. They make no move to head south, or north to catch up with their retreated armies ... but they ready themselves for something. So there it is, brothers and sisters. A storm of steel poised over the Empire; victory and defeat, triumph and loss, swirling and turning in the gyre of fate. The world holds it's breath as one year dies and another begins ... and who will be alive, come the dawn? ---------------------- Raff here. Let me start by apologising unreservedly for the purple prose ... but you should have seen it before the boss got through with it :) Next weekend sees our first event of 2014 and I am getting my keen on just a little. I used to spend a lot of time (way, way back in the day), writing battle reports for Another Game By PeeDee and occasionally I miss the over-the-top language. This is just a taster of the current situation of what I laughably call "the Campaign" - it doesn't cover everything that's going on - not by a long shot - but I thought it'd be fun to do an update of "things everyone might know" about the current status of the various wars going on around the borders. We're enaging in a flurry of last-minute wiki updates over the next day or two on various topics, I'll try and keep you up to date on them with a final post on Wednesday before I head to the site to spend a few days sunbathing before everyone else arrives. #theothersideofthehedge, #itsWAR!, #theycallittheelectriccornflake PS) The lovely photograph is from Charlotte Moss. She has a website chocablock full of images of Empire. You should go look at it (http://charlottemoss.co.uk/). SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-11T21:18:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/577732598989391 It is the day of the dead when the year too dies ... The Highborn invite the people of the Empire in joining them in celebrating one of their oldest traditions, that of the Day of the Dead. In contrast to the brittle humour and fantasies of the League, the Day of the Dead is marked with sober reflection. It is time to remember the fallen, and honour their memory and the good they have done. Light candles and lanterns, and drive away the darkness for a time in memoriam of lives lived, now passed. On Saturday night the Highborn will be remembering the fallen of the Empire. Beginning with a candle and lantern-lit procession, and ending with stories and celebration of those who have returned to the Labyrinth over the previous year. A night of reflection is followed by the celebration of the Day of Rebirth, when new lives and bonds are celebrated with the giving of gifts and (for many traditional Highborn) the new year marked Citizens of every nation are welcome in the Highborn camp; indeed, they extend an invitation to anyone who wishes to join them in sincere remembrance of those who have passed into the Labyrinth in the proceeding year. Anyone wishing to know more should seek out Escon, the Highborn Egregore, who will no doubt be able to answer any questions about this annual tradition. ----- ... or you can learn a little more about this celebration on the wiki - http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Highguard_culture_and_customs#Day_of_the_Dead. The image by the bye is from http://freehdwalls.net/lantern-bird-candle-shadows-light-book-hd-wallpaper/ #annualfestivitiesofgloomanddoom, #tookmethreetries, #ifyouhaveaquestionaskmattheath SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-09T21:55:32+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/576837012412283 Achievement Unlocked!! So you lived through the first year of Empire - you've fought the best the barbarians have got to throw at you and survived. What new challenges now lie ahead? For the first year of Empire we worked hand-in-glove with the geniuses at Mandala to create our orc horde. They produced over five hundred masks and four hundred orc breastplates. The sculptures they created were perfect for the game. But inevitably we were limited by the size of our budget. Even getting a fantastic bulk deal from Mandala whose support for Empire has been incredible - there were limits on what we could do in year one. But as the game matures and enters its second year with nearly 1300 players already booked for the first event we can afford to go back to Mandala and ask them to build on what they achieved in year one. The pictures below show some of the new barbarian kit coming out of the Mandala workshops ready for outfitting our Hundred and our player volunteers. The new pieces of armour look great and it's another step forward to improve the visual impact of our orc horde. It's going to look fantastic - and it gives us something amazing that we can keep building on year after year. And it just so happens that in the Empire rules a breastplate alone doesn't count for much. But add in coverage of legs and arms and it's three extra hits. Easy mode is over... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-05T16:23:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/574924465936871 ANNOUNCING : THE MASQUERADE OF THE REAPER In ancient times past it is said that at as winter reached its heights the Reaper would visit the land bringing both death and renewal. In the cities it became common place to wear masks in order to seek to avoid unwanted attention and from these traditions was born the festival which the League is once more reviving, the Masquerade of the Reaper. This winter the League will be in festive mode with competitions such as 'Bridge Fighting' and the Hunt of Ambition and a merry schedule of music and entertainment. The second evening of the gathering will see the actual Masquerade itself where the Reaper will walk the streets of the League and all are asked to wear masks in public areas of the League camp. The League Cartas will gather to remember their dead and renew vows before entering a grand parade with the Burning effigy. Following short speeches and awards there will follow a grand party in the League plaza with courtly dancing, feasting with the Butchers, drinking at the League's bars and salons and generally making merry. Come and see a play, drink a beer, take part in a competition and eat great food. Oh and bring a mask ... ---- The League players are pulling the stops out this event in a cultural extravaganza that will centre around their nation camp but hopefully spill out into the rest of Anvil as the festivities get going. I've seen some of stuff they've been planning and it's excited me enough to ruthlessly write an NPC specifically to give me an excuse to stick a carnival mask on and go and drink wine in a field ;) Going forward, we're keen to see more nations organize this kind of stunt - to stage big cultural events that will help bring the Empire setting to life. I know the Boss is planning to put some thoughts down on paper after E1, talking about our experiences with "event hosting" at Maelstrom and how we'd like to see things develop at Empire. Until then ... why not see if you can find a mask and make a date with the Reaper for Saturday evening ... #miniupdate, #coolplayersdocoolthings, #andthereddeathhelddominionoverall PS - If you were wondering, I found this gorgeous photo on (http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/attachments/f22/phantom-opera-photoshoot-red_death_03.jpg-36320d1253426700) and immediately started planning an Autumn Eternal to go with it. PPS - There may also be another announcement tomorrow evening. Keep your eyes peeled. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-04-04T22:32:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/574619432634041 A few announcements for all our players. Firstly the late booking deadline for the first event is Sunday. If you want to avoid paying on the gate, you need to send payment before midnight on Sunday. We've spent the last few ten days working flat out on an overhaul of the Conclave. Having more or less completed the review of the rules, we did a complete review of the political structures of the game. For the most part we felt that what was needed was more information and more clarity on the wiki about how things worked - and we'll be working on that next. But with the Conclave we felt very strongly that we hadn't got the original design right. Having completed the changes to the Conclave we have now overhauled all the pages on the wiki with the new content. The starting point is here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Conclave - with links to all the new content for the Conclave. There is a short summary page listing how the new Conclave procedures work still to come, but otherwise it is 99% complete. Obviously changes like this have a big impact on the game and we know that any change is always disruptive, so we've done our best to lay out why we've changed things and the theory behind the new Conclave on the Conclave design page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Conclave_design) To minimize the impact, any existing player who wants to register themselves with an order can do so by emailing PD. The character creation system has been updated to allow new magician characters to select an order automatically. Finally, one of our players, Chris Wilkin, passed away during the winter. We will be holding a short memorial service to remember Chris on Saturday morning 9am at the senate building. This means that the building will be time-out from 9am til 10am on Saturday morning. Everyone who wishes to remember Chris is welcome to attend. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-26T10:04:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/570373449725306 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-26T10:03:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/570373059725345 How well do you know your Eternals? Here is a prop made for the first event this year by the incredibly talented Stephen Lunn from White Rose Apparel (https://www.facebook.com/pages/White-Rose-Apparel/257684747584279). Those who have been following Empire for a while will know that Steve made the Empresses Crown and this year he's made a few pieces for us to upgrade our costume in several areas. The Eternals are hugely challenging for us - given their role we want them to look as *incredible* as possible. But we can't possibly achieve our ambitions on the limited budgets we have - in the short term. But as long as we remain aspirational we can work event on event to upgrade and improve every Eternal costume. We can't afford to kit out every character the way we'd want to - no more than our players can - but we can strive to improve our kit over time. And we *need* to do that - if we want our players to buy into that ambition also. Having a guy like Steve involved with the hobby really helps that! His skills are superb - making a piece like this is seriously challenging. Getting to work with talented folks like Steve is one of the things that makes being involved with Empire so rewarding. So I'm really pleased to announce that we've also struck a fantastic deal with Mark Cordory, the renowned LRP genius behind the many beautiful creations that have appeared at Mythlore events (https://www.facebook.com/groups/mythlore/). Although we work on a bigger scale, I believe that games like Mythlore and Empire have one really important thing in common - we're both stressing the importance of getting everything in the game to look as cool as possible. Mark has decades of experience pulling that off - as well as over 30 years working in props for TV and film. The deal means we'll cooperate with Mythlore to share budgets on some of the truly amazing things they make for their events. In return they'll adapt the project so it's also useful for Empire - and then we'll be able to use the work at all our events once it is complete. I'm really pleased because I think it's a great deal for us *and* Mythlore. We get favourable access to the talents of one of the best guys in the hobby - Mythlore get to leverage their budgets to achieve far more than they could have done alone. It will really help us to achieve our goal - to make every event that little bit better than the one that went before it. So check out the picture and see if you can work out which Eternal's crown this is! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-18T21:00:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/566820346747283 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-18T20:55:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/566581940116588 Seán Maguire often claims to be "not an artist, just an engineer". I'm afraid this beautiful piece of work has just shot that claim down in flames. The engineering looks first rate - it should make set-up and take-down much easier for the team - but it also looks fantastic too. Awesome sauce. I can't wait to see it in the flesh. :) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-18T20:52:57+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/566818603414124 Matt here, I've just overhauled the wiki with all the rules changes agreed over Winter. That makes it sound like a lot of things have been changed, but I'm pleased to say the list is actually relatively short and won't affect that many players. You can read a complete list of the changes here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_changes_2014 We've updated the main entries on the wiki in all the relevant areas, but if anyone spots any old references please let us know. One area of particular improvement that we have been focussing on is the Sentinel Gate. Not just the rules needed clarifying - the gate itself was in need of some serious TLC! Bill Thomas had done an amazing job for us for the first event - creating something really beautiful - but it was a temporary job at best and it struggled to cope with the abuse of an event. Getting hit by a tonka truck didn't help much either... So I'm delighted to announce that in addition to the new page on the wiki about the Sentinel Gate (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sentinel_Gate), Sean Maguire, legendary proprietor of Skian Mhor has now completed the build for a new Imperial Sentinel Gate. As the pictures show, he's done an amazing job - the new gate looks incredible. It's much easier to set-up and take down and incorporates the securing chains into the design of the gate to make sure it stays safe. It's also made of tough material and will be much more robust than the old one. I don't want to say "indestructible"... that's tempting fate when there are LRPers around! Now all we need to do is work out how to transform Sean's workshop so he can build us a synod. Thanks Sean! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-14T16:57:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152268281556215 Andy Raff here again, just letting people know that the Reikos territory overhaul, which is in the same style as the Skarsind one I did the other day, is now live. it's here -> http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Reikos Reikos is full-on lost at the moment; the Druj own almost all of it. A few plucky chapters hold out here and there, but the mechanics of the game quietly encourage them to become refugees - the production of their resources is halved while Reikos is fully in barbarian hands (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource_overview#Conquered_Territories). I always keep in mind that the players whose *stuff* is in Reikos chose to connect themselves to a territory that was in trouble. We have to walk a careful line between making their lives difficult, and the appearance of *punishing* them for a decision that breeds good narrative, provides endless plot opportunities, and helps them and their friends *care* about the made-up world we're living in. In the coming months, I know some them may choose to sadly abandon their holdings and take their Chapters into exile in Bastion, Casinea or Necropolis. Others will grit their teeth and stick it out. Both groups will have strong narrative reasons to want to focus their attentions on recovering Reikos. Even without thinking about things like the Gardens at Chalcis which are crying out to be turned into an Imperial Title of some sort once the place is in Imperial hands again. For me this is important because it means that the Downtime System is working the way I always hoped it would. The nebulous "stuff" that happens between events has an impact on the field and the direction of the campaign. The people with resources in Reikos at the moment may lose some of their stuff - but I believe they make up for it by getting a kind of validation of their characters and their story. A horrible, horrible validation ... but that's what happens when the Druj take your territory #othersideofthehedge, #justaquickieonafridayafternoon, #rememberExile PS) I'm doing either Karsk or Holberg next, because I have access to completed maps for them. If anyone is in a position to give Daisy Abbott alcohol, appreciation or alcohol-appreciation in the next few weeks they should take the opportunity to do so. No reason. PPS) as always, if you want to talk about this thread - or anything else Empire-y - you can probably find someone to discuss it with on our forums at http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk (ETA) Weird how it's showing the old map as thumbnail when I've updated the page to the new map ... *beore* I started this post. Internet is strange. (ETA2) Alcohol, apparently, oils the wheels of cartography SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-12T16:07:29+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152264231841215 Andy Raff here. I'm embarassed to admit that I forgot to do one of these "Other Side of the Hedge" posts this weekend past so here's a quick filler one to bridge the gap until the next weekend when we might feasibly have a double event. Mostly my time last week that wasn't doing plot stuff was taken up with stuff to do with the Sentinel Gate - we've finally (finally) panel beaten the details out and I've been promised by the boss that he'll do a post on it this weekend, along with a final release of "how it works" to the main wiki. A chunk of the stuff that's been written is the OOC thinking behind how it functions and what it's purpose is, and how we've tried to reflect that in the IC implementation. It has not been an easy job - because more than almost every other feature of the game it is constrained by OOC logistics but it also has a lot to do with the type of game we are running. Which is one of the reasons it's taken so long. The boss is currently overhauling the character and group creation wizards, which is eating up his time but has to be done. I'm not 100% sure what he's doing to it but it's apparently required him to rip the guts out and send Igor off to the tip for a new brain. In the meantime, I've finished the Sisyphian-task-that-never-ends (Stage II) which is the ritual review. I've also been able to find time to do something I've been meaning to do since mid-last-year and that's an overhaul of the Skarsind page on the main wiki. The page is actually a doddle to do because I'm just building on art and words that other people have laid down for me, adding on some other words and some updated art, and then stealing the credit*. A bigger slog was updating all the *other* pages and links that mentioned Skarsind and bringing them into line with the new page. If anyone spots a link or a reference that still thinks Skarsind is in the hands of the Thule, be sure to let Matt Heath know. It's a reminder that sometimes the benefit of a wiki (its interconnectivity) is sometimes a pain. Anyway. Skarsind (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Skarsind). ICSkarsind is one of the success stories of 377YE (2013 to you). The military council drove the Thule out with overwhelming force and then at the Autumn event (Event 4 2013) dealt with some of the political consequences of recapturing the territory. The Senate agreed it was still a Wintermark territory (which some of us were less than entirely certain they would do) and then all sorts of political shennanigans cropped up over the disposition of the Brilliant Shore. The process of re-assimilating Skarsind isn't entirely over however - and hopefully you'll see some elements of that on the field at the next couple of events. Some of it currently recorded in a folder on my laptop entitled "Spoils of War" which will hopefully lead to one more update of the Skarsind page in the next day or so once the usual suspects sign off on it. While all this Skarsind stuff seems mostly relevant to the Winterfolk, it's got wider implications. At the very least, the people of Hercynia and Miekarova are no longer on a dangerous border with wicked sorcerer barbarian orcs. On the wider scale, though, it's also about testing the way a new territory is added to the game, the way information about the campaign is dealt with both on the field and on the wiki, and about continuing to reflect the outcomes of player actions. I'll be trying to get a similar update done for Reikos later today (for similar, if slightly more depressing, reasons), and then the rest of the Lost Territories over the course of the next month or so. Mostly this is because I think there is a wealth of "game" hidden in those territories, but also because I want to make sure the wiki stays up to date and reflects what is going on in the game as much as it can. I sometimes wake up all sweaty from nightmares of the Almanac for Maelstrom. Anyway. Short update over. I might mention some more if anything juicy happens. As always, keep an eye on http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates and if you want to talk about this thread - or anything else Empire-y - you can probably find someone to discuss it with on our forums at http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ #othersideofthehedge, #Yaaarspoilsofarmehearties, #wherecanIgetaphysrepforatowerofmammothbone * Luckily, stolen credit is the best kind of credit. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-05T18:51:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/560831270679524 Just a quick reminder to people that we're closing downtime soon. It was due to close last night, but we've left it open for a few more days as we've been busy with other things. So you have one last day to submit your downtime - it will close Thursday at midnight. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-03-02T23:30:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/559498167479501 I am pleased to say that Empire picked up the award for Best Large LRP (over a hundred players) and the Best Overall LRP. But the thing we were most chuffed to win was the Best Family LRP, a great achievement considering we've never run anything for young LRPers before. All the credit for the awards is down to the crew who did an amazing job creating Empire and the events last year - and to the players who have responded so brilliantly and put so much effort and enthusiasm into the game. Thank you to everyone who got involved and participated. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-28T22:19:57+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/558545534241431 I've been running LRP games for over fifteen years now and in the past my friends and I have always run our games with the idea that there should be a strict divide between players and crew that should never be crossed. It was all done with the best of intentions - based on personal bad experiences in games where players derived significant IC benefits from crewing. Somehow as the years went by we elevated the idea into dogma. But during the three years we spent developing Empire I had something of an epiphany - a road to Damascus conversion that this approach of dividing participants into those who could help make an event better and those who contribution was restricted to playing just made no sense. Our hobby is fundamentally a cooperative venture. The more effort everyone puts into their roleplaying, their character, their costume, their kit - the more passion and enthusiasm other participants invest into the game - the more fun I'll have. If I got to the cinema to watch a film, all I require of the other participants is that they keep quiet. LRP is the exact opposite of that - what you can get out of the event is based on what everyone else is putting into it. So with Empire, we've tried to take the opposite approach - we designed the setting so that it would work well for players running their own events as well as for our fest events set in Anvil. We encouraged everyone who wanted to, to get involved and help us build the game and make it better. That has produced some amazing results already, with fantastic sets and beautiful costumes created for the game by keen volunteers - some of who were "officially" players, some who crew the whole event. It's early days yet, but I'm really excited about the potential for the game if we can continue to build on that approach to add new stuff over time. The ultimate goal is to make Empire a game that belongs to the people who participate. Belong the way a community belongs to the people in it. Obviously PD has a defacto role as a custodian of the game - by dint of the fact that we're running the major Empire events - but people can participate in ways that add things to the game without any reference to us at all. By working with each other, there are many things people can do to make the events cooler for themselves - and for everyone else - without our "permission". That's exactly what has been happening in at least two nations. Players in Varushka and Wintermark have organized some crowd-funding and raised money from friends and other members of the nation to acquire a huge firebowl to act as a centrepiece for their nation. It's a fantastic achievement - and everyone in Empire can benefit from it. Anyone who wanders into Varushka or Wintermark from now on is likely to find a warm hospitable fire surrounded by people roleplaying. That might seem a simple thing, but a huge event is made up of a thousand simple things. Critically, it is precisely this kind of "simple thing" that is enormously hard for PD to do - when you're trying to sort a big event you just don't have the time to focus on the level of detail needed to do something like this well. I'm hugely impressed and really excited by what the players have achieved. It's a great accomplishment pulled off without any involvement from PD. We agreed to store the finished bowl for Wintermark (and are going to do the same for Varushka), but that is the only help we offered. I know some other nations are also looking at some cool communal projects and as I get news of them, I'll post them up here also. But I want to congratulate all the players who were involved in arranging and organizing this and thank them on behalf of everyone who is involved in Empire. I was only one of the scores of people who worked to create the Empire setting and the game. But for me personally there is no greater satisfaction than seeing the cool things that your creation inspires other people to create. It is precisely stuff like this that makes my job so rewarding - and also makes me want to redouble my efforts to make Empire even better. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-27T14:58:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152237403346215 Raff here. It's been a slow week of wiki work - a lot of it taking place behind the scenes and being cue'd up for putting on the main wiki. I've been implementing some of ritual changes I've spoken about before, but they're taking longer than I expected because I'm doing them in between a load of other stuff (including a lot of plot writing and checking. I think there'll be a lot more going on at E1 this year than there was at E1 last year, mostly because our plot writing team is getting bigger and also because they're a lot more confident about the tools they have to create cool stuff on the field). Before I go any further, it's worth bringing this page (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Wiki_Updates) to your attention. The "recent changes" on a wiki include every single spelling error which often makes it harder to find anything interesting to look at. We're using this page to record changes that are "macro" in scale - alterations to sections and even new pages. Eventually it'll get tidied up and added to things like the http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update page - and hopefully to any e-mails we send out about important stuff. What else is going on? The boss has put up a section explaining what happens when the Empire loses a territory completely (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource_overview#Conquered_Territories) which happened in-game at the last event with Reikos. Our assumption has always been that there is still an Imperial presence in places like the Mournwold and Liathaven, but that it is limited - the Empire can still get things in and out, and people can put their personal resources there. In fact, as a plot-writer I love it when they do - they lose some IC stuff (often involving senators) but they indicate to us that they have an investment in the narrative of the lost territory, and the story of the game as a whole. We've clarified what happens when a territory is *completely lost* - the consequences for the people who live there are extreme, but I don;t think they're game breaking. To paraphrase "when a territory is completely conquered by barbarians, with every region controlled by them, then all resources in that territory suffer a 50% production penalty." Part of this has come about due to regions and territories being firmed up. We've chosen this specific rule because we think it creates a better tension - you can still invest in the narrative of being in a fallen territory, without ceasing to be an economic actor in the game (we want every player to have some stuff). But we think the penalty is severe enough to make that choice more relevant. Characters who want their full production back can always abandon their stuff and move somewhere else with the aid of the civil service (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource_overview#Changing_Resources) This doesn't apply to everything - fleets and armies are considered mobile, and some Campaign-level resources are handled a little differently and slightly arbitrarily because we know what "region" they are in. I've also got the first of a series of new Imperial titles up on the wiki - the Keeper of the Spice Gardens of Feroz (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Keeper_of_the_Spice_Gardens). The boss put a lot of work into explaining how the Senate makes these things, but we knew from the start we wanted some "legacy" titles in our toolbox. The Keeper, like the Warmage or the Conscience of the Senate, is one that has history and - dare I say it - story associated with it. There's some more to come (including some examples of ministries http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Mercantile_investment#Ministries). They won't be spread out evenly through the game, and that's absolutely intentional. I've finished the Spice Gardens off first for two reasons. First, it's mentioned a few times in the wiki and also I like it. Second, that whole story stuff I mentioned has already hit play (although even I'm not entirely clear what happened to Jeyah i Sadin i Guerra during the Feast of the Broken Wheel last event). Third (dammit! three reasons!) this weekend sees the Brass Coast Banquet sanctioned event being thrown by http://www.heartofpargonlarp.co.uk/index.php/events/event/256 Which is expanding on the plot elements we introduced on the main field at Event Four. I'm really looking forward to hearing how it goes. Looking further ahead while I'm on the subject of sanctioned events (which we list here in case you were wondering - http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sanctioned_events) there's also the Modern Discourse event in early April (http://larp.me.uk/moderndiscourse/index.html) which I imagine may still have some places left - it looks like a very different event to the Brass Coast banquet. What else? Oh yes - the boss has finally edited up a page on language that should answer some questions about Imperial, Latin and what exactly Welsh represents. I'll be sticking a link to it on the "wiki changes" page I mentioned earlier once it's complete for anyone who is dying to know what role British Sign Language, Ancient Greek and French play in the game ;) Right. Back to the wiki mines! Someone bring me a canary adept in two-finger typing! PS - as always, given the limitations of Facebook, discussion of this or any other Empire topic is possibly most effectively pursued on our forums at http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ where Mark Wilkin is waiting to make sure everyone plays moderately nicely ;) #theothersideofthehedge, #allhailthewikimines, #wordblindnessduetotoomuchwikiisarealthingyeah, #damnyouotherdeanwhycaninotgetyoufinished SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-24T10:25:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152230130946215 The Boss has talked about incrementally improving your kit before, and I know from experience how a little thing can really help define a character. I saw these over in the Orc community, and thought of that. Seeing things we've made up in pixels being turned into actual things by people with hands is one of the best bits of working on Empire. FACT! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-23T15:53:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/556230554472929 Matt here with another quick update on things going on behind the scenes. When we first launched Empire, we made a big fuss about encouraging everyone to try and be as ambitious as possible for the game. The results in the first year were amazing and the field looked incredible. Of course that can be intimidating, especially for new players or those with a limited budget but as we tried to make clear the minimum standards for Empire are actually very low - what we ask is that everyone commits to improving their kit over time. Even the best set of character-kit can be a work in progress, if we're ambitious to try and improve our kit over time. If we can successfully encourage everyone involved in Empire to keep improveing their kit as and when they are able to, then the events will just keep better and better. However it's down to us to take the lead with that approach. We can't ask players to keep striving for better unless it is clear that we are making the same effort. We attempted to do a lot for the first year, to build two complete buildings and create an entire army of barbarians as well as dozens of other NPCs. Inevitably the results were mixed - I'm proud of what we achieved - but even the best bits can be improved. The goal now is less dramatic and exciting than launching a new game - we have to be realistic that we can't rival hollywood sets overnight - but we can pursue a steady process of improving all the kit we use at events so that that goal is always in our sights. Some work has been going on ever since the first event, but it is hard to get much done during the event season - winter is when we really have the time to work on things. And that's what these pictures are all about. The two costumes have been produced by Jude Reid, a member of the Empire Sewing Circle. They are just one of a set of beautiful costumes produced by the half-dozen volunteers in that group. It's a small team doing the actual work but the stuff they are creating is amazing and will help our NPCs to look great on the field - a real challenge given the standards of the player kit! The next picture is one of our elite set-design ninjas hard at work on the Senate. Jim Thompson led the build on this one; now having got a basic building in place, he has been working on some upgrades to cast a little light on what is going on in that murkey Senate office... So Bill and Keira were on site last weekend starting the new upgrades to transform the front of the Senate. We've got plans for a proper roof for the Senate - there are technical challenges involved but once we get enough help mobilized together to sort it then that should really add a new dimension to the atmosphere in the chamber. The final picture is the moulds for the relief details on the new portal. The team did a fantastic job to build the first portal in a remarkably short space of time, but it was a struggle to keep the thing in good condition after the first event. So Sean Maguire has been tasked with a complete rebuild of the entire portal, the moulds are part of that progress from his workshops in the frozen north. Empire is incredibly lucky to have such a talented and enthusiastic team of crew working on it. My thanks to everyone who is currently hard at work behind the scenes working to make sure that year 2 builds on the promise of a game that goes from strength to strength. Matt P SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-16T01:49:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/552945634801421 Don't forget that the early booking deadline for the first event is midnight tonight! Make sure you send payment before the deadline if you want to get the event at the cheapest price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-15T14:04:57+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/552708584825126 Blog post - in two parts... Hi Matt here, Andy says it's my turn to talk about stuff from the other side of the hedge. I've just overhauled a couple of wiki pages about Senate powers, so I thought I'd talk about *that*. Politics is not everyone's cup of tea but it is mine. And I don't even like tea. At heart I'm frustrated politician. My idea of wish-fulfilment entertainment is watching the Parliament Channel. I like to imagine I'm Errol Flynn, leaping to my feet to fire a stinging rebuttal at the other side. So I've been heavily involved in the design of the Senate since the start and it's very much my personal baby - it's the part of the game I love more than any other. So naturally I want it to work well. After event one had crashed through our viewing port, we quickly realized the Senate wasn't working as well as we wanted because we hadn't spent enough time defining their powers and setting out what they could do, how to do it and just as importantly - what they couldn't do. That lead to some pretty intense catch-up as we tried to get the information out there. Stuff trickled out all year and then there was a lot of stuff up just before event four. Now we've just now completed an overhaul defining how new titles get made and hopefully we'll find time to work on some of the other pages when we get the chance. The big challenge in all that is trying to work out how to describe the limits imposed by the Constitution. The Senate has by far the most free-form powers of any of the five houses. The powers of the other houses, what they do, how and when they can use them, what the outcomes are - are tightly defined. The Senate has a much more freeform toolbox, a wide ranging set of abilities to create new things in the game. There are a few well defined limits on their abilities - a senator is not legally allowed to enter the Military Council for instance - but for the most part we fall back on the "Constitution" - a deliberately wordy document - which is interpreted by our magistrates. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that that is code for "You can't do this if PD say you can't". Why bother? If we want a game all about player agency - as we say we do - why bother with a "constitution"? There are clear negative consequences to a "constitutional ruling" - it's detrimental to the player experience and the experience we want to provide if PD have to step in and say "No". It's the political equivalent of a time-freeze - you only do it if you have to. And we certainly did it far more than I expected in the first year, and that contributed to undermining the Senate game. Why not just let the Senate do anything they want? There are some important but fairly obvious reasons - like play balance. The Senate is far-and-away the most powerful of the five political houses - but we've designed it so that those powers are not supreme. Even an Empress would not rule with the divine right of Kings in Empire. If you want someone fired - your first port of call is the Synod - not the Senate. If it involves magic - it's likely that the Conclave can influence the issue far better than the Senate. The Bourse serves as a firewall between the Senate and the game economy, the Military Counil has dominion over the stragic elements of the campaign. The ideal design is one in which the powers of the five houses complement and oppose each other, you can't ignore the other houses if you have a seat in one of them. If the Senate's power was supreme, the game for all the players in these other houses would be diminished - and ultimately the game for the senators would be diminished - as the political game became less complex, less nuanced and involve less players. So the "constitution" serves as a mechanism to prevent the Senate weakening the political game through the entirely justifiable IC action of extending their own powers. There are some less obvious reasons - like protecting individual players and groups of players to allow them to continue playing the game even if badly defeated politically. If nine nations unite against the tenth in Empire - they could do massive damage to the political interests of that nation - but they can't just throw them out of the game. The goal is for the constitution to act as a safety net - to allow for wide-ranging political PvP - but prevent the political equivalent of a coup de grace that ends the game. I believe Empire has the potential for a very complex political game. There are scores of different political abilities that players can wield, different positions that can achieve different things in game. No-one can fill more than one post, and no group can monopolize more than a few - to achieve your goals you have to interact with a lot of people. The political system is deliberately labyrinthine, it was designed with circuitous routes and dead ends, that maze forms the basis for the political game. But what is fairly unusual about Empire is that a group of players have the ability to change the maze - to change some of the rules of the game itself. In political roleplay terms that's the equivalent of having an IC ability to change how the armour rules work. You can literally change the design of the game. That ability comes with a calculated risk. There are countless ways that the senate players can change the maze to make things more interesting - but we keep the "Constitution" on hand to prevent them bulldozing a clean path straight through it. So you can change some of the rules of the game – but not all of them. And that's because we want Empire to be a great game for decades to come; I want the game's political system to remain complex and subtle and enjoyable when I'm drawing my pension! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-14T14:02:34+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/552203388208979 Here's a pic of a lovely commission piece being made by Winterforge Armouries (http://www.improductions.co.uk). Perfect for a mage staff! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-12T18:52:07+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/551457788283539 Currently it's 40mph gusts here at PD head office - but the forecast is to rise above 60mph by 9pm tonight. Given that our power has nearly browned out twice already, I don't favour our chances of making it through the night without a power cut. So if the website goes down... you'll just have to wait for them to restore our power. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-12T02:33:50+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/551131251649526 One of our youngest members of crew - manning the PD stall at What's your Game LRP fair. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-12T02:29:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/551130668316251 Matt here - don't forget that the early booking deadline for the first event is midnight on Sunday. Make sure you get booked and payment is sent before that date to get the cheapest price. We've updated the website so that everyone who was at the last event can now submit their downtime. The downtime system will be open for three weeks, it will close again at 9pm on the 4th March. Please note that there will be no support available from head office between the 16th Feb and the 22nd Feb, as I am away from the office for a week on holiday. Normal service will resume from the 23rd onwards, with oustanding emails answered first. During the first year of Empire there were problems with a few players assuming that authentic historical gender bias was acceptable characterisation in the pseudo-medieval setting. Empire is clearly written as a setting that does not discriminate on this basis. We have updated our main website with guidelines on these issues that apply to all our games. Thanks to Helen W, Amy Mason, Greg Weir, Isobel Hooper, Jessie Holder, Rosemary Warner, Matt Heath, Catherine Walter, Jonathan Rampling, Finn McLellan and Conrad Jones for helping us produce the new guidelines. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-09T21:23:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152200273221215 Andy here again. As I mentioned on Friday, we’ve been having an extensive rules’n’reffing meeting this weekend in Preston with Nicholas Taylor and Graeme Jamieson. As promised, I’ve got a few tasters of things that are changing or being clarified over the next few weeks. As always, it’s only “official” when it goes up onto the wiki, but as of five o’clock this afternoon, these are areas of the rules we’re definitely looking at making changes to. Obviously this isn’t everything – I have a muddled memory of an hour on radio channels that I mostly listened to music in my head for, and there were also some areas where the net-result of the discussion was “no, we think that’s fine.” We also came up with a few things (some more narrative options with personal resources, the possibility of using short videos for some scrying results) that with great regret we’re going to have to shelve in the “It’d be cool if …” file for development later. On to the meat. The most obvious changes we’ve agreed on (and signed off on) are to do with magic and rituals. ===Mage Staffs, Mage Armour and the Modern Battlemage=== There are two magical skills – Wield Mage Staff and Wear Mage Armour – that cost 2 character points each to gain. We looked at these very closely, talked about how basic character points get spent, and what we were hoping to achieve in terms of those skills. At the moment, a character would have to spend seven points to be a battlefield magician – and would still only have one actual offensive spell for all those points. We came to the conclusion that 4 character points was too much for the abilities that these skills gave a character (I kept being reminded of an Order of the Stick comment from Belkar about monks spending all their feats to be nearly as good without weapons as basic fighters were with weapons, but I’m a monster) . So the first change we agreed on was that these two skills would be removed, and rolled into a single two-point skill called “Battlemage” that lets you wield a staff and wear mage armour. Characters who already have both Wield Mage Staff and Wear Mage Armour skill will get refunded two of their points, and anyone who could previously either Wield Mage Staff or Wear Mage Armour will be able to do both. Also, “Battlemage” is a cool skill name. ===Ref Net : Wave of the Future=== We started the weekend with Matt showing off the Ref Net application he’s been slaving away on. When it’s finished, it’ll allow a referee to process rituals (and, ultimately, other ref jobs) using the on-the-field wifi, some software and a tablet. Once it’s complete, it’ll be able to automatically process things like skill ranks, potions, regios and crafted items to let refs deal with player rituals with the minimum of fuss. Obviously, it’s mostly exciting for our refs – but I think players will see a knock-on effect in that their referees will be able to deal with queries and the results of their rituals quicker, and while becoming 78% less knackered, which I’m sure even Mister Ref would agree is a good thing. We even had a brief chat about the possibilities of making the tool available to refs at sanctioned events (apparently it works fine on modern smart phones), although obviously that’d require a bit more development from the Boss. Who wants to put some photographs up of it later on because he is endearingly pleased with it. === Sunrise Isn’t What It Used To Be === We then talked at length about a couple of related problems to do with ritual duration. We have two basic durations in the game at the moment “sunrise the next day” and “start of the next event” summarized as “day” and “season”. We initially picked these durations because it meant that all enchantments (and tonic effects) would wear off during time-out, which is obviously convenient in that there is no “grey area” about precisely when they end. Unfortunately, the “day” duration has created problems. The most obvious one is that, because the “day” duration enchantments are cheaper and easier to perform than the “season” duration enchantments, they are very popular with characters heading out to battle the enemies of the Empire. But because Time-In is at ten, and the first battle starts at eleven, this meant a flurry of magicians all trying to enchant their friends in the hour between Time In and the start of the first battle. This was running our refs ragged, reducing the fun for player ritualists and soldiers who end up queing at the regio (or what have you) instead of singing sad songs and putting on war-paint, and was causing the players of ritualists who were monstering the first battle to have to choose between using their rituals on their allies or turning up to monster the battle (and thus not being able to go on their own nations’ battle due to our reciprocal monstering expectation). Worse (depending on where you stand), they’ve resulted in skewed play balance. The “day” duration rituals were designed and balanced on the assumption that they would be used once during their duration – that players wouldn’t be in a situation where they were going on a battle and a quest in the same day (for example). This has not turned out to be the case, and its caused a shift in game balance that negatively impacts the play balance of the whole ritual system. The outcome of the discussion is that we’re changing the day duration from “until the next sunrise” to “until the end of the next battle, quest or skirmish”* This will mean that ritualists will have more control over when they enchant their allies. It will make rituals easier to ref and improve pre-battle logistics for everyone; it’ll help make the planning of battles more in-character with less temptation to min-max the system trying to cram multiple battles, quests and skirmishes into the same day; give ritualists more flexible options and (vital in my opinion) restore the play balance of the ritual system to its original design intent. We know it won’t be universally popular, but while some characters will feel penalized IC, we hope that the players will understand the need to maintain the balance of the ritual system. We know some ritualists with day duration rituals will want to change those rituals, and encourage them to contact profound decisions at the usual address. The change will be familiar to anyone who plays ODC, as this is very similar to the way their Mysteries function. This lead to discussion of situations that, while dramatic, would not count as “battle, quest or skirmish” and how we’d communicate that to players. A purely diplomatic meeting with Jotun orcs will only bring an enchantment to an end if a fight breaks out, for example. I like to imagine it in terms of any scene you would expect The SyFy channel to play hard rock music over the top of brings your enchantment to an end. A simpler way of thinking of it is probably that coming *back* through the sentinel gate after fighting will end what were previously day-duration ritual enchantments.. === Battlefield Casting === It’s apparently impossible to get a ref for a ritual on the battlefield. Yet at the same time a number of rituals, such as the powerful healing effect “Hands of Sacred Life”, are designed specifically to be cast during the kind of high-tension moments one encounters most often on battlefields. With that in mind, it will no longer be necessary to get a referee to perform short duration instant effect rituals on the battlefield. After all, the players don’t need a referee to cast Heal on the battlefield, so it significantly reduces the value of a ritual designed to save lives if they have to play hunt the referee for even five minutes before they can unleash their healing power. The expectation is that players who take advantage of this will still need to inform a referee after the battle that they performed the ritual, so it can be recorded and the number of times they’ve used their coven bond can be kept up-to-date. It also won’t apply to either rituals that require significant referee or plot feedback (such as various scrying effects) or those that create MASS effects (which require referees for purposes other than checking ritual ranks and mana). The referees are working on a clear explanation of the new rules, and signposting which rituals are effected and which are not. The expectation is still that rituals cast on the main field will involve a referee regardless of their type. What this should mean is that ritualists taking to the battlefield will be able to use the tools we designed for them to let them contribute in a meaningful way to the outcome of battles and skirmishes. ===Storage Warriors and Bargain Hunters=== We took some time out of a busy schedule going through various magic questions to revisit what is going on at Event One this year with the Bourse seats. Last year someone (it *definitely wasn’t me*) screwed up badly with the Bourse seat auctions. We want to make sure everything goes more smoothly this year. The short version is that all the Bourse Seats are up for grabs at the next event *but* only the weirwood seats will be held for the full term. Everyone else is bidding on short-term seats. Ilium will be re-auctioned at Event Two, White Granite at Event Three and Mithril at Event Four (which is what should have happened at Event One last year). We’ll make sure to publicise this (repeatedly) well in advance so we avoid any misunderstandings. As of this year, all auctions through the Bourse will be “open” – that is, an auctioneer will stand up in front of all the interested parties and they will openly bid money for the product being offered. We’re doing this not least because we think an open auction has more potential to create drama and interest in economic matters, but also because it is harder for us to screw up than a system of closed bids. People who “win” an auction will be expected to settle their accounts immediately after they win – again this will increase drama, reduce chance of error and discourage frivolous bids. The two League positions will face open auction (among League citizens), but the other National Seats won't change. Characters with the appropriate personal resource will still have until a designated time to lodge their vote with a civil servant based on the voting power associated with their nation (which will be adjusted to the now-standard ’10 votes plus two per upgrade’ model used elsewhere). ===No Sympathy for Crowd Control=== One thing that came up that we were a bit surprised about, and that isn’t a rules change as such but I thought was worth mentioning here, is that there seems to be a misconception among some players that the Entangle, Repel and even Shatter spells cause “feedback” to the casters. This seems to be a hangover from the original playtests where we experimented with what “feedback” does. In fact, only the Venom, Paralyse and Weakness spells have this effect (they strike both the caster and the target in equal measure) but it turns out we’ve not been clear enough about this and it’s lead to some confusion. Hopefully one of our winged monkeys will unleash a savagely to-the-point clarification for these spells in the coming week. ===So In Summary …=== We did some work. We made some changes, many of them around magic***. Some of the changes have wide implication but (hopefully) a big chunk of the player base will be entirely unaffected. We think they’ll make the game better, and we’re going to be putting them onto the wiki as clearly as possible in the coming week then probably e-mailing people about them and otherwise making a big song-and-dance. I hope this long, rambling, slightly half-asleep post has given you some idea of our reasons for doing things (which often gets left out of the actual rules update). We also did some work this afternoon on some interesting titles and positions we’d never got round to finalising, but I’ll talk more about them when I’ve finished writing them up**. #rafframblesaboutempire, #theothersideofthehedge, #canyousayruneforgesandtheotherdeanmikey?, #ineedatleasttworhymesfordawnishsummercamp, #hopefullynoneoftheplayersknowwhereIlive • The next clause is either “or until the end of the event” or “until the start of the next PD event” but I’ll be buggered if I can remember which. Hopefully GJ or Nick can tell me when they get home and I can edit appropriately. • ** Mostly I am being coy so I’ve got something to talk about on Friday when my next “#othersideofthehedge” post is due. I got to earn my freddos somehow • *** If you fancy talking about these changes – possibly with your fellow players, possibly with the occasional itinerant referee, you might want to check out the Empire forums at http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-07T17:15:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/549260831836568 An ogre, from the talented hands of Darren Stocker. Work in progress, obviously. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-07T17:00:50+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/549256728503645 Afternoon, it's Andy Raff here. I'm at a loose end before I go for my train so I thought I'd have a brief chat about what's going on. I'll try not to ramble. Last weekend saw the Boss and I in Reading (probably) for a meeting with Kol Ford and Liza Shephard about streamlining plot/story (pick one) and where we're going in the future. Obviously there's not a lot I can talk about here (at the very least we ought to wait until we've actually told the plot writers and NPCs about new developments!) but I'm very pleased where we're heading. We'll never be the kind of LRP event that has "Film at Eleven" plot - though theres nothing wrong with that. Rather we're looking at ways to get as many individual pieces of story and plot onto the field as possible, while simultaneously encouraging the player base to create their own problems for each other. After all, one of the biggest political events of the first year came purely from PCs using their various powers against each other in pursuit of opposed political goals. When you write it like that it can be a bit hard to see where the cool is ... but having the rough equivalent of the house of commons and the house of lords on the verge of open warfare certainly added an extra frisson to the end of the first year. One of the things we talked about that I think is really interesting is the idea of "hosting." Those of you familiar with Maelstrom may recall that in theory each event was hosting by one of the player groups. We were keen from the get-go to adopt something similar, using the Nations as "cultural hosts" for events - encouraging each nation in turn to have a big event in which they show off their national pastimes, spread understanding and unity with the other nations, and generally get to act a little bit smug at the nine other nations. I'm not going to say too much now, but we have a "hosting nation" for the first even this year and will be looking to encourage other nations to take their turn organising IC activities, spreading IC culture and otherwise adding to the flavour and excitement of events. On an unrelated note, I was really impressed with what we achieved in terms of quests this year, especially at event four. While quests directly target only between 6 and 30 players at a time, the teams involved managed to run 25 of them over the course of one fridaynight-saturday-sundaymorning period, which is fairly impressive. I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more quests in the future - I'm told they're actually a fairly efficient use of our time and resources, compared to (for example) skirmishes. Plus it's a lot easier to make a quest very relevant to the people on it, and use it as a tool to develop the world and the actions of individual characters and groups. This weekend sees us jetting* off to sunn Preston** for the first proper rules meeting of the New Year. It promises to be full of controversy, arm-wrestling and open fist-fights in stark contrast to the relaxed hot-chocolate themed atmosphere of Reading. I'm mostly joking - I'll let you know what happens as soon as I do. As I've said before, I'm not anticipating any major changes but I think a major theme is going to be looking at how we use resources (refs) and how we can optimise them without killing them. The net result from your point of view should be a few updates to the wiki - and I'll do my best to draw attention to them as and when they happen. Oh and we appear to have been shortlisted for several categories in the 2014 UK Larp Awards. The one I'm most pleased with personally is the "Family Event" category. Other PeeDee games (Maelstrom and ODC) have been resolutely "adult only" but one of the earliest discussion the boss and I had was about young LRPers and whether we should include them (and how). I'm very happy with the way things have turned out - and I think this nomination is due to the incredible hard work, patience, creativity and patience of the Academy team who've knocked themselves out to make the event welcoming to young LRPers while still allowing us to pursue certain adult themes in certain ways. Best decision we made in the early stages, I think. I'm really looking forward to what they do in 2014. Right that's it, need to rush to get ready (as usual). I'll leave you with a picture of some ogre suits, assuming I can find them. #raffsexcitingempirepseudotwitterfeed, #toomanymeetingsinfebruary, #happytobeheadingnorth * By train. Long train. ** Assuming it's above water. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-02-03T12:30:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/547329485363036 Work is proceeding apace with the new Sentinel Gate phys-rep for Empire. Photographs courtesy of Seán Macguire and the Nibelung of the far frozen north. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-26T20:44:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/540318886076227 We have just released the first version of our sanctioned event rules for the Empire system. In theory it would have been good to release them before Mandala ran the first sanctioned Empire event, but in practice it was much easier to work out what the rules needed to be after seeing Mandala run one first. Empire replaces Maelstrom, the nine-year long campaign that we ran previously. The game was very successful and many players ran their own Maelstrom events during the nine years the game was running. However the rules we used for sanctioned events in Maelstrom were completely restricted. Players could not create any plot of any kind, in effect it was almost impossible for players to create an event that wasn't purely a party or social gathering of some kind. It's a testament to the strength of the game that these events were so popular given the limitations they operated under. Although we ended Maelstrom because we felt we had learned so much that we could create a much better game, I remain really proud of the game and what it achieved. But I felt the sanctioned event system was a tremendous missed opportunity. I cut my teeth running sanctioned events in the Lorien Trust system, it was a fantastic environment to learn how to run events. You didn't need to worry about rules, and it was much easier to get players to an event than to a stand-alone event - all other things being equal - simply because of the massive player-base. I know many other event organizers who learned their craft that way. Irrespective of other considerations, the LT sanctioned event system is a fantastic platform for a new LRP event organizer looking to run their first events. But when I look back at Maelstrom, I don't see a generation of new event organizers coming forwards, pushing boundaries, creating plot, trying out new ideas. People did run some fantastic events - I still have great memories of the Cardini event I attended. But we limited what players could do so tightly; people learned how to book sites and run a booking system, but we prevented them from doing what LRP is really all about - creating amazing drama. Of course club systems exist for LRPers who want to create plot - but running plot for a national event is radically different to running plot for a club linear system. In effect we had existed for nine years within the LRP community and on the event running front we had given nothing back. I was determined when we created Empire that we would try and do better. When we were creating the setting, some elements were included precisely because I thought they would be useful to sanctioned event runners. It's very hard for PD to create the dark feel of Varushka in Anvil – but those elements were worth including so that sanctioned event organizers could really capitalize on them. Threats like the Feni give event organizers an enemy they can use in their events without needing 100 orc masks. The goal of making Empire more than just a PD game was part of the design from the outset. Of course there is a caveat. There is a reason the Maelstrom rules were so restrictive. If you like consistent stories, consistent worlds, consistent games - then there is a terrible price to be paid with a sanctioned event system. No two plot writers will see a setting the same way (there is no right way), no two writers will have the same ideas, or value the same concepts. Creating LRP events is an *art* - and each writer should produce the event they want to create. But the more different the events, the more different the interpretation of the setting - the more inconsistent the game becomes. With Maelstrom we chose to eliminate this problem, with Empire we have sought a more even balance. If you take the time to read the new sanctioned event rules, then you can judge for yourselves how we've cut that Gordion Knot. I think we have erred on the side of optimism, we're trusting event runners to get it right, and trusting players to understand that it won't always work. We've tried to produce a framework that keeps the burden on event organizers to the barest minimum and gives them the most freedom possible with a consistent game. Producing the rules isn't the end of the process. We're working on producing material to help our own plot writers create plot, we're continuing to develop the game's bestiary. I am hopeful that if we can give sanctioned event runners access to the same materials that we use to develop plot for Empire that will make it easier and more appealing for them to produce events that fantastic threads that blend seamlessly with the Empire tapestry. Inevitably though there will be events that are a disaster. There will be events where I hold my head in my hands and think "They did what?". Freedom to experiment means freedom to fuck it up. There will be events where players will end up having to use their own internal "consistency filters" to make sense of what is happening. Event organizers tend to cry bitter tears over these incidents but long experience has taught me that experienced LRPers have a more forgiving approach to events than we give them credit for. Consistency is really important in a game – but it's not so important that it trumps all other concerns. So I think these rules will allow for some great Empire sanctioned events – and some terrible ones. Some will be great and some won't. Tastes differ, and people will like different things. And maybe someone will start their LRP career writing reviews of sanctioned events they went to. Whatever happens players will have to use their experience and judgement to decide what events to attend, we're not going to do that for you. Event organizers will develop their own reputations, just as Profound Decisions has had to do. Those who run events that are innovative, imaginative and dramatic, those who run great events will get the players and keep running. The potential pay-off is great for Empire and for our players. Economics and logistics dictate the format of the events that Profound Decisions create. We are not running an Empire event for fifty players on a dark night on a mountainside in Varushka ever. We could run an amazing battle like Rorke's Drift – but we couldn't run an event inspired by Rorke's Drift. Over the years I've been involved with and attended some amazing sanctioned events that did things that could never be done in the main game. Sanctioned events can add the most amazing stories to an ongoing campaign. I hope that by giving Empire event organizers their freedom, by supporting them as best we can, we'll see some truly fantastic sanctioned events that offer awesome LRP experiences. I hope that over the years we'll see talented writers and crew joining the main Empire team having proved themselves by running their own events. And I hope that by the time Empire is entering it's second decade there will be a generation of Empire event runners who have gone on to run their own systems - to do it better than Empire does. That would be a legacy to be really proud of. Matt P http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sanctioned_event_rules SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-25T12:24:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/10152168383481215 Possibly of interest - Matthew Pennington talking about lammied drugs, role-playing effects, validation and consensual self hypnosis as it relates to live-roleplaying. It's a guest post on the blog of Harry "Running a Muskehounds game at some point" Harrold. It's a bit informal but gives some insight into some of our design principles. And also reminds us that we need to get our fingers out and stop putting off the decision about narcotics for Empire. Especially narcotics made from human flesh and mushroom spores, but I digress. http://larpx.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/guest-post-matt-pennington-on-drugs-roleplay-and-validation/ SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-21T13:35:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/541182945977690 Despite the horrendous weather last year - Empire was incredibly successful - over 2500 LRPers came to at least one event last year. The one downside of that success was that the mailshot was the biggest ever - thanks to the folks who helped us pack nearly four thousand envelopes over the last five days. I'm pleased to report that the first envelopes are now arriving on folk's doorsteps. One of the updates mentioned in the covering letter is that we are pleased to say that we will be offering tent hire again this year. Tent hire is always incredibly popular - we tend to sell out very fast. To try and make things as fair as possible for folks - we are going to open the tent bookings on Thursday 7pm 23rd January. If you want to book a tent for an event this year, I suggest that you check the website as promptly as you can before they sell out! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-20T15:25:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/540771162685535 The new Sentinel Gate, with added Diz for scale. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-17T23:46:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/538577332904918 This beautiful embroidered detail comes from one of the Eternal costumes currently been sewn for us by the talented Jude Reid. It's taken from the Empire Sewing Circle group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/243111769153902/) where the volunteer needlesmiths hang out. The Eternals are an element of the setting that we're actively working to expand and integrate into the game in the coming year - so which Eternal would *you* like to see poke their nose into the business of the Empire in 2014? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2014-01-17T19:35:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/538485729580745 Hi! I'm Andy, and I have my fingers in a great many Empire pies. Theres a good chance you've never seen me as I spend most of my time on the other side of the hedge. This is the first of what I hope will be a semi-regular series of posts about what's going on behind the scenes at Empire. For those of you who avoided the old Facebook Group, I used to write semi-regular updates touching on things that were going on behind the scenes or discussing bits of the game design that I thought were interesting. Occasionally I'd spoiler stuff that was about to go on the wiki, such as rituals or foreigners, taking the opportunity to talk about our thinking behind some of those elements. I'm planning to do the same here, albeit with a bit less swearing. It's been a few months since I wrote anything public, mostly because I've been recovering from two fairly full-on Empire years - and I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one. With the Christmas Season and New Year behind us, though, we're gearing up for 2014 and things are starting to gather momentum. A fair amount of the work we've been doing has been internal - we're working on expanding the tools available to our plot teams for example - but theres two projects being worked on at the moment that might be of interest. ===Player Event Guidelines=== Since Event 1.4 we've seen several player events in various parts of the country and with various themes and nations organising them, starting with the Mandala event Dark Hearts in the Deep Forest in November. All the reports I've heard back have been really positive and I'm looking forward to actually being able to attend one myself. The boss is busy putting the final touches to our Sanctioned Event guidelines, and I'm hoping they'll be going up on the Main Wiki fairly soon. They should be accompanied by a blog post from the Boss discussing how we put them together and what we hope will happen with player events. In addition to the expected stuff discussing what we expect, how the rules will work, and some broad plot guidelies, there's also a section in there about the kind of resources we plan to make available to organisers and the kinds of things we can do to help publicise events. We've intentionally taken what I think is a very light touch - we had good experiences of trusting players to run their own events with Maelstrom, and we've built on that experience with our sanctioned event rules. We know that there are plenty of players out there who can organise and run in-character festivals and feasts that focus primarily on character interactions. We're also explicitly encouraging players who want to run more complex events, however, that include more traditional 'plot' elements such as combat, risk of death, and even treasure. ===Changes to magic item ribbons=== Something that I feel has worked well has been the descriptive text one finds on potion cards that allow Hard Skill idenfitication of the various preparations that can be made by characters with the apothecary skill. These descriptions were intended to replace the lore codes and loresheets that were used in games like Omega and Maelstrom - allowing characters to recognise and evaluate items using their own knowledge rather than having to drop out of character to compare three-letter codes to an OOC sheet of paper. My job at the moment - which I am slacking off from to write this - involves extending this concept to magical item ribbons (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Game_items#Magical_Items). Once it's done, every magical item ribbon will have a short description on it that will allow easy idenficiation of the properties of common items without needing to consult a referee. These descriptions aren't just restricted to describing the physical nature of the item - some may include roleplaying flavour that I hope will help make the items feel a little more magical. Of course, while being able to tell what kind of item you are handling is useful it doesn't provide any information about things like any hallow that might exist, whether the item is bonded, or cursed or what have you. We're almost certainly going to be expanding the description of the Detect Magic incantation (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Spell_list#Detect_Magic) to make explicit it's use in identifying magical items as well as enchantments. The only reason it doesn't allow you to do that at the moment is because of one of those embarassing scenarios where everyone just assumed it already said it did until someone went and checked by which time it was half-way through an event and a bit late for a major change. ===Annoying Talented People Building Stuff=== One of the high points of working on Empire is seeing the lovely stuff the Blue Collar Creatives put together for us to play with. I'm hoping we can get a couple of pictures of things that are being put together up somewhere at some point. One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the new Sentinel Gate which is under construction in Scotland as we speak. The old one was lovely, but unfortuantely took an absolute kicking from the psychotic weather of 2013. The new gate will be a lot sturdier, what with metal frames and the like, and will hopefully be able to survive the direct meteor strike that I am predicting is the only logical escalation from last year's four mini environmental disasters. There's also some lovely stuff coming in the form of costumes - I'm watching the progress of some of the lovely Eternal outfits with especial interest. There's a facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/243111769153902/) for people interested in volunteering to help make costume for Empire, and while I'm not entirely sure how it works it looks like a friendly and welcoming community. We've also got work progressing on some new monster kit, of which I may say more later. The battle, skirmish and quest teams have done a brilliant job through 2013 working with limited resources to turn outlines into physical encounters, but it's always been our intention to get a core of solid large monster outfits that depict specifically Empire creatures such as ogres and the like. Because of the way we've built our game (especially the absence of features such as immunity to normal weapons and the like), having a wide range of singular costumes such as dragons and death knights is actually not hugely useful to us. We've been talking right from the start about building encounters that include groups of creatures, and one of our design principles has been to avoid unneccessarly sprawling when it comes to the creatures that inhabit the Empire world (we'd rather have a small number of monsters in the closed world than a "monster of the week" scenario). While it will probably take years for our collection to build up, over winter we've started taking the first steps. ===Lots of Meetings=== February is likely to be Meeting Month - I think there's something on every weekend. I'll try to keep you updated on any interesting developments as they happen. I'm not expecting any major rules changes this year - as far as I can tell we're reasonably happy with the rules themselves. There may be some changes to how some of the rules are implemented - there's a long and ongoing discussion about rituals and ceremonies about how we can run them without killing too many referees - and there's definitely some work to do on presenting some of the rules a bit better (especially the ritual rules). About the only thing I can think of that could be considered a rules change revolves around the recovery of [url=http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Heroic_skills#Hero_Points]hero points[/url] and as soon as I know what the final decision is, I'll make someone write a blog post about it. Someone else who can string three sentences together coherently :) I'm not anticipating any major changes to the setting or the on-the-field game; I'm personally reasonably happy with the design of the Imperial Senate, Synod and Military Council as they currently stand - there may be some streamlining to do, but I think the powers and abilities of these three are now in their final form. need to do a proper review of the Conclave to make sure it hasn't suffered from being the first structure completed, but again I don't anticipate any major changes from what is on the wiki. The Bourse isn't so much going to change as it is going to be running properly this year - with staggered auctions of the Bourse Seats following the fuckup that saw them all given out for a full year at the first event of 2013. The person responsible has been extensively punished by having his access to Fredos heavily restricted. Oh I say that, but I am currently campaigning to have a tweak made to the way one of the nations elects it's senators. Not a change, just a tweak. I'm not going to tell you which one it is because I like being enigmatic. ===The Future=== There's some writing still to do - we've got a few Emperor/Empresses to finish presenting, there are still some gaps in the Eternals, and not all the Foreigner information is up, but in each case this is additive stuff rather than changes. They'll go up as they're finished and signed off. The Boss and I have talked extensively about regular blogging and some sort of update schedule. My Big Job for the next six weeks is going to be the Realms. We wrote them up at the start of 2013 but never got round to tidying the internal write-ups so that they were suitable for external presentation. The decision was made at the last minute to remove them from the main wiki, so there's been a bit of blagging and hand-waving among the players about things they probably ought to have known around realm themes and the nature of the Eternals. I'm vaguely planning to do a post on each of the Realms to accompany this information, talking not only about the IC elements but also giving some insight into how and why we designed our magic system the way we did. We're probably launching another recruitment drive in the next month or so aimed at people who don't play Empire but might enjoy some role-playing. After the success of The Hundred (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Hundred) last year we're looking at ways to get our hands on some enthusiastic rrrroleplayers to help us run out plot and story; more on that later, I suspect. So ... more than anything else, this has been an attempt by me to get back on the horse that is communicating with players. As always, everything here is personal opinion and subject to change without notice. I'll hopefully have more concrete stuff to say in the coming months. #rafframblesaboutempire, #backtothewikiminesforthenewyear SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-10-31T12:42:40+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/503490036413648 Don't forget that today is the last day to buy your tickets for next year at this year's prices. The price for all PD events will go up by £5 from tomorrow. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-23T15:49:12+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/485295031566482 Photo by Jo Perridge, masks and armour by Mandala Studios - Props, Costume and Special Effects SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-23T14:35:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/485270248235627 Empire 2013. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Photo by Jo Perridge, masks and armour by Mandala Studios - Props, Costume and Special Effects SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-20T18:43:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/484141768348475 Volunteers wanted! Sadly, with all the rain we didn't get all our canvas down and packed away and there is quite a bit of work left to do on site to put all our kit away for winter. So on Monday and Tuesday we'll be back on site (sadly I'm busy this weekend) finishing the clearing up. If anyone in the area is able to come down and help - then any help at all would be gratefully appreciated. We'll be there early Monday morning, we'll pay sensible travel expenses and sort out food for folks. I can't answer any messages here, but if you're able to help - we want your help. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-19T09:05:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/483237171772268 No rest for the wicked... I'm off to the Fayre Times Festival this weekend to give a couple of talks on LRP - "How to be a costume elitist" about the challenges involved in trying to create immersive LRP - and "Battleships and Battlements" - about what I see as the next big thing in LRP and the difficulties in achieving it. Hopefully see those of you interested in going to the Fayre there. https://www.facebook.com/FayreTimesFestival SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-18T18:01:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/482932338469418 Wotcha folks - after a lot of consideration we've decided to close down our sister Facebook group. The group has been great recently, but we've had a number of painful problems over the last year or so of launching Empire with flame-wars and other arguments which have been exacerbated by the immediate nature of Facebook communication. During that time we've establishing some moderation protocols but the reputation of that group is now pretty dire and as a result we've decided to move the discussion from there to a forum. We're not vacating Facebook completely - we'll continue to maintain this page on Facebook - we'll update here regularly with announcements and information. So please like the page if you haven't already done so and you want to continue to receive regular PD updates through Facebook. And don't forget that if you have a PD account then you can set it to email you with important announcements like downtime and booking deadlines. We'll be setting the Facebook group to admin only early next week. From that point on, the forums will be the official internet location for discussing the game with members of the Empire team. We know that there are many thriving unofficial Facebook groups for the different nations and some members of our team will continue to be members of those pages, but official responses will be on the forums. We realize this move won't please everyone - pleasing everyone is never possible - but we think it's the best way to move on from the trials and tribulations of the first year, to allow us to focus on improving Empire for the future. The new forums can be found here: http://forums.profounddecisions.co.uk/ SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-09-06T09:39:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/475893219173330 The prebooking deadline for the Autumn Equinox - our final event of 2013 - ends tonight at midnight. Make sure you send payment before this date if you haven't already done so - otherwise you will have to pay on the gate. We look forward to seeing you there! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-08-23T09:20:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/469976826431636 The early booking deadline for the final Empire event of 2013, the Autumn Equinox, is midnight tonight. You can pay by any method, but must send payment before midnight tonight to obtain the early booking price if you have not already done so. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/Tickets?0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-08-05T21:19:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/462065577222761 We've added a few more tents to the website for booking for the final Empire event of the year. If you want to book a tent you can do so online now http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/tents Please note that tents tend to book out very very quickly! So book early to avoid disappointment. The server will be closed from Midnight Tuesday onwards to allow us to take the database to Odyssey. Once we're back from Odyssey we'll get it open again and allow folks to submit their downtime. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-07-12T18:08:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/451394264956559 We are the Centuria - a hundred warriors who fight against a thousand. No horn sounds for battle that we do not take the field. But we swear that whenever the Empire sets foot upon the field of battle we will match them boot for boot, blade for blade. We are slain but never die, defeated but never beaten, our banners are captured but never fall. We will become war. PD are recruiting - spread the word. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/news/TheSecondEmpire?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-06-28T10:45:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/444928802269772 Friday is the early booking deadline for the next Empire. Make sure you send payment before this deadline if you want to get the event at the cheapest price. We've updated the website so you can now complete resource transfers directly between group members online. See the website for the latest news. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/news/latestempire SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-05-13T10:18:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/425874650841854 Today is the last day for pre-booking for the next Empire event. Make sure you send payment today if you want to attend the event and haven't already done so - otherwise you will have to pay on the gate. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-04-21T08:06:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/416887425073910 Don't forget that midnight tomorrow is the deadline to send payment for early booking the second Empire event. After Monday the price goes up by £5 to the late booking price. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-04-18T10:20:07+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/415649928530993 I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to send feedback from the first event. We've now digested most of that feedback, produced a plan for some improvements for next event, and blogged about it here. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/news/TheFirstEmpire?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-04-03T20:44:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/409709659125020 The server is now back up and folks can book online for the next event but I've removed the book tent button pending a meeting with the senior red caps to discuss the situation. We tried to do too much this event and we came scarily close to not having enough people to pull it off. The event only happened at all because a score of people worked themselves to death to make it happen. It's not fair to ask that of them again, even were it physically possible. We're going to look at it very carefully as soon as possible and get a proper announcement made in due order. If we can build up our site-crew team a bit further it may be doable, if not then we'll have to look at alternatives. I realize that's a problem for players who were relying on the facility, but I have to ensure we can deliver a first-class event before we offer extras like 40+ hire tents. Matt P, PD. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-03-27T14:14:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/562473190439851 There's been a deal of additional material published to the wiki over the last few days, and some greatly enhanced sections are worth highlighting: the worksing of the Bourse, Conclave and Military Council. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Bourse http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Military_Council http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Conclave ...and last, but most certainly not least, battle: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Battles For those who are interested, Nathan Courtney has distilled the wiki into 100 words: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6533037/Empire_Wiki SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-03-24T10:26:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/405321686230484 Don't forget today is the last day for prebooking the event, and for making your character. After today, you will have to pay on the gate or make your character when you get on site. Also, if you have claimed the concession please don't forget that you have to provide proof of eligibility. The best way to do this is to scan some appropriate paperwork and email it to us - this saves you time queueing in the "prove your discount queue" at the event. Otherwise you MUST bring your proof with you. You will be charged the additional £15 on the gate if you can't prove your eligibility. Information on the different virtue roleplaying effects that you can create with consecration, annointing and hallow were added to the wiki last night, if you have those skills, it's well worth taking a look. We're hoping to add information on the conclave and bourse today or tomorrow at the latest. We're still want more crew for our orc horde, if you're remotely interested then get in touch! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-03-22T23:36:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/425053500921206 This is the last weekend for prebooking the event - you can pay on the gate after this, but you need to send payment by Sunday if you want to prebook. We're still after more crew for the event - to help us with NPC parts and to play the orc horde. Crewing is free and you get your meal tickets and a great weekend, so if you're not booked for the event and you fancy an awesome weekend then get in touch. Character creation and group creation are live on the website. Please make sure you get your character made on the system so we can have your pack ready for you without delay. Event information for everyone who has booked is here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Empire_event_information And a final blog post (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/TheFinalBlog) before the event with a few words summing it all up. Three years in the making - it's been a hell of a journey - and it all happens one week from now! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-03-17T16:59:51+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/574886852536104 I guess you could say we're in the flat sprint for the time-in line now. It's all go, and more is being added to the wki every day. Of particular interest at the moment, you might like this on Materials: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Game_items There is also a definitive answer on what you need to phys-rep now - it is items, herbs, mana crystals and potions (details added later). We will provide ribbons for items, cards for herbs and crystals and stuff for potions, but you must provide the phys-reps. We'll provide you with phys-reps for resources, liao and coins. We would have liked to have done phys-reps for herbs and mana crystals too, but sadly there were a few technical challenges that just couldn't be overcome, so in the end we went with the best we could do. And also a little more on the Artisan skill, specifically starting items, and the amounts of materials produced by different resources: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Crafting_skills#Artisan http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Resource_overview SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-03-14T15:38:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/426331690791284 We're pleased to be able to let everyone know that character and group generation are now available on the website. If you're coming to the event, even if you are paying on the gate, it's well worth making your character in advance as it will save plenty of time on the day and avoid you queuing up to use a computer. There is a new page on the wiki detailing some last minute rules changes now that everything has been completed. You can find that here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Rules_update Andy Rafferty is hard at work uploading all the remaining rituals and items to the wiki. Most of them are up there now and the rest should be done in a few days. We'll focus now on getting the last few bits of campaign details, the bourse, conclave and legal system up there over the next week. I'll email everybody in the next twenty four hours to let everyone know everything is now live and to confirm booking deadlines and availability of the wiki on the run up to the event. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-28T15:49:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/335981119834698 More new content on the wiki: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Individual_Nation_Maps SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-27T03:48:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/394895730606413 Part of the Urizen portal brought to Anvil! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-27T03:44:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/394895443939775 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-27T03:43:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/394895087273144 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-17T15:05:00+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/390978650998121 Work is now underway on the Imperial Senate. We have half the steel frames done and are starting work on the dressing and cladding. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-17T14:54:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/390976177665035 These are the latest photos from the workshop, where we're putting the finishing touches on the back half of the tavern. We hope you enjoy this quick peek into what is being built in the PD workshops this month! Once we have the tavern complete - the next project is the Senate building... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-16T08:18:32+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/390420881053898 Just a quick sneak peek at the mailshot which is now back from the printers. It'll take a little while to get it all folded and packed, but it should start to arrive with folks by the middle of the week! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-02-03T22:26:34+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/384147768347876 The latest step forward for the tavern! Bill and Kiera and their team were on site again this weekend working to improve the tavern. Here you can see some of the gable end to the tavern that is being added in. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-31T11:33:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/333727830070906 A little something from Matt about the roleplaying effects in Empire... "Most characters in Empire have dramatic personalities, but no character is immune to fear - you have to roleplay and react in a way that is appropriate. The examples given in the rules are picked carefully to try and illustrate the kind of things we believe are appropriate. Great sworn oaths, bound with magic, hero points, lineage and so forth. If your character wants to simply overcome something like an aura of fear, to resist it, they should have something of equivalent power and strength, perhaps a spiritual annointing of courage, or a hallowed item they carry to call on. It can't just be "Well my character is dead brave". This isn't something a bit scary - it's a supernatural aura of dread fear - this is the black breath of the nazgul. We realize that we are taking a very substantial risk building an entire section of the game around roleplaying effects. I don't really think it's been done before in a large fest, although doubtless someone will prove me wrong. There is the chance that the players, en masse, simply decide to ignore the roleplaying effects portions of the system, meaning that it collapses under the weight of refusal to engage. Now of course they could also do that with the hit system. Players could just decide, en masse, not to take their hits. When you talk to people who haven't LRPed before they often say "But what happens if people just don't take their hits?". But LRPers are used to the idea of taking their hits and it just works. We're less used to the idea of "roleplaying effects" based rules. Roleplaying effects aren't optional (that was Maelstrom, the last game we did). They're mandatory, you choose the response that is appropriate for your character, but you HAVE TO RESPOND. Not taking your roleplaying effects is exactly the same as not taking your hits. Saying "my character doesn't scare easily" is like saying "my character doesn't bruise easily, so I take more hits than other characters". The difference is that with hits it's mechanical. The rules are mechanical in the sense that I have three hits, you hit me, I now have two hits. There is no judgement, no need for you the player to decide what the outcome is. That's worked well enough for years in LRP but there are two problems with an endless emphasis on mechanical rules. One is that it encourages a learned response in which the response is seen as purely mechanical. You hit me, I now have one hit less. Rather than you have struck me with a massive two-handed sword ripping open the flesh of my arm and I should now roleplay accordingly. As a result LRP games are stuck constantly having to reiterate "and roleplay being hit" as a sort of additional add on. Much more significant is that many rules cannot be operated with a purely mechanical system. If I have a "Befriend" spell that makes you think I am your friend - then what the fuck does that actually do? How do I respond to that - mechanically? There is no mechanical response, but these spells are often added into LRP games with no clear though on the concepts that underpin them, or how they fit into the system as a whole. The range of enjoyable things you can do in LRP with purely mechanical things is very limited. Roleplaying effects are a different type of rule - they're narrative rules. They're rules where you decide the outcome in a very real sense, based on what produces good story, good narrative, good roleplaying. Befriend is actually an example of a narrative rule but in many systems the concepts of narrative rules, how they work, how they are implemented are not clearly laid out and thought about in those design terms. I'm really excited about the narrative rules in Empire. The concept is used widely in smaller systems, although I'm not convinced that I've seen it laid out in the way we have done it, it's usually more implicit than explicit. And I do think it's the first time that a large fest system has said "These are narrative rules, they're not mechanical." So we'll see how well that works when we hit the field. " The rules covering roleplaying effects are here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Magic_overview#Roleplaying_effects SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-29T12:56:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/378691415560178 Coins, lovely, lovely metal coins. :) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-29T03:36:32+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/378524202243566 Pretty coins are pretty... These are a week later because the original coins were confused with small poisonous child-killing shuriken. Fortunately our secret agent in Hong Kong Jeannette Ng sent them back and asked for coins instead. Having Jeanette handle all the problems of dealing with the supplier is awesome and just one of the many contributions made by players which is helping to make the game more awesome. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-27T23:24:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/378013285627991 Hello! If you have any questions or want to discuss your Empire backgrounds, personal and group, please email empire.backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk, where a team of friendly and helpful people are waiting to assist. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-24T11:51:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/376192845810035 These are the first samples of the new Imperial Currency. Sent via the wonders of internet trickey by our secret agent in the far east, Jeannette Ng. Just over 40,000 coins ordered for the new game! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-21T23:36:07+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/498841150159420 Daisy Abbott has spent ages slaving over a detailed map of the Empire, showing all of the territories, settlements, places of interest and so on that we're detailing in the Gazetteer. It's a big map. A very big map. You can find it here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Map_-_Detailed_Empire To forestall questions, there will be zoomed in maps of each nation available at some point. But we hope that with the map linked here and the Gazetteer (and Zoom In on your browser!) you should have enough info to make decisions about backgrounds and the like. Round of applause for Daisy, please! (Gazetteer is linked here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Gazetteer) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-16T18:28:11+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/499564496761218 Another long-awaited release. The Empire mini-epic. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrKyVhawhzv0&h=iAQG7yqJn SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-14T17:00:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/157164621098365 A long-awaited release: the Imperial Orc brief is out at: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Orcs We're quite pleased with it... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-14T17:00:37+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/581631751850317 A long-awaited release: the Imperial Orc brief is out at: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Imperial_Orcs We're quite pleased with it... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-12T00:05:57+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/475156335875067 Next weekend, Mandala are arranging a £30 costume challenge. The idea is to create a costume on a tight budget, to show what can be accomplished. More details are here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/CostumeChallenge SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-12T00:04:23+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/565472566798767 Next weekend, Mandala are arranging a £30 costume challenge. The idea is to create a costume on a tight budget, to show what can be accomplished. More details are here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/CostumeChallenge SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-11T19:05:35+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/370327776396542 This from Mr Rafferty may be of interest, we hope..... "One of the things we're talking about a bit backstage right now is symbols. Banners on the art department, the way orcs decorate their gear, the role of standards on the battlefield and the like. I'm taking a moment out from my busy, busy schedule of trying to decide whether to have any more toast to talk briefly about attitudes to flags and symbols. We say a lot that one of the main Imperial symbols is the horse. In Dawn, the players (and writers) make a big deal out of gryphons. We know that the "banner" of the League is a red wolf above three rings on a white field. We know that the wheatsheaf, the apple, the cup and the coin are all common symbols of prosperity. But what does this actually mean? We've mostly not put specific images of these things into play, and there's a couple of very basic reasons for this. The first is an IC one. Matt points out a few times that while the Empire is advanced, it is pre-industrial. There is no mass-production of items or automated line, everything is made by hand. In this environment it's tough to have a single image, logo or set of images dominate. You can look at a banner and say "that is a Dawnish banner because it has a gold sun on a blue background" but there are dozens of ways "blue background", "gold" and "sun" can be combined to produce a banner, flag, pennant or what have you. It's also an OOC thing. We stress time and again that we want the players to invest in the game, to use their skills and creativity and express them through their costume and their props. If we said "here is the wolf-and-rings flag of the League you must copy it" we'd be denying people the chance to be creative and to really invest. An obvious example of this is in Varushka with the animals. We mention animals that have special meaning to the Varushkans, and we have a gorgeous set of drawings that are common depictions of those animals, trying to stress that the trick is about capturing the “spirit” of the animal not a photorealistic depiction of the actual creature. When someone from Varushka wants to make a banner for their group, they might put a goose on it but how they draw that goose and what colour it is and all the rest of it is not our concern. This approach has caused a few problems - we mention a basilisk in Highguard but we neglected to give a proper description of it for example, and we failed entirely to give the Brass Coast or Varushka a common banner element at all. Many players are paralysed by the thought of “doing it wrong” because we've spent so much time showing them things we think are “doing it right.” It's not ideal to put a dragon on your livery in the Marches, because we mention they like more mundane animals, but it's not “forbidden” - we're not trying to be dictatorial about symbols any more than we're trying to be dictatorial about costume – although if you do it I hope you are going to face IC repercussions of having a symbol more associated with Dawn on your livery. What I'm hoping we'll do over the next few weeks is finalize a few of the designs the Art Department have been beavering away on, and stick them up for people to draw inspiration from. We definitely won't say "this is the national flag of Varushka! Put this on your stuff!" We probably won't say "these runes are the only ones the Wintermark put on their banners, and this is the only shape they make them in!" What we will say is "we think these images are cool, and we're looking forward to seeing what you come up with."" SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-10T12:13:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/369761736453146 Thomas E. Hancocks mentioned that the photos of the tavern just released looked a lot like a pile of girders. I'd forgotten that a few people may not be aware what happens next to that pile of metal! So here is a quick photo-diary of what was done with the front half of the tavern. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-09T18:20:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/369456976483622 More good news, our Hong Kong secret agent, Jeannette, has just let us know that the factory are hoping to have the first samples of the new coins ready by the weekend. Hopefully we'll have some photos of actual coins to upload soon! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-09T18:00:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/369447406484579 These are the latest photos from the workshop, where we're putting the finishing touches on the back half of the tavern. We hope you enjoy this quick peek into what is being built in the PD workshops this month! Once we have the tavern complete - the next project is the Senate building... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-06T15:03:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/367937226635597 More thoughts from Matt purloined from elsewhere on the Internet and brought here for your pleasure. Downtimes, and game-styles and the promise of Empire; "If you're looking for Empire's downtime system to recreate Maelstrom you're going to be disappointed. We're pretty determined to ensure that doesn't happen. It's cool to have tidbits, but we really don't want to give people the idea that Empire really is Maelstrom and just pretending not to be because we believe that would be quite dishonest. For Empire we're making an enormous effort to make the downtime as simple as humanly possible so that all the focus is firmly on the activity in the field. There is a tiny bit more detail than is currently on the wiki, personal resources can be upgraded, and campaign resources are pretty damn cool. And personal resources like military units and fleets have one extra choice to make when you use them, compared with personal resources like herb gardens or mines. And that's it. That's pretty much the whole downtime system - basically what you see on the wiki is what you get. I think there is enough there to achieve what we want for the game, to make the setting coherent and consistent. The senate can pass motions to do things and they will affect the game. People can have a trade monopoly with the land of silk and spice and it will mean something concrete. But in no way shape or form is any of the complexity and bewildering range of options that the Maelstrom downtime system ever possessed going to be present in the game. I've seen two people say "the rules are just like Maelstrom" which leaves us utterly bewildered, since we think they're nothing like Maelstrom. So when people say "I'm not going to bother with Empire because it's not Maelstrom" then I think that's a good decision to make. It's not Maelstrom - if Maelstrom is the only game you want to play - then you won't get that at Empire and coming to the game will just leave you disappointed. The play style of Empire is intended to be different. There is a big emphasis on plot, a big emphasis on massive epic battles and skirmishes - neither of which were part of Maelstrom. Some elements are the same - there is a big emphasis on the game being player-led and a big emphasis on trade and the social side of the game. But the game is very deliberately promoting itself as "not PvP combat" which is about as different from Maelstrom as you can get. I don't think the game is even remotely like the LT personally, since the big battles at the LT are PvP, I think it's closer to the CP model than the LT one. It is a fantasy setting, but it's a closed world and one with far more detail and depth than Maelstrom ever had, so in that respect it's nothing like either the LT or CP. But I don't mind what people compare it to, comparisons are in the eye of the beholder. But we ran Maelstrom for nine years and we're very keen to run something different this time. I want a game that captures the spirit of the battle of Helm's Deep from the Lord of the Rings films, or the rich politics and layered plot of books like The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I want a game of heroes in a political world - like the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher. We just don't want to do *another* LRP game inspired by Sid Meier's Civilisation games - and we'd rather be as honest as possible about what we're trying to achieve. At the end of the day 90% of the game is available on the wiki now. The setting is almost complete, most of the rules are there. Anyone who is waiting to find something they like about the game at this stage, is fooling themselves if they think "PD are just holding back the good stuff until later". If what's up there isn't your game... then it's not your game. We can't make a game for everyone and we never set out to try. There are many great LRP games, like the LT or many others for those who want them. But I really hope that people who come to Empire come to the game because they want to play Empire - not because they want to play Maelstrom." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-05T11:37:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/367441056685214 The team are in the studio again, literally shooting as I type. This time we're focussing on orcs and lineage. Here's a sneak preview! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2013-01-02T12:45:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/321608957951981 We haven't released any design blog posts for a while, since we've been concentrating on the rules, but now they're out I've put up some thoughts on economics in fest LRP here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/EconomicsInEmpire?4 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-12-27T21:12:28+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/363204363775550 A little something from Matt about personal resources, stitched together from comments on the group: No set of rules can please everyone, but the one player - one personal resource was essential to our game design and was one of the core ideas from the outset. Some of the advantages are: 1. A limit of one resource ensures that people's downtimes remain uber-simple. You have a personal resource - it produces X - job done. What our experience from Maelstrom showed us was that given the potential to fill up your game options with scores of complex and difficult options - players took it - and often had a thoroughly miserable time as the complexity overwhelmed the fun. This rules ensures the maximum possible simplicity in this area, which was a key design requirement. 2. One resource per active character means that for a starting resource has no intrinsic value - it's the character that operates it that is meaningful. You can go round and gather up starting resources from characters or retired characters or dead characters - and it means precisely nothing. That's unrealistic certainly, but we were determined that cool game would trump realism. What we've done means that there is never a problem with characters attempting to gain resources by convincing friends to create them - then hand them over - a known poisonous problem with our previous game where ownership was the key factor. 3. One resource per character means that every character in the game has some kind of productive asset. Every character produces and every character's ability to produce is of demonstrable value. Since anyone can have a personal resource, but you can only have one, it is the ability to run a personal resource - represented by a PC - not the resource itself that is valuable. So a consortium of mine owners is powerful because there are a dozen mine owners in it, not because one character owns a dozen mines... What we found in Maelstrom was that large groups would often leverage their strength to pile huge amounts of resources on to a few or just one character. That person would then operate everything, so they acted as the source of the wealth and power in the game. This rule stops the concentration of wealth into the hands of a few characters and encourages it into many hands. It also works the other way round. Imagine a group that has improved their resources over time (so that now the resources are worth something). They still need one character per resource to work each one - so if a character dies and the group shrinks - they're motivated to find a new character and bring him into the group so that he can operate the advanced resource. Basically the rule works to discourage the concentration of wealth into small powerful cliques and encourage a positive reaction towards new characters/players. Ultimately Empire won't be for everyone. Empire is not Maelstrom 2, it's a very different game, and we're trying to deliver some very different experiences. Overall we think the new game is much better than the old one, but we accept that we can't please everyone. It's true that limiting the methods of resource acquisition limits economic gameplay - I suspect that Empire might feature less trade and economics than Maelstrom had - albeit if only because it will be difficult to fit it in round the plot, battles and politics! However there are still numerous avenues for resource acquisition. Your personal resource can be improved. You can gain control of campaign resources. And of course, best of all, you can do deals in play to gain wealth and influence. I am confident that significant economic incentives will remain, we want trade and economics to be a part of Empire - but we want it to be a fifth of the game, not 3/5 as it was with Maelstrom arguably. Any game is always limited in the avenues for resource acquisition, most games are limited because there is no infrastructure to support additional avenues - in this case we've explicitly chosen to apply this limit. What matter in determining how "economically active" the game will be is not whether some avenues are limited but whether enough avenues remain, how deep and viable those avenues are and critically how many economic actors there are in the system. It doesn't make back-end admin easier - quite the opposite. In a system in which anyone can own any number of resources, resources are given to specialists to control - and they know how they work - so they rarely ask questions of you. Giving them out to everyone makes my life *harder* as more people want to know how they work... The reason it makes for admin hell is the same reason that armies have logistical corps and that large companies struggle to administer themselves. The more variables there are - the more complex the whole thing becomes. Sometimes that complexity is good - and sometimes that complexity is bad. Not all complexity is good - as anyone who has ever tried to play a board game by Avalon Hill will attest. Have you ever played an RTS game with city conquer and development? I've played loads and in the first 100 turns it's fun. You've got three cities and setting what each one produces is fun! In the last 100 turns of the game - when you have 100 cities - then setting what each city can produce is a complete ball-ache. It's not fun - it's just irksome admin. That is how multiple resources can lead to administrative pain for players. What I'm trying to explain is that by preventing that from happening we'll ensure that a larger segment of the player-base remains engaged with the economic side of the game. That will ensure that the economy has more people active in it and that will make the economy more engaging and interesting. Again, to use the board game analogy - if you look at board games in the 80s and early 90s there was a strong tendency to try to build realism into them - to include every conceivable piece of data and model every bit of physics. The old Avalon Hill games like Squad Leader and Air Superiority were classic examples of this approach. But they were largely superceeded by a wave of German and European board games that favoured stripped down simplistic rules designed to allow for a wide range of behaviours. I don't know many people who don't think that Settlers of Catan isn't a better game than Squad Leader - certainly for many the play experience of the two is leagues apart. So ultimately I guess that's it - we're trying for Settlers of Catan - not Squad Leader. We want a simple economic game that is rewarding and fun to play without becoming slow and administratively burdensome for the player. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-12-24T18:35:18+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/547729121923383 The core rules are now up at: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Empire_rules Please send any questions to info@profounddecisions.co.uk and we'll add to the FAQ. Thank you for your patience over the last few weeks. There's maybe 300 magical items and rituals to finish off. They'll be uploaded to the wiki over the next couple of weeks. The rules team will now take a short break... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-12-24T18:22:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/262869823841059 The rules will be up very shortly. In the meantime, you might enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjabuUNxK0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-12-21T10:25:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/360540630708590 Back in October, we did some filming at Tournament Stud. 65 cast and crew in the mud for a weekend. Now, PD doesn't generally give release dates - but next week, we'll release the trailer, and in January a short film which will give a flavour of what we expect the game to be like. (Alongside, I expect, another release that folk have been looking forward to for Some Time.) Thanks to Bill Thomas and all the people involved. (And no, it didn't slow the rules release up - almost entirely different people... ;-) )" SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-12-06T11:27:16+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/353952001367453 We recently finished the first promotional photo-shoot for Empire. We'll hopefully add the pictures to the wiki soon, but in the meantime here is a quick taster from the shoot. Yes it's the First Empress' crown - the ultimate prize that awaits the hero or heroine that can convince the Senate to crown them... Special thanks to Stephen Lunn of White Rose Apparel for creating the crown for us! We wanted something beautiful for this ultimate item and he didn't let us down. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-11-19T16:22:52+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/348063798622940 We've now sent off the order for 42,200 metal coins! Coins will be in different sizes and colours (for ease of use) but the image shows the designs. I'll upload a picture of the actual coins once we get the samples. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-11-17T20:24:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/296837293751848 I have updated the wiki to add an FAQ including all of the questions which have been maintained on FAQs elsewhere. We will be updating this master document from now on with any new questions of importance that we are sent. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-11-17T16:11:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/347307322031921 I thought this was worth a wider audience: Mr Andy Raff on writing the Imperial Orc brief. "Some thoughts on the hurdles around ImpOrcs. I'm just speaking personally here; obviously other people on the team have different opinions and attitudes that they should feel free to share if they are so tempted. Partly its the tension between wanting to make clear that orcs are not just humans in masks, while steering clear of making them special snowflakes (I want them to interact with the rules the same way humans do as much as we possibly can). I worry occasionally about the idea that I'm trying too hard to push the instincts/basic drives of orcs being different to humans, but I think that if we get it right it'll add extra cool to playing them. I still occasionally worry about the racism angle, but I'm keeping as clear a head about it as I can manage while still being in possession of the dual disadvantages of "testicles" and "pallid, sickly skin tones." A lot of what we decide for the ImpOrcs will also be true of the BarbOrcs - in the same way that you can look at the Lineaged and make assumptions about the way the Eternals might think or act, I want PCs to be able to look at the ImpOrcs and make informed guesses about the BarbOrcs. There are some religious challenges to overcome - at the moment orcs can't use liao, can't learn priest skills, and almost certainly can't have churches. The question of whether they have souls at is one that i want to see debated on the field (mind you I think you can argue whether anyone has a soul, but I digress). I also want options for PCIOs to interact with the Imperial Faith rather than just cut them completely off from a section of game. Human religious PCs ought to be jealous - I think religious orcs will have the advantage of 'doing the Imperial Faith' in the knowledge that they are almost certainly *not* going to get any of the benefits that the humans do :) I have a few personal concerns around the slavery storyline, but following some good advice (don't try to sanitize, gloss over or glorify slavery; remember it's a game; look for the cool opportunities the history offers both to the orc players and their human oppressors-as-was) I'm a bit less worried. There's still a story hurdle, getting right the gap between barbarians and imperials; how can we create a culture or a nation brief for a people who've spent the last 300 years being treated as organic mining machinery or hiding in the woods? Finally we've also got to get over the hurdle presented by the right tension between the orcs being Imperial Citizens and the idea that they are still a proto-nation. I want the PCIO's to feel a real sense of achievement when they get their first Senator, their first territory and their nation. Anything we do to make that too easy detracts from the achievement, I think. What's important to me persoanlly (and I try to keep it in mind all the time we're working on or talking about them), is that these are *Empire* orcs, and not orcs from other settings visiting via space-time portal. There's plenty of other games out there to play other kinds of orc in. I've poked around the Orc FB group and found it a remarkably positive place, full of enthusiasm and a scary amount of patience. I'm very aware that we have taken the piss with this brief, and I very much want to be confident that what we produce does not feel 'tacked on' - or rather, I don't want the people playing ImpOrcs to feel like they're 'tacked on.' I couldn't care less frankly if people from other Nations think they're 'tacked on' as long as the people actually sweating inside the masks think they've got as much cool, as much background and as much game as everyone else." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-11-17T06:03:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/347146498714670 We have updated the website so that young players are now able to book for events at the prices listed on the website. To book your child into the event, please go to the website and make an account for them. Once you have entered all their details, including their birth date and created the account then they will be able to view and purchase the correct tickets and prices for their age. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-11-09T08:10:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/344375435658443 I'm sorry that we didn't manage to get any new kickstarter goals up, but in the end bookings came in so quickly we were simply unable to update the website fast enough! I'm pleased to say that we have sold over three hundred tickets for the first event and just under a thousand tickets for the first year of Empire giving us over £45,000 to spend over Winter making cool toys. Back to back comparisons with bookings in previous years suggests we should have somewhere between 1100 and 1200 players at the first event, so the campaign can begin on a suitably dramatic note! Quite a few people commented that they were keen to book but didn't want to do so until the information for Imperial Orcs or the rules was released. We don't know when the information will be complete, but we're hoping it will be soon, so we're going to leave the prices as they are for a little while longer so that we can give everyone a chance to book at the cheap rate. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-24T01:39:22+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/338644429564877 I'm pleased to say that we've passed the latest target on Tuesday. I'm making arrangements to order the armour we want from Mandala and we're going to look to source the arrows. Having checked carefully we think we'll be able to make do with 200 arrows for the first few events, all depending on how many barbarians are in our horde of course! I'm confident that we'll pass the next target sometime around the start of the weekend at current progress. If we do then I'll look to update with some more targets for the final week! SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-19T04:28:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/167209023417139 Because Empire is such an ambitious game, we've experienced recurring problems communicating a clear message about what we expect from players with regards to their costume at our events. Although I've made several posts on Facebook, trying to make our position clear, these tend to disappear off the page quickly. To improve communication of this vital issue we've created a page on the wiki (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Costume) that pulls together much of the ideas about costume at PD events that we've been talking about on Facebook over the last six months. As the approach is fairly unusual for us, I've also added a new design blog entry to try and explain a little more about what we're doing and why (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/ImmersionAndInclusion). Matt P. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-19T04:21:44+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/380693932005882 I'm pleased to announce that we hit our next fund-raising target of 15K last Monday and that we'll reach our final target of 20K today. As a result I've upgraded our "kickstarter" page with a new set of targets (http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/BuildingAnEmpire). I spent this morning at the workshop looking at the latest frames to roll off the production line. As we've hit our targets, these will now be designated to form a new bar and cellar for the tavern. The design for the redeveloped rear of the tavern will also include a "bards gallery" for musicians to perform, hopefully adding even more to the ambience in the tavern. Once these frames are complete, we'll begin work on the frames for the Senate building. The sketches look every bit as exciting as the tavern, so we'll try and get copies up on the website soon. If we get enough bookings before the end of the month then we'll add more new targets. We'd like to commission some amazing monsters for the first battles and start at least one more major building. Please share the word and encourage everyone to book early. The more bookings we get before the deadline in November, the more amazing things we can do for the first event. Matt P. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-17T09:35:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/336288133133840 Another kernel of knowledge gleaned from the group... Tom Yeomans asked "How suitable is empire for your first big event, i have been too two both with only about 30 people" And Matt replied: "In terms of trying to ensure that Empire will be a great for new players, we're pursuing three core strategies: 1) Lots of plot. We're recruiting a lot of very good plot writers and asking them to produce plot working in independent teams that will then be overseen by Raff and I. The goal is to find ways to maximise the amount of plot being run at the event. It's difficult to compete with a small game where the plot is spread between relatively few players, but it does mean that there will be a wide spread of plots to be involved in, so it may be easier to find plot you enjoy and if you miss out on one or two plot lines there is plenty of other stuff to enjoy. 2) New Player Team: We're putting together a specialized team precisely to work on issues for new players. Their brief is to work with new players to help them get invovled in the game, to overcome the challenges of being a new player involved in a big and to ensure that there is plenty of plot for new players. Obviously they'll be pretty busy at the first event, but just having a team with a new player focus will help considerably in my opinion. I'm not aware of other large events doing that and having a dedicated team would be difficult for most small events. 3) Economics: Empire replaces Maelstrom and will employ various design techniques to ensure that there is an active economy. I'm not going to go into detail here, but the essence is around having things you can buy and sell and having every character be "economically capable". What that means is that the game is being designed so that every character begins every game with things of value to other players. Chris is correct that you won't be the only alchemist at the event, but if I need an alchemist and you're the only alchemist I know... then the other alchemists are less important. A well designed economic system is a very powerful tool in large LRP events. As a game grows in scale, you have to produce more plot to get the same ratio of plot:players. But economics is all self-starting, get the rules right and player interaction takes place without any reference to the organizers. That means it scales smoothly as the player-base scales - in fact a well designed system becomes much more interesting the more players attend. Economic action is more powerful - and more interesting - the more economic actors there are. PD don't have a reputation for running plot-intense events or big battles - it's just not what we've done before now. That's why we've gone out and started recruiting a load of extremely talented people who do have a good reputation for that sort of thing. We do have a good reputation for caring about every player who attends our event and we do have a proven reputation for creating working economic systems where trade, commerce, politics and deals happens." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-11T22:08:58+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/278817865569865 I'm pleased to announce that we met our first fund-raising target of 5K two days after ticket sales opened and our second target of 10K two days later. Bookings have settled down now but if we manage to reach our third target well before the end of the month I will look at adding some new targets! http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/Tickets?2 Book now for Empire - save money on your ticket price and help us make the first game as awesome as humanly possible! For those who aren't aware, tents are available for hire at PD events. However we only have a limited number, so if you want to book a tent, I suggest you book quickly! http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/tents?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-08T12:30:19+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/333222133440440 Another long-form comment from Matt.... "We're aware that some *fantastical* rumours are doing the rounds for Empire around IC footwear, IC underwear, IC whateverwear. It's on my job list to do a blog post to try and dispel these myths... We have really high aspirations for Empire, we want to encourage everyone involved to try and get the best costume they can. That's one of the reasons we're spending tens of thousands of pounds creating environments like the tavern for players to roleplay in. We're doing our bit! We believe however that the best way to get an awesome game is to encourage everyone to do *their* best. Sneering helps NOBODY. What we want to do is put some very simple basic minimum standards in place (like no jeans, no t-shirts, no trainers) and then get everyone to agree to try their best and everyone to accept that everyone else is trying their best. Each of us has different time and money available to us to devote to our kit, a healthy community accepts that and praises effort as well as achievement. Meh, it's a complex topic, it really is. The psychological consequences of costume, of costume criticism and of why we all tend to feel very defensive about it are quite profound and go right to the root of what it means to be a human being. I'll try and address the issue properly when I get a chance. tl;dr - An aspirational hobby is one that aims for the best standards it can achieve - an inclusive hobby is one that accepts the different standards that different individuals can achieve. What I want for Empire is for every player to agree to try *their* best - but for no player to feel embarrassed that their best is not good enough." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-06T19:42:10+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/286661518105558 There's also a new blog post, and this paragraph may be particularly interesting: "We’ve already budgeted for the new coins for the game, ordered four hundred orc masks and built the front half of a huge two-story tavern. But there is loads more we can do, if have your money. To help inspire you we’ve laid out our construction plan for the months ahead along with the booking targets we need to meet to be able to afford to afford each item. Every time we hit one of these booking targets we’ll green light the corresponding project. If we reach our final target and are able to order four hundred suits of orc armour before the end of the month then we’ll update this page with some new targets." The list of booking targets is right here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/BuildingAnEmpire?4 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-10-06T19:36:13+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/332649833497670 Booking is now open for all our events in 2013. There will be a small price increase next year, with the charge for a full price ticket rising by £5 (the concession ticket price will remain unchanged). However to encourage everyone to book as early as possible, we are keeping the price of all tickets unchanged for one month. Any tickets purchased before the 5th November will be charged at last year’s prices. We realize that the rules for Empire are not out yet and that players may not know what if any events they will be able to attend but if you find you can't attend an event for any reason, we provide a full refund at any time up to a fortnight before the event. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-09-26T19:58:53+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/276214985829122 Religion update on the wiki: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Signs_of_the_Paragon SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-09-24T09:19:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/328445597251427 Another long comment from the Group brought over for your reading pleasure: Matt on mixed groups... Our ability to stop you playing a mixed-nation group is utterly non-existent... How would such a thing work? Well we could stop players forming groups on the database of mixed-nation characters and we are likely to do that simply (because it also simplifies character creation massively). But players can merrily skip round such limitations by creating a multi-nation group but just not be in the same group on database... So it's not a question of "can you do this" more a question of "is this a good idea". In my opinion it's "suboptimal" to play the one League character in a group of Imperial Orcs. Your character will look like the only guy in fancy-dress at a party. In many cases the IC basis for being there doesn't run much deeper than "My mates want to be orcs, but I wanted to play a League mountebank". You won't get included in any of the Imperial Orc game or play. You'll just be "that guy who hangs round the camp all the time". But when I look at Michael Loughlin's multi-nation group concept I see something pretty cool. In my mind I envisage some kind of faith link, so perhaps we're all priests/paladins/templars/advocates of a common virtue. We've formed this grand organisation that spans nations, but it has a core identity in each. So lets say we pick Ambition as our favoured virtue, and so we have a Marcher monastery and a League church and a Highguard chapter, all favouring Ambition and all with strong inter-nation ties to the other members of the order, but still with a clear nation focus. Kind of like the way things like boy-scouts work, so they're all in the scouts, but the Marcher scouts see themselves as Marchers as much as being scouts while the Highborn are Highborn as much as they are part of this scout movement. In the highborn camp, we're highborn characters, doing highborn politics, working with other highborn groups. But we periodically get together with this group from the Marchers and the group from the League with whom we share a common virtue and a shared conceptual identity that gives us a cool basis for additional interaction. In my mind the player in the first example seems to have given themselves an increased opportunity for a shit time, whereas Mike Loughlins' group, provided there are enough of them to make each "sect" work seems to have given himself all the cool of being a cool nation group - with the additional cool of being part of something bigger, something "Imperial" as well. You can argue how much that does or doesn't fit the setting if you like, but in the latter case I think the players have a much better chance for "cool fun at events". In my experience, LRP is generally much more fun when you have a coherent character and group concept that gives you a solid basis for roleplaying. One of the big dangers of mixed-nation groups is not that they dilute the setting (which they do), but that it's harder to build a detailed group concept that is multi-national. As a result many players who choose the option because they are attracted by the costume or roleplaying of a different nation simply won't enjoy the game as much as if they'd gone with the group idea. Basically, in some cases multi-nation groups are just an opportunity for players to have a shit time. You can't prevent multi-nation groups, that is physically impossible. The questions for us as game designers is how we encourage single-nation groups and how far we go to bake encouragement into the game system through IC mechanisms like "who can I take the battlefield with" and "who can I perform a ritual together with" and OOC mechanisms like "who can tick this group option for their character on the database". What I'd prefer to do is make clear that nation is your primary source of identity in Empire. The camps will be organized by nation, the Marchers will camp together, politic together, hopefully eat together and so on. For those used to playing LT or CP, it's a bit like asking "Can I have a group made up of members from other factions". Yes, you can do that, but it's not something that is likely to win much support from the rest of your faction members in most circumstances. I expect that nations will support those groups who support their nation - so single nation groups will have a massive advantage - but it's hard to make that clear or communicate it clearly enough to convince players. As the rules system and character creation process is released, you'll see a range of different mechanisms and concepts emerge which are all designed to support the nation as the core concept for identity. We have a few different ideas sketched out and we're still spit-balling possibilities. You can't prevent it, but we're hoping to get the right balance of encouragements to make them fairly rare without getting in the way or being restrictions for the sake of it. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-09-14T08:44:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/325052150924105 A little something on mercenaries in Empire... "A game is defined as much by what you leave out as what you put in. There's no blackpowder weapons in this game for instance... but also no steampunk. There are lots of things that aren't in the game, but I think they help to add definition and character to what remains. They make those things vital and significant by placing them in a context in which you can't just be anything. When I look at a concept like a mercenary camp, the first question is how will mercenaries work within the game. I love mercenaries in LRP, I like them as a concept, my very first fest LRP character was a mercenary caption. But there are enormous fecking problems with mercenaries in LRP - in real life people pay mercenaries to fight *instead* of them. That doesn't happen so much in LRP, in fact in the right circumstances it's often easier to IC charge LRPers to allow them a chance to fight then to get paid by another character to fight instead of them. Such are the peculiarities of LRP - mercenaries need careful consideration to work well. Assuming you can make mercenaries function well in the game, then the question then becomes - is there a purpose to having a mercenary camp? Does taking 1/5 to 1/10th of the player base out of every camp and then putting them in their own camp add or detract? What are the consequences for those playing mercenaries if they spend their time in a camp that doesn't have senators and so is locked out of the political game? More questions, are the other camps now better for not having the mercenaries camped with them. How does it affect the dynamic if all the mercenary groups looking for roleplay off the back of their position as mercenaries are all camped next to each other? And if players have made a huge effort to make each nation camp look and feel right for that nation... how do the mercenaries who have no common nation dress their camp? Mercenary camps have a few positives, but there are a large number of problems with them, not least for ensuring that the roleplay experience of those players is as cool as we can make it. My big fear is not that it just becomes a dumping ground for characters who wanted to come to the event, but didn't want to actually play the setting, but rather that competing with other mercenary groups from the same camp is not actually the most enjoyable possible experience. I'm not trying to have a go incidentally, but I do want to illustrate is that we don't just flip a coin for these things or think "ah sod it, too much hassle" or "I don't like it". We spend days, weeks, months pulling these things apart, looking for the ways we think we can produce the best possible event for players, the most cool, the most inspiring, the most fun to roleplay." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-09-08T21:55:41+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/525014094181896 I've added a blog post about children in Empire here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/ChildrenInEmpire?1 You can view the guidelines for children in Empire on the wiki here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Children SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-09-03T08:43:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/465983813434268 One or two of you might be be mildly interested in this: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Main_Page SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-08-30T14:44:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/319964161432904 I know you all want the wiki to go live - and believe me, we do too - but in the mean time, a little on religion from the keyboard of the inestimable @daniel williams. Religion Design Principles - Revelation - Crudely speaking, there are three types of Revelation that underpin religions and religious belief systems. They are: - Observable phenomena, such as the change of seasons and natural laws - Personal experiences, such as dreams, visions and spiritual sensations - Received wisdom, such as scripture and the words of prophets and teachers The last one, Received Wisdom, is usually a description, explanation and/or interpretation of the former two, such as writings about the sun’s metaphysical role in the heavens, or a prophet telling others of hearing the words of their god. LRPers are reliably unpredictable when it comes to Received Wisdom. Sometimes authoritative IC texts or figures are regarded dismissively or with suspicion, scepticism or even hostility. Other times, what is intended as an IC perspective has been embraced whole-heartedly and taken as unshakeable fact, even Out-Of-Character. The reasons for this are varied and would likely fill a speculative blog post in their own right. There will be Received Wisdom in Empire; passed down from the wise, the holy and the learned. It is, and will remain, IC knowledge based on the understanding of those historical figures who will have had access to much the same resources as Player Characters. This brings us to Observable Phenomena and Personal Experience. Whilst we are considering a number of different forms of these, for the purposes of this blog, I am focussing on the primary one, which can crudely be summed up as: Drugs and Archaeology Before the Empire was formed, one of the pre-Imperial nations will have uncovered a substance which – when prepared properly – produces visions of another time and place. Subsequent research by religious scholars has found forensic, historical and archaeological evidence that supports the fact that these visions are of genuine events that have taken place. Those are, broadly speaking, the facts of the matter; a repeatable phenomenon that can be documented and evidenced, much like the change of the seasons. Within the lifetime of the Empire, this phenomenon has fuelled a reincarnation theology. Essentially, that the visions received by the visionary are held to be of their past lives and that each person is born, lives, dies and is reborn. Furthermore, additional research and experimentation has led to the conclusion that how one lives one’s current life affects how swiftly, and how well, a person reincarnates. From this comes the belief in living virtuously – specifically living by the Seven Imperial Virtues – as important to the state of one’s immortal spirit. It is worth stating that, at the start of the game, this is the Orthodox view of the Imperial Religion. It is supported by documented visions, recovered relics, and Received Wisdom. However, even within the Empire there are some fifteen-plus alternate Un-Orthodox schools of thought, and that is just at the current drafting, and before including the Barbarians and Foreigners who still follow “gods” and “spirits”. Debating theology and even changing the official doctrines and creeds of the faith are all within the scope of the game. It is, perhaps, an indication of the design process and our intention that we ensured there were credible and compelling, yet conflicting, interpretations and IC debates around the phenomenon before discussing actual underlying metaphysics. Saying that, early on in Empire’s development, it was suggested that reincarnation – and related phenomena – may prove fertile ground for a religion game. It has been exploited for its plot potential in novels, such as those by Katherine Kerr, and in RPGs like Exalted. Outside of religion development, the ability to have visions from the past also represents a built-in way to flesh out and develop the history of the gameworld, and throw out plot hooks from the past, without needing a “Type 40 Time Travel Capsule” and a loose approach to paradoxes. We envisage opportunities where, for example, a vision may reveal the location of a person’s lost tomb from a previous life which in turn could prompt adventurous archaeologists to go in search of their ancient treasures. I believe that Doctor Jones and Lady Croft can attest that such expeditions always go smoothly and well for those involved. So to summarise: - Our Personal Experiences are those of visions that are received by individuals of another time and place - Our Observable Phenomenon is archaeological evidence that supports the reality of these visions - Our Received Wisdom are documenting, reporting and teaching around the above two - Is the means to access insight into other times and places a proof of the existence of a supreme supernatural being or beings? That is a question for the In-Character theologians to discuss. Nevertheless, part of the power and authority of the Imperial Religion is that it, specifically the Synod, possesses the means to help people access their past lives. Furthermore, the Imperial Religion also holds the key to facilitating, or hindering, each person’s individual journey through death and rebirth. One of our test reviewers described the Imperial Religion as “Fascist Buddhism” and this is why: - Live according to the Imperial Virtues and you will reincarnate swiftly and well. - Live a wicked life and be trapped between lives for generations. In this way, the Imperial Religion is a key player in the field of metaphysical – and IC historical – Revelation. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-08-22T10:55:21+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/317272005035453 Something has come up on the Empire group that's well worth a read. In answer to the question "So I am considering playing Empire but wonder if I will fit in? Here are my 'credentials' so to speak: I role-play hard and could care-less of rules and magic etc. I like fighting but am not really very good. And if my character or anyone else's dies I will mourn their loss but if the game is good I'll happily just make up another one. I rarely commit to anything between games (as my time is limited) and I do like certain comforts in my old age (like plastic plate-mail and water-proof walking boots): what do you think?" from Michael Penney, Matt wrote this: "I hate these kind of questions because they always produce a barrage of responses saying "Of course you'll be alright", which never sits very well with me. It's as if every single LRP game ever were perfect for every single LRPer ever, something that strikes me as unlikely and undesirable. I agree with Harry that talk of credentials is odd, but I think there are questions over whether you'll enjoy Empire - there are for every LRPer. Empire is a LRP game - not the cure for cancer - I can with almost 100% confidence predict that some LRPers will love it - and some LRPers will hate it. Some LRPers will say it's much better than X,Y,Z other game - and some of our players will tell me how much more they enjoyed Odyssey, Maelstrom, Omega, that tavern night I ran for the LT in 98 or the table-top campaign I ran in 1987. Many, many years ago I stood by the side of the main road through East Berlin shortly after the wall had come down and watched an endless line of identical gray Trabants drive past me. It was the most soulless thing I have ever seen - as if all the life had been crushed from the human spirit. People want different things, in their life, in their cars, in their LRPs. And you know what? Vive la difference! So in the interests of disagreeing with everybody else, here are a whole pile of reasons why you might not like Empire. You like to be comfortable and wear plastic plate-mail and waterproof boots - we haven't released the rules yet, but in all our play-tests we've tested rules that allow heavy steel armours to provide better protection than lighter equivalents. If those rules make it to the final system and you like to wear the top armour in the system - you're going to have a problem. Modern waterproof boots are always a good idea in LRP, but we've talked openly and frequently about our desire to encourage every player to strive to have the most "perfect" looking kit that they can personally achieve on an ongoing basis. Ultimately any desire to sacrifice immersion for comfort is going to conflict with the core game design objectives to try and make the event look as close to the visual ideal as possible. It's difficult to find a way to argue with someone who roleplays hard, that work is a bit vague, but based on what I think you mean, I assume that you'll like our emphasis on staying IC in the IC area during time-in. Likewise I don't know many systems that want the player to get upset and stop playing if their character dies, but Empire will include some elements of progression and you may find that element disruptive to your ability to jump back in and play the game. I don't think you will, but the potential exists in any system that includes progression I think. Not interested in the rules is fair enough, I think most LRPers generally agree that good rules should support the game and get in the way as little as possible. Of course everyone has a different idea of how *that* should be achieved... Traditionally PD have used various rules structures and systems to try and encourage a diversity of play styles and to create emergent play. Complex skill systems and the downtime system in Maelstrom, the arena battles in Odyssey. Empire will include a huge amount of "IC rules" designed to support play and provoke emergent stories - it's a functioning society with a legal system, a political system, a religious system. I don't think they are the sort of rules you mean, but they're examples of how PD tries to use structures to allow stories to emerge. Our speciality is not in "just roleplay it", we prefer to build mechanisms to support the things people roleplay - if you and another character agree to create a trade route between your cities - our preference is to have mechanisms that support that to enrich both your characters rather than "just leave it to the roleplaying". The game rules for Empire ain't finished yet, but if PD's past record is anything to go on (and it is), then you can be confident that players will not simply be roleplaying in a vacuum where all the things their characters do are self-supporting. There will be a framework for things that can be done in the game world and a system to reflect what happens. Internally we call this idea - "Recognition". Lots of people who enjoy PD games enjoy this concept, but lots of players who like an emphasis on heroic dramatic, self-created narratives do not like recognition. You may be one of those players. Committing to things between events is hard for us to prevent. We're determined to keep the level of commitment required by the game organizers to play Empire to a bare minimum. There will be a downtime system - but it will be so mind-numbingly simple that you could complete it before you left site in 2 minutes. But players who are keen on a game always try to force the commitment levels to increase. They email other players to try to make IC plans, they run events set in the game world, they push for more events, they create online forums where players can communicate in-character. We had some success in preventing online IC forums for Maelstrom but stopping in completely is difficult and laced with problems. I can virtually guarantee you that Empire is going to be filled ram-jam full of Keeners, in all honesty - I'm betting my house that that is the case. So you're going to get people pestering you for X,Y and Z between events and pretty much all the organizers will be able to do is apologize and suggest you ignore them. And finally fighting. Fighting is a big deal in LRP. Lots of people like fighting. Lots of people don't like fighting. Fighting for Empire is going to be everywhere and nowhere, it's going to be obligatory and completely optional. We'll try to please everyone, I hope we avoid pleasing no-one. I got asked this very question yesterday "How much fighting will there actually be in Empire - will there be enough for me and my mates?" This was pretty much my answer: In design terms the question is really thus: 1. How many opportunities for PvM violence will there be? 2. How many opportunities for PvP violence will there be? The sum of those two things is the amount of fun-violence in the system. For (1) we plan to have as much PvM violence as we can possibly arrange, outside of the main camping area. There will be two big battles per event, but also skirmishes and quests. While those will have roleplaying elements- their primary component will be fighting. We'll be trying to run as much fighting as we can. PvM scales very badly however, it's hard, as the organizers to have enough PvM to satisfy players and the more players you have, the more monsters you need and the harder it is to arrange. However these are logistical issues, that are fairly unlinked to where you run the violence. Where you run the PvM stuff doesn't make an order one difference to how much PvM violence you can have. If I've filled my woods and adjacent fields with monsters... then I don't have them spare for attacking the main camp site anyway. So not having violence on the main field, declaring that area off-limits - does not intrinsically reduce the volume of PvM violence we can serve up - not as an order one effect. What scales much better is often PvP. We don't want to emphasize violent confrontational PvP for Empire, because our experience is that actually most players get turned off by having their characters repeatedly murdered by other players. It also tends to make combat short, bloody, infrequent and unenjoyable. Odyssey gets around that by having the PvP be stylised, having it take place in an arena, where death is impersonal and highly controlled. Our plan *at this time* is to do something similar for Empire - to operate a "tourney" system in which groups of players can challenge each other to "honour battles" - but where the rankings in those honour battles is recorded and used to determine which groups get access to powerful battle related magic items. In essence the Empire will be operating a system to rank it's best fighting units and to distribute its items accordingly. This will be designed to provide as different a fighting experience from Odyssey as is humanly possible (no audience, equal numbers, in woods, not the arena). If we can encourage nations to do "honour/training battles" against other nations... we'll go for that to. The more "PvP where everyone doesn't try to murder everyone who goes down" we can get - the better. It won't completely satisfy the wishes of people who like a lot of PvP combat. Nor will our PvM plans satisfy everyone. But you can never satisfy all individuals in this respect, we're doing everything we can to have as much violence as is humanly possible given the fundamental design constraints. I certainly hope there will be *much* more violence than "just" the two big battles. Will that be enough violence for you Mike? I don't know. Heck it might be too much violence. The truth is that I don't think you'll know unless you try the game. People lay down ideas in their own minds about what they do and don't enjoy, what they do and don't want and those rules are useful, but often we find that the things we enjoy lie outside those parameters while things that are perfect by our own rules are not enjoyable. Enjoyment in LRP is so much more profoundly complex than "Is it PvP or PvM" or any other classification we create. Suck it and see. I will say I disagree with Laurens 'Law' Edwards - LRP is at its best when we throw ourselves into it. I hope you'll enjoy Empire, from seeing the way you play I think it's fair to say that you're firmly in our sights as one of our target audience for the game. But I think you'll get the most out of the game if you throw caution to the wind, embrace it and get really into it. I think if you turn up in some old kit you've reused and avoid spending loads of time making a big deal of creating a group and a character - if you avoid emotionally investing in the experience - then you're far less likely to enjoy it. Certainly that would be true for me, when I play a LRP I want to become a part of the world and the pre-ritual of getting excited about the game is an essential part of enjoying what follows." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-08-16T17:12:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/315390831890237 A thought or two from Matt on morality in LRP, commented to a Group post, and re-posted here for those of you who aren't on the Group. "I always find the idea of 21st century morals to be fascinating in the context of LRP games. I'd like to believe that morals have changed a lot in the last millenia and in some ways they have, bear baiting is less socially acceptable than it was, for instance - but I think in many fundamental ways morals simply haven't changed at all. The problem is that many LRP games simply do not put the characters in the same *economic* situations that they might actually have been in. Lets take an easy example - slavery. In LRP games the player-base tends to be strongly against slavery. People rant about 21st century values and how people of that period were all in favour of slavery without (I feel) fully appreciating that people are usually only in favour of slavery when they stand to gain from it. I doubt that it was very different in the middle ages, the people who supported slavery were those who gained from it. When I look at the history of slavery in Maelstrom what I can see very clearly is three camps. I see people with relatively little investment in the economic advantages that slavery in the game provides. These people are usually anti-slavery. The next camp are those who don't give a shit and cheerfully use slaves and enjoy the many economic advantages that slavery provides. The third camp is the largest and the most fascinating - these people use slaves in the system but they come up with all kinds of roleplaying explanations of what they're doing that doesn't involve slavery. They call them serfs, bonded workers or penal workers. At first it's easy to assume that what these players are doing is using 21st century morals, they're getting the advantage of slavery without the qualms of modern morals. But in fact what they're doing is much much older than this. They're *justifying* is what they're doing. They're inventing artificial distinctions to make what they do morally acceptable - in *exactly* the same way that the people involved in the slave trade out of Africa fabricated distinctions (black people weren't humans) to justify the morality of what they were doing. The point is that the morality hasn't changed - oddly we're still the same people we always used to be... What has changed is what we know about the world, what we believe to be true and false. In Maelstrom the justifications for slavery changed... but the underlying reality - and the morality of it did not. What is particularly fascinating about Strom is that slavery never really became a big issue. It was to some characters, but it never really caused major conflict. Those who had no economic advantage to using slaves sat on their high hill and everyone else bought the slaves, put them to work and justified it. They did it - because it made economic sense - they were responding to incentives that the world around them provided. Again another facet of human existence that hasn't changed markedly in the last millenia is the way we are driven by our motivations. Slavery is outrageous in most LRP games - not because players import 21st century values - but because the game provides no incentive for it. Provide the incentive and you'd be astonished how quickly slavery stops being outrageous and swiftly transitions to acceptable. Trial by combat was accepted in the middle ages, in part I think, because people genuinely believed that God intervened to make the rightful side win. At that point it makes total sense to accept the judgements provided by trial by combat, because the results come from a higher power. It's not the morality that has changed - it's the assumptions about the universe - without the belief in a higher power that intervenes (which is entirely absent from Empire), there is no basis for accepting a trial by combat. It's not that players want to bring their 21st century morals and values - it's that they want to make 21st century assumptions about the world and the way it operates (which in this case are entirely correct and appropriate for the world). We've learned a lot about the world we live in over the last millenia and possibly we should try harder to forget it all when we go roleplaying. But ultimately if organizers want to change the way people act, they have to change the way the world acts - I think our morals are pretty much the same they have always been - what matters is not 21st century morality or even 21st century knowledge but making a world where players can create characters that are credible, consistent with believable world views and that they respond to sensible economic considerations." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-07-17T22:50:30+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/447065052000045 More thinking from the coalface of Empire game design... "Nobility and Service When we set out to create the setting for Empire, one of the most important aspects was to create a setting for an LRP game. This is more challenging than it might otherwise seem, because it means thinking about every element of the setting and asking the question "How does this work in an LRP game? Does it work? Does it create game?"" http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/Nobility?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-07-06T14:23:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/379260865461690 Perhaps not the most widely interesting, but possibly the most significant blog post so far: "As we’ve been developing Empire we have been reassessing every element of what we do, with the intention of actively choosing the culture we want for the new game." http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/EmpireCommunity?0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-06-26T20:59:03+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/260993937335416 Another new blog post up on the PD website... "We just wanted to give you a sneak peek at what is going on behind the scenes at the moment. We have a long list of sets we plan to create for Empire - we want to create buildings and structures for players to roleplay in. The first event might be eight months away, but these things take months to plan and build, so to try and get as through as many of the items on our list as possible, we've recently started work on the first building - a new tavern." More at: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/SetsInTheCity?0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-06-25T12:29:47+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/296319747130679 There will be a playtest of Empire combat, incantation and healing rules on the Friday of The Crown of the Sphinx (Odyssey 1). Ideally, those taking part will bring an assortment of weapons, shields and armour (some bows and polearms would be particularly welcome). The playtest will start around 12pm and should take no longer than two hours. Those taking part should make suitable preparation for physical exercise (suntan lotion, water, good footwear etc.). Those interested should meet to the side of GOD no earlier than 30 minutes beforehand. We will have a rough cap of around 80 people for it and, as much as possible, will take those volunteering to help on a first-come, first served basis. (And yes, we wish we'd given more notice...) SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-06-11T22:49:50+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/280843518680240 Another blog post. This one with dates for the four Empire events next year and a release schedule for the basic campaign setting; nations, lineages and an overview of the Empire itself. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/ReleaseSchedules?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-06-05T18:49:26+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/278878415543076 There's a new blog post on the Empire site: "For Empire, the design brief was to develop Religion with a Capital R. That is to say that the Religion is the most important element. Not gods nor angels, demons or any other divine intervention. Alongside this was the principle that any clerical-type magic would have no direct mechanical benefits, so that the choice to be religious was made as a pure roleplay decision and not for stat- or mechanics-based gain." More at http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire/DesigningReligion?0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-05-30T13:09:05+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/152878324844655 We've just posted the second half of Bill Thomas' video introducing some of the people involved in creating Empire and showing more of the processes going on. Here you meet the Art Department and find out about their work in visualising and creating the Empire game setting as well as the challenges they face to make the game look amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gCH67vcSlU SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-05-18T11:29:53+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/309944522418247 More from us - this concerning our thoughts on the culture of the game. (As opposed to the cultures in the game...) http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/wicket/bookmarkable/uk.co.profounddecisions.website.pages.epages.blog.GameCulture?2 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-05-16T15:26:33+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/274592955970025 More from matt - this concerning low-status characters in Empire: "In Empire, the game setting and rules are very much trying to empower individuals and groups of players. This is a game where you can become Empress, it's a game where Senators pass laws, where generals command armies and where sorcerors control magic. To make those things happen, you have to empower the PCs, you have to give them meaningful abilities, skills and resources so that the setting and the characters in it make sense. To me, when I try to create a LRP, I want the characterisation and roleplay to match up with the opportunities that the game offers. If I create a setting in which you are Conan the Barbarian - and you create a character called Conen the Barbarian. Then I feel like something has gone amiss if your character gets slaughtered in the first encounter by arrows from 50 archers "because you should have worn some armour and carried a shield you idiot". So when someone says "I want to play a beggar" then you have to think about what that means. Presumably, most beggars are begging because for whatever reason they don't have any choice. Putting aside mental issues for a moment, they're begging for the money to survive, precisely because their character lacks the skills, abilities and resources that would allow them to pass laws, command armies and wield magic. So the rules, practically speaking, forbid players from playing beggars. Because the rules say "You have abilities, you have resources - you are a powerful, important character, you have choices, you can DO SHIT" - and the rules and the setting are doing everything possible to make that true for every character that the players are playing. Of course players are free to ignore all these things. You can roll up at your first event and when others say "What skills do you have?". You can say "None. I have no skills, I have never learned any useful skill that would make me valuable to society." And when they say "Well then, do you command men? Do you own vast tracks of land? Do you own a ship or run a market town?" And you can say "No, none of those things, I'm just useless me, I have no abilities and no skills and no resources. That's why I am begging. Can I have 2 gold please?" But very few players choose that option, because relatively few players choose to be useless when it gains them no game advantage of any kind and when it requires you to simply turn down all the free stuff that the game organizer is trying to give you. Cudos to the people that do it (c.f. attendants in Odyssey), but it's a very rare choice. We will get a proportion of people who want to play "low status". Low status is the new black and for anyone who enjoys that game it's fantastic fun. I have played a servant in Maelstrom at a player event and had a fantastic time doing it. But if you look at the player ratios in Maelstrom - it's not ten servants to every lord - oh no.. it's ten lords to every servant... Servants are rare, precious, priceless, irreplaceable. A good servant is harder to get in LRP than say a poxy artefact like Excalibur or Mjolnir - they're ten a penny - but decent servants - they're rocking horse shit. Because very players get the fun of being low status. The net result is that it's perfectly possible to play a beggar in Empire - but practically speaking I do not expect many people to make that choice. And given that we're doing everything humanly possible to find ways to empower players - then basically every game design choice we're making makes playing a beggar "harder" for the PC. So I confidently predict that there will be a historically improbable number of beggars at the first event. There won't be none, someone will see this post and think "I'm going to play a beggar" but it will be single figures. I've no objection to people playing beggars, play what you like - knock yourself out. But we need to create a setting where what the majority of players want to play makes sense with the setting that is described. There is no point in us describing a world with beggars on every street corner... when in practice they will probably be rarer than dragons... I have given a lot of thought to the role of servants/low status in LRP fest games and we do have some ideas about how they fit into the Empire setting, how to make them work better in-character. How the setting views them - given the fact that they are rarer than say - an artefactual weapon. At some point, much later on, we'll do a blog post exploring the ideas of how low status fits into the game world, but we need to get the core ideas out there first. Suffice to say, there is room for it, but it's a top-heavy world - because most players will chose to play top-dogs when given the choice." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-05-12T11:10:36+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/147729688685287 Empire Overview The following information is drawn from the material shown to the focus groups at the end of 2011 and provides a fairly simple overview of the Empire setting. Much of the detailed material is still being created, so everything described here is potentially subject to change, but the core ideas are now well developed and significant changes are relatively unlikely. For that reason we are now publishing it here, so that everyone who is interested can find out more about the game. http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/wicket/bookmarkable/uk.co.profounddecisions.website.pages.epages.blog.Overview?1 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-04-25T10:10:24+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/345751482151033 At the start of 2011, Bill Thomas began filming one of the Empire meetings. The intention was to create a short video to let people see behind the scenes of the design process and meet some of the the many talented people involved in the game. There is a huge team of people hard at work on the game, far too many to include here, even after he split the film into two parts. But if you watch this first film you'll be introduced to some of the key people involved in writing the Empire game setting. We hope you enjoy it and it whets you appetite for more. http://www.youtube.com/embed/hPvbPX9ozQ0?rel=0 SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-04-19T17:59:08+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/256812574414730 More wisdom from Matt. "We haven't set the minimum standards for the game yet, we're still working on that, in common with many other elements of the game. As a hobby we've spent years trying to improve the immersion value of the weapons, moving from gaffa to latex, better techniques and developing an industry of professionals to make them - all to try and get them as close in appearance to actual weapons as possible. Why would we do all that if deep down we didn't feel it made the game better? Why do people spend money on weapons, costume, armour, masks, props? We could just pretend to be orcs with a dab of green snazz on our nose, we could use karrimat in gaffa for armour and make costume from a curtain with a whole in the top for our head. We don't do these things because they damage the immersion of the game - no matter how good our imaginations. Everyone has a different tolerance level for these things. Some LRPers don't care about immersion all that much, some do. Most of us find some elements irritate more than others. I hate cigarettes, I can just never see them as IC, but that's partly because I hate them in real life. But every non-setting appropriate element damages my immersion to some degree. Some of the damage is not fixable. I'm not playing in a LRP game with real steel swords and real steel sword injuries, thank you very much. That's a bit of authenticity too far for me personally. Effectively there are times when authenticity collides with safety - or with personal comfort or practicality. Authentic shoes good - modern waterproof socks - also good. My immersion is usually not improved by feeling cold and wet and miserable. Likewise there are trade-offs around the best way to improve immersion. We have to eat, so a butane gas cylinder is an effective practical way to cook at an event. Of course it could be replaced with a beautiful aufentik 12th century cooking gas-burner or whatever, but that costs time and money. Should the time and money be spent on that - or is better spent on costume, props for the camp, better IC shoes? Different people will put the trade-offs in different places, different people will put in different amounts of effort, because they care more or less and have more or less time, money and skills, as well as having a different judgement on what bits are important. To me the point is that we can all do better with reducing the impact of immersion breaking items in the game. PD are trying to put emphasis on immersion in our games, so we're encouraging all our players to agree to do what they can to get the best costume and props they can and to minimize the visibility of immersion-breaking items where they can. A butane cylinder to cook on is fine - but keep it out of sight as best you can, don't put it in the centre of a beautiful IC camp. A cool box is a sensible way to store your food at a warm event - can you cover it with a blanket? A great LRP event is a combination of ambition - and practicality. We all strive to produce the very best event we can, but that ambition should be tempered by what is realistic to achieve so that we can apportion our efforts wisely to get the best overall effect for everyone. But it's wise to avoid confusing "This is easy for me to do" with "This is easy for everyone to do". The answer is always easy when you know it, but what is challenging for some may be easier for others. Saying "this is easier than it looks, here are a load of ways to make it work on a tight budget and save you money" is great. Saying "this is easy" can make people respond negatively. They feel excluded if it doesn't seem easy to them rather than encouraged to think "Hey I could do that". Yes, yes we do need to replace all of our camping gear. We should all be striving to get the possible kit to make the best possible game. Do we need to do it for the first event? Of course not. For the fifth event? No. There is no schedule or routine, each of us has a varied amount of disposable income that we want to dedicate to the hobby. Many will want new costume, weapons and camp dressing for the first event. It would not be a good to turn up in your frock coat and musket for our medieval game and say "I spent my costume budget on this aufentik cooking pot" Everyone has to set their own priorities, central dictat only works well in North Korea missile tests. But what I hope we Empire can have is a general groundswell of ambition to make this the most extraordinary LRP game that anyone has ever been involved with. And that requires us all to want to improve our kit - not just for the first event - but for every event. Nobody should be held to account for what is bluntly an unimportant non-game item - but it would be cool if every one of us wanted to do the best we could. Instead of being defensive about the things we haven't done - we should be positive about the things we have done and just say "Yeah, that gas burner is OOC, so I keep it out of sight in my tent. It's on my list to sort one day - after I have bought a beautiful IC tent and decked out my war elephant with a proper IC howdah".It's down to PD to get the best possible site to run the games on. It's down to the players to get the best possible kit they can to play the game with. The fact that things are not perfect, that nothing is perfect, is the basis that we can *all* take to think "What can I improve for next time" - not a justification for saying "really - does it matter - it's just a game". Yes, it's *easy* to be a kit nazi. You just need a good sneer and better costume than the player next to you. It's much harder to get a really positive community spirit developing around "Lets all help each other to have the best possible kit we can". Which is why whenever the issue comes up I tend to post very long and lengthy responses... Because I think this issue, more than any other single issue, is the most challenging aspect of Empire. It's the make-or-break point for the game. If we get this right, we'll have an awesome game and everything else will just be icing on the cake. Remember the immortal words of Bill Shankley - "Some people believe LRP is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that". LRP is hobby, it's just a game - none of it really matters. And it's profoundly important to keep that clear in our minds, at the point where people are upset and angry and shouting at each other over some trivia. But if we say "It's just a game, it doesn't matter" then we lose our passion for life. Would artists say "It's just art, it doesn't matter"? I suspect most would not. "If we want our games to be awesome, we must be awesome to our games" - The Sphinx, Mystery Men." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-04-17T10:47:27+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/199130473538049 Another comment from matt that deserves a wider audience... "Volunteering is going to be part of the social contract of Empire. Fundamentally it's either that or we double the ticket price and have 400 crew. I'm happy with either approach but believe the former is more effective than the latter, both in terms of player enjoyment and value for money and in terms of people coming to the event. It won't be a requirement, lots of people "don't do LRP fighting" but if you want to go and play in the battles then you'll be expected to monster as many as you play. If you don't want to volunteer to monster then that is absolutely fine and there is no problem at all, but you'll need to opt out of playing the battles also, to achieve quid-pro-quo. Otherwise, given the social contract, you're just free-riding on those who do volunteer which is unfair. I realize that some players won't like that approach and that is totally cool. LRP is a big hobby, there are lots of games to play! Many of which don't require you to volunteer to monster. One I can heartily recommend is the excellent Odyssey game run by one Profound Decisions which you can book for here: http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/event/Tickets?1 - but unfortunately Empire may not be the game for you. Bear in mind that we plan to have enough permanent crew to monster skirmishes and similar without needing volunteers. So you're actually talking volunteering for 2 hours out of a three day event... For me, as I've said a few times, the key is to make monstering as much fun as humanly possible. At the end of the day we're a LRP company, we make our profit by selling people tickets to attend the event and the whole event is your experience. It's just as valid to enjoy monstering as it is to enjoy playing, we're not trying to make playing fun, we're trying to make your whole event fun, so we'll be focussing on ways to make monstering the battles fun the same as we'll be focussing on ways to make playing the battles fun. Of course the latter is easier than the former, but my point is that our focus, as a company, is on making your whole event fun." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-04-13T13:51:55+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/251266818302639 Our recent playtest also included an investigation of a possible battle magic concept. One of the people there summarised what we'd experimented with, and Matt's commented on that too. Again, well worth sharing here. Luke Wiltshire "Magic was all cast at touch range, but range could be extended through an Implement. One of the Main components of the Magic system in the playtest was a "Sympathy" clause as part of the combat magic. Whatever you did to the person you cast upon, also affected you, but to a lesser degree. A few examples: "Strikedown" knocked you both to the floor, but also did damage to them; "Shatter" destroyed the weapon you touched, and the implement you cast it through, if you did." Matt "Just to be clear, I think Luke's description is a pretty fair summary of the magic system we tested and is certainly the bit that some people seemed to be frothing about. It's probably important to appreciate that we didn't put sympathetic magic into the system to balance magic... we did it because it sounded like an awesome idea when it popped up at a rules meeting (it's ripped off from an idea we heard about in Dumnonni Chronicles - there are no new ideas). Once we'd kicked the idea around, and how it might work, it was obvious that it made magic less powerful. I felt that was actually a positive since it lets you give mages more bang for their buck. Obviously a load of people will hate it. Which is fine, provided that some people like it and it makes the game interesting and cool. Actually on play-test loads everyone involved seemed to really enjoy it, so I'm mildly hopeful that the more people try it, the more they will actually like it. Touch-range magic is different - that's just a way to make combat magic work in LRP. Most LRP systems give spells a range of 30ft or something similar. Works fine in a club based system with a dozen combatants, but it's hopeless in a battle. The problem is that as a mage you want to be as far from danger as humanly possible, so the rules encourage you to get to the limit of your spell range. But at that range no-one is going to hear you - so you get frustrated as no-on responds to your spell-casting. Touch-range spell-casting makes mages use their spells at a range that actually works. Add in the use of staffs and wands to deliver the spells and you get all sorts of cool around wizards carrying staves which looks iconic. Better still the wizard now has a way to actually get his targets attention - by hitting him with the staff to deliver the spell. Basically touch-range magic makes magic work far far better in a fest system and makes it look cooler and more visually appealing. It makes it less powerful allowing you to enhance the power of mages in other ways but keep it play-balanced which is cool. Sympathetic magic doesn't work any better than non-sympathetic magic but it is cool as all hell. My main point though was that this wasn't to play balance magic - the fact that it altered the play balance was just a nice bonus. It was about making magic work well in a LRP battle and making it cool." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-04-12T22:53:48+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/250951461667508 There's a been a number of conversations about calls since our playtest at Maelstrom. Matt's set down his thinking on the subject in one of them, and I felt it was worth wider distribution. "Calls are interesting (to us) because they provide for a number of tactical options that aren't readily present otherwise. For instance we can simulate some classic fighting style maneuvers like axes smashing shields to pieces (shatter) or two-handed swords lopping the heads off spears (shatter) or pole-axes being used to trip people (strikedown) and so forth. That's interesting to us because I think it will give an element of battle field strategy that might not otherwise be available. If a battlefield commander is informed that there is a unit of barbarians with pikes coming up on his left, he might try and get a unit of Marcher Knights with two-handed swords sent that way to drive them off. Calls are also useful in rebalancing certain weapons. Bows for instance, are notoriously shite in LRP. By using special calls you can adjust the power level of the bow to address the fact that it would otherwise be useless. Without special calls your bow does one point of damage with every arrow. At which point you might as well give the archers toffee hammers for all the use they'll be. Equally shields are often over-powered. You can't grab them, you can't shatter them, you can't slam into them... Adding the potential for a player to use a shatter call a few times a day starts to address that issue. Players target shields with shatter calls when they have access to them, precisely because they're such effective combat tools in LRP. Calls allow for mages to take a part in battles. Our crazy new battle-magic system was well received on the play-test, people seemed to like our touch-range sympathetic magic which is cool. But all of that would fall apart without calls. Of course we could just give the mages calls and give the fighters nothing, but I worry that the fighters would feel like the poor relation, like it was the mages that got to do the cool stuff and they were just also-rans. Calls allow for battle-field magics and allow those players playing warriors for whom feeling special is important to feel special. Speaking personally, I like the idea of the odd call in combat. I think it will "mix things up". I want hard skill to carry the day (and our tests convinced us it still does) but I want to *roleplay* being in a fight, worried that it could go against me at any moment even though I'm sure I'm the better man. The limited use of the calls means that players will save them for when they think they need them. So psychologically I can be beating a man with my better hard skill, but remain nervous that he might "pull off something clever" and get the drop on me. I like that, I find it's more "immersive" than the classic LRP combat where you have five hits, I have five hits, I am a better fighter than you so it's basically all over and it's just a matter of us both going through the motions until you run out of hits. By removing that mathematical certainty, I can keep a nervousness about my opponent that makes me find the roleplaying of being in combat more enjoyable against a less skilled opponent. The potential for a call to happen in a fight I'm in reduces the element that feels like a combat sport in my head where we just trade blows and count hits until one of us falls over - it "mixes that up" and makes the whole thing less mathematical and deterministic. Our call system also has some potential to enhance hard skill which I think is very cool. The suggested call like Cleave is very powerful, but it's stopped by chain or plate or equivalent armour. But it's only stopped if the blow physically lands on a piece of armour of that type. So a combatant in a mail hauberk suddenly becomes the perfect target for a well place axe blow to an unarmoured leg or fore-arm. This makes actually aiming your blows for weak points in your opponents armour a valid and effective tactic. Calls have far more uses than that of course. They allow for progression. It doesn't actually matter how slow the progression is, progression itself is interesting. While some hate it, I personally like it, it gives a rules basis for the heroes journey and for me that's a common trope that I enjoy playing in LRP. You can't really do progression very well without some kind of ability to be better. Calls also give us a technology for our setting. In some sort of mythical "real world" your equipment might actually have been important. Some plate would be better made than others. Some swords are sharper than others, some are less prone to being shattered than others. None of that works for shit in LRP, where your foam and fibreglass core phys-rep is identical to the next one. You have an OOC game - of trying to buy the best weighted weapon you can - but you have no IC game that your character can pursue. Calls give us options for having a technology base to our game - to allow *characters* to actively pursue well made swords/weapons and other things that will help. While I appreciate that game may not be of much interest to players here, it's incredibly important to us, because trade and commerce, buying and selling is a very effective, very fun part of LRP for a lot of players - particularly a lot of our existing players whose game comes to an end this year. We want to have things for players to buy and sell - calls give us many more options for that. I want to keep as much of that trade and commerce that Maelstrom has as we can (while dumping all the awful admin shite), because I think it makes the world richer and more immersive. Calls also allow for more interesting, more iconic, more dangerous monsters. The barbarians may field a unit of incredibly strong ogres in their line. We can pick big burly guys for that, but we can't phys-rep the ogre's physical strength in anyway. But if we give the ogres two strikedowns a day - through a call system - then we can have our ogres be meaningfully different to our orcs or other barbarians. We could of course just give special calls to monsters and not to PCs, but in the game I want to run the PCs are the heroes, not the cannonfodder. Calls have often been used very badly in LRP, particularly fest LRP. Magic damage, artifact damage, cold damage, fudge flavoured ice-cream damage. Often the purpose is to weaken players, to prevent them from affecting monsters or NPCs in some way by enabling the monster to call "no effect". Empire doesn't have a no-effect call, there is literally no way for *anything* to resist *anything* in the current rules system being developed and tested. So I really don't think we're trying to use calls in the way that they have often been used in large fest games in the past, it's a different ideological approach. Likewise calls are often used in club systems to make soft skills dominate over hard skills. That's not the design aim for Empire, indeed as mentioned I think our rules may even enhance the use of hard skills in many circumstances. But even if they don't, the play-tests convinced me that hard skill will still dominate on the battle-field (which is a design criteria for the system). Shifting from unlimited calls to "X calls per day" is partly designed to ensure that soft-skills don't run riot over hard skills. Again it's a very different set of design criteria to that used in many LRP club systems. For me the Empire call system is aiming to provide better rules support for different fighting styles, to allow a more immersive roleplay experience where an opponent remains a threat even when you've got the edge, to improve game balance for certain fighting styles like shields or bows and to allow a much richer, deeper game world where a thriving economy where players can buy and sell things that will provide a small but useful advantage to them. So that's the point of the call system for Empire. Obviously some people don't like them and I can't hope to change that essential attitude, but hopefully this helps people understand where we are coming from and that this is part of an entire system design, not just a combat system for a battle-game." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-03-31T10:27:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/243698519059469 Boosting the signal on this from Matt... There will be a playtest of some early Empire combat rules on the Thursday and Friday of Maelstrom 1. Our intention is to limit these to around 50 people. Ideally, those taking part will bring an assortment of weapons, shields and armour (some bows would be particularly welcome). Thursday’s playtest will take place at 5pm, Friday’s playtest will commence at 11am. Playtests should take no longer than two hours. Those taking part should make suitable preparation for physical exercise (suntan lotion, water, good footwear etc.). Those interested should meet to the side of GOD no earlier than 30 minutes beforehand and, as much as possible, will be taken in a first come-first served basis. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-03-28T14:43:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/242092175886770 Most of PD's focus is on Maelstrom right now, however we'd thought you'd like to read this from Matt. "I've just ordered 200l of latex for Mandala Studios to make 400 orc masks for the first event." While the creative team are hard at work on writing the setting and the rules, our art team are beavering away turning the vision into a reality. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-03-21T12:41:49+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/238014396294548 Dave Moore asked an illuminating question on Monday; "With the obvious exception of politics (that's a given), what non-combat oriented interaction mechanisms would you want/expect from Empire?". Matt and Andy both replied, and as an indication of how game design is going, here's a re-post: Andy: "Leaving aside politics? Religion and the clash of idealogy. Trade. Romance. Investigations. Magic. Creation of emergent personal narratives. Conflict of utopian versus dystopian. I'm quite excited by some of the design decisions to move things that might otherwise be about clicking alone in your room onto the field. I'm also excited that if everything works, then it will *in theory* be possible for someone to click a few buttons when they set their character up and never do anything in Downtime again, without losing out. You'd have to pick certain options to do that - and I'm even keen to signpost those options so people can make informed decisions - and a player who is happy to do a couple more clicks will benefit from them, but at 'Strom if you don't do Downtime you're screwed. Unless someone is possessed by evil spirits, Empire DT it will never reach the level of PBM complexity that makes Maelstrom a top-heavy, staggering behemoth that is almost impossible to write Plot for. I shouldn't be rambling like this, but having been a victim of DT for so many years I'm excited about being able to get out from under at some point before I die. Mind you I'm also disappointed that I've become the kind of guy who gets "excited" by stuff like this, but that's my problem and presumably there are pills I can take." Matt: "It's very difficult to answer the question of "what will there be to do" at this stage, not because we don't have good ideas, but because I have two real choices. Either I reel of a list of cool shit we think will be in the game like Andy Raff has done, or else I spend literally hundreds of hours trying to construct a description of the game to explain what structural elements have been included and how we see those structural elements interacting to produce the kinds of interaction that Andy has listed. There isn't much of a middle ground. Admin/Interactions: Odyssey pioneered some mechanisms for moving resolution of campaign elements from the downtime to the field. Empire looks to build on that, to have a downtime system that is just complex enough to sustain 90% of the kind of interactions Maelstrom enjoys but is simple enough that you can submit your downtime in two minutes and be done. And that critically those choices are made IC, while roleplaying and that the resolution of the important choices happens IC while roleplaying. Rather than on a sheet of paper in your pack. Religion: We've got what I believe is a quite novel (for a LRP game) approach to religion for the game. Players will either love it or hate it, I don't worry that much because I think it's brilliant and I love it. The best description I've heard so far was from one of our external reviewers who described it as "fascist buddhism". We're not doing gods, that much is true, but we are definitely doing religion. Details about the game will start to come out soon. There will be plenty of stuff people like and plenty of stuff that some individuals don't like but as designers our goal is to try and capture as much as possible of the Maelstrom style interactions between players, the trade, the romance, religion, the clash of beliefs as possible, whilst simultaneously removing as much of the tedious downtime administration as possible (of which you yourself have quite rightly been a fierce critic over the years)." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-03-02T11:32:56+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/226913974071257 We're really busy working on Nation briefs at the moment, but this came up from Dan Williams and we're interested to know what people think, so boosting the signal: Leadership: How does IC leadership work/not work in LRP? What factors support or undermine IC leadership? And which of those are in the hands of players/organisers? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2012-01-22T13:23:04+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/201251663304155 Matt posted this up in a group, and I thought it was worth re-posting here. It gives an indication of where his thinking is going. "At the end of the day I'm only really interested in running LRP games I can be proud of, LRP games where I can think "I've achieved something here". For me, that increasingly means looking at ways to raise the immersion level - of what PD do for the game and of what the players do for the game. The challenge is that I only directly control one of those things. And the sting in the tail is that I do this for a living, so I have to make the event commercially successful = selling lots of tickets. I think there are lots of parts to the solution. One part is for PD to continue to try to improve what we do. We've put an art department together for the game, to try to design the look and feel, the visual aesthetics for every nation. We've a meeting next weekend in Preston for the set-design team for Empire - to finalize sets for the game, allocate budgets and start some of the work to build the sets needed for the game. That's part of the solution. Another part is in setting clear minimum standards and sticking to them. It seems odd to me that pubs can have a no jeans and no trainers policy and make it work, yet that is seen as controversial in LRP... How many people have ever seen anyone actually harmed by an LRP weapon? Yet we spend thousands of hours checking every weapon for safety, but nobody checks the weapons to rule out a bright gold and purple bat'leth... We have odd values in our hobby. I'm keen to work out the ideal minimum standards for the game that strikes the right balance between accessibility and immersion and between commercial success and artistic integrity. That's the devil's alternative right there but given how hopelessly low most standards currently are in LRP (with the exception pretty much of Dumnoni and a few similar) I think any improvement over our current minimum will be an improvement, provided it is suitably enforced. Having the balls to say "no - you can't wear trainers - of any colour" is vital, otherwise the rule is useless. The most important element for me is in making the community the solution. I'm interested in creating resources for the game that players can contribute to (e.g. a wiki) in terms of links for supplies of decent costume and armour. Links to patterns and material suppliers and simple explanations of how to make basic costume. I'm interested in seeing photographs of the best costume put up on the website - perhaps with the invitation for the player (and that player *only*) to criticize their costume and talk about what they'd like to do to improve it when they get the money / time. Some of the set designers want to create material so that people can see how to build effective sets at events, so we get more "cool" and less "garden fence panel". In addition I'm interested in finding ways to work with the community to improve the game directly, having open days on site to work on sets, on costume for monsters, on props for camps. I want to look at budgets from PD for nations, so that nations can purchase materials and build their own gates, command tents, dressing, camp props and so on. Look at providing on-site storage so that players can keep communal or heavy or bulky kit on site. We need to inculcate the value that the game should be about continuous improvement for everyone, PD and players. We need to make "high immersion" a common objective and we need to make it a practical possibility for as many attendees as possible. I think all of those things are actually vastly more important than simply working out whether white trainers are banned or all trainers are banned, although that is important too." SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-11-15T20:17:31+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/164506536978668 Another question we'd like your views on: if Empire had no offensive magic, would it put you off the game? What are you looking for in a magic system for a fest larp? SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-11-05T22:29:09+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/159900650772590 A reminder: Avoid personal attacks. They will be deleted, and repeating them will get you banned. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-10-23T19:54:45+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/154473174648671 General note: Posts that attack other posters, rather than their arguments, will be deleted. If your opinions about a specific post vary from ours, you may always block the the poster yourself. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-10-05T18:22:59+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/147199772042678 We've been so impressed with the standard of feedback here, we're going to ask about something specific. We'll moderate, but we won't remove anything just because we don't agree with you given where we are so far. We know we haven't given you much to go on, but: What are you hoping Empire will look like? Words, images, it's all good... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-09-14T21:17:15+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/138525026243486 We're really happy with the "Idle speculation:" prefix to posts - would people mind using "Just kidding:" as appropriate as well? Just that a couple of posts have caused mild heart trouble... SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-09-13T12:24:01+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/137916379637684 Just to say we're enjoying reading all your posts - from the interesting to the downright odd! You'll understand we can't comment on any of your posts at this stage of development, but do keep the speculation coming. It's great to have so many people interested in the game. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY SYSX 2011-09-12T08:19:46+0000 https://www.facebook.com/10153162981615108/posts/137427293019926 Thanks for all the comments and 'likes'. As you might have guessed whilst the game has been announced there's still a lot of work to do to get ready for Easter 2013. There's nothing more to share right now, but as soon as decisions are made and publications finished they'll go live on the new website and be announced here. In the meantime, don't forget we're still planning a great year for Maelstrom and Odyssey in 2012. SYSX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ENTRY