The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ooc]Announcement!
The due date for orders is Sunday.  This coming update will be the last one for 2007.[/ooc]

Repeated for easier reference:

[ooc]Kashtu final orders:
Peshuek explore the region to the west, seeking a more reliable source of the black seeds.
Wardens dispatch ranking emissaries to Kuregn and Celend capitals. Emissaries to report back whatever information they can get about these nations intentions and troop dispositions, without causing incidents.
Wardens increase training in camels and bow, for defense in case of war between Celend and Kuregn. In particular, efforts to arm and train militia units.
Wardens and Peshuek establish rudimentary advisory council to advise on issues of trade and other domestic policy.
Priests study well and pump technology, particularly treadle pumps that may draw water from deeper wells in areas where the Peshuek techniques are not viable.
Priests and Peshuek study pottery and storage techniques to provide better food supply during the dry season.
Priests work on creating written religious texts and temple records.

War Orders
Detach a combined unit of camel raiders, consisting of mounted fighters and mobile bowmen. Initially their orders are to scout and track enemy units in the desert. In case of war, they are to act as raiders and snipers to harass enemy supply trains and pick off vulnerable targets.
Avoid direct confrontation with either Kuregn or Celend. Apart from the raiders, remaining units move to protect the most likely routes of Kuregn advance, with only a small garrison to watch Celenite borders.
If Kuregn advances directly against us, hold the border as best as possible while sending for Celenite assistance. If none arrives, the Grand Warden and Grand Hierarch will go into exile while their replacements negotiate a surrender.
If Kuregn advances directly against Celend, move forces to the nearest border but do not engage immediately. Kashtu camelry will be prepared to launch a flanking attack if it seems that this will support a Celenite victory, but if Kuregn seems to have the upper hand we will remain neutral unless requested and compensated by Celend.
If Celend wishes to move troops into and/or through our territory before Kashtu commits, the Grand Warden will protest greatly but with the current troop disposition, they won't be able to do much about it. Passive cooperation will be the only option, although it would still be considered a hostile act.
[/ooc]

[ooc]Final Orders
Halt work on civil projects, other than surveying and mining natural wealth, and direct all funding to the military.

Encourage the resurrection of the raiding way of life, particularly on Inveran and other foemen (Avardera, for example).

If Celend attacks Kuregn (or sends its troops to Nargaq), proceed to hire as many mercenaries as possible, collect any auxiliaries that wish to fight and swarm Inveran's capital city/island. Execute any nobles or possible contenders for the throne found - we don't want a repeat of the last empty victory over Inveran.

Otherwise, continue training the navy and other military forces, as well as searching for mineral wealth. [/ooc]

[ic To avardera from Nargaq] Avardera, please set ships up in the river closest to you. the Auri are going to sail down it in order to invade us in that must e stopped. they may also attempt o take your cities as well.
[/ic] [ooc Final orders]>set defensive posts along the avarderan river
>send troops too attack the auri in cooperation with Andos
>continue to mine
>train soldiers[/ooc]

[ooc]
ORDERS:

SOCIAL/ECONOMIC
*Refurnish Temple.
*Colonize areas between Celend and Jemna, the north coast of the Whale Sea, Between Hayar and Otahvy, and Between Yaffa and Dol.
*Codify Inveran's law system, and install judges to carry this law out.
*Establish trade relations with Entrorahan, Cyrenahan, Baktash, and Hayar, and continue to grow existing trade relations.
*Begin fervent search for new resources and tradeable goods, especially in the new colonies.
*Figure out a way to utilize Elephants for economic growth.
MILITARY
*Deliver Troops to Nargaq as promised (My spearmen and the specially-trained galley unit).
*Raise and train another Galley unit for land and sea combat, set it to heavily patrol Inveran's isles.

[/ooc]

[ooc]orders

institute war masks
domesticate hippos
make hippo shrines
send group of people with freemen for colonization of a coastal town with archer escort (permitting response)
research resources and resource gathering techniques
research building materials
[/ooc]

[ic=To Peshuek Lharmok]
We shall await your call for aid. We would be entirely willing to aid you with these treacherous waters you find yourself in. Should thy emissaries need our aid, they need ask any Freeman for it, and the act is good as done.[/ic]

 [ic=To the Chieftain Finjh]
We are happy that the crop grows so well, and would be more than happy with the suggested arrangement. Let us introduce ou to Father Sea.[/ic]

 [ic]Let it be known, that the Machta has offended the League with his treatment of our allies, and is hereby named "Landbound". Any League ship sighting a ship of the Machta shall endeavor to cut off their trade, if incapable of actual attack. Harm to the Machta's people is to be avoided, but until they learn respect for Father Sea's peoples, they shall not be permitted on his face.[/ic]

 [ooc]
FINAL ORDERS:
Economic/International
1. Expand our trade with Kashtu, Hayar, Cyrenehan, Entropahan, and our well-established trade partners around the Middle Sea, endeavoring to undercut Inveran and Machta traders, to the point of accepting losses.
2. Relay messages for the Kashtu, and if necessary, give them the escape offered.
3. Aid the Vands in their expansion to the coast.
4. Seek out unclaimed land in the SE to establish  post near the new found peoples.
5. Expand our knowledge of the world through deals with the Hayar, Baktash, and Cyrenehan.

Social
1.Get League men willing and trained to explore any terrain in the pursuit of new trade and new discovery.
2. Have our people institute a regime similar to the one practiced in Avardera, educating our men in many tongues and customs.
3. Turtle domestication efforts will be carried out by the brave, mad, and foolhardy of the League. Efforts include, but are not limited to, seeking eggs, playing music, reins, and other mad/inspired plans.
4. League men desiring of improved status seek out berths in foreign ports, to expand League connections.

Military.
1. As in Social, some League men will learn various land styles of combat, to protect themselves while exploring on land.
2. A fourth galley shall be built to carry League explorers, and as the promised reward for the first League member to learn the secret of turtle control.
3. When possible, Machta ships shall be harassed back to their country, if not outright pirated.
4. Should war develop, the League knows its position as a vassal of Celend, and will aid that country's war effort. This is not to impede our other goals, unless Celend commands it, or an attack on a LEague friend such as Otavhy, Kashtu, or Avardera occurs.[/ooc]  

[ic= at the city gate of Avarra]
"I assume there's no turning back now, King Meas?"
"no"
"not everybody will understand why we do this, King Meas"
"I know"
"but I guess >>giving help to only recieve praise and rewards, is not to give help. and do good, only when there's nothing to lose, is not to be truely good", correct King Meas?"
"correct"

Orlun smiled, proud to serve as the Kings Shield for King Meas IV, as the army of Avardera marched off to meet with the Auri forces.
War...atleast it would be better then marching to Nargaq with food, then leave with the cry of starving children still filling the air he thought to himself, before he turned away from the memory and back to the matter at hand. keeping his King safe in the battle that was expected to happen[/ic]

 [ooc]
Domistic Orders:
Institualise the use of pot-ash, and any other agriculture improvement that might be develioped, if this leads to a sufficient increase in harvest, then expand the amounth of granaries.

requered basic education of culture, costum, law and language amounth other nations are taugth to anybody dealing with foreign countries, and sages will attempt to expand thier knowledge for that, through travels to foreign countries and interviewing people who have dealt with foreign people

encourage settlement and expension of Avarderas border toward the east.

Finance and back an expedition to the tip of land, north west of Andos, while respecting andos request.

Foreign orders:

Trade sheeps, and knowledge about keeping sheep and agriculture knowledge, in exchange for flocks of goats, and Andos offer of protection.

Send scholars to Arannia to exchange knowledge, and along with them, aid thier rebuilding by sending workforce, paid and fed by Avardera.

Freemen traders offering favorable rates, will recieve favorable rates.

Military Order.

March the majority of the army of Avardera to join up with the forces of the Auri and coordinate the attack on Narqag with them, led personally by King Meas IV.

Siege plans are as following, as agreed with the Auri:
Attempt to infiltrate the city of Nargaq, using soldiers disquised as friendly supplier, in an attempt to open the city gate when siege is layed upon Nargaq.
Secure the river going through Avaredra and blockade any ships trying to aid Nargaq, but without engaging, unless engaged first.
same approach with waiting with engaging, unless engaged first goes for any land battles too.
if a long siege happens, then ensure safe supply routes.

if the siege succes. as soon as possible, attempt to stabilise Nargaq, by sending food, and aid the Nargaq people with normalising thier life, and consolidate the border of Nargaq and Avardera together into one nation.

if the siege fails and Avardera have to withdraw, then secure the eastern border of Narqag, while also offering shelter to anybody from Narqag, who'll want to move and re-settle.

if resources needs to be prioritised, then it's military and domistic which are in the top.
[/ooc]

[ic=The Machta's Proclamation]Hear ye, oh Children of the Sea! Hear, hear of the mercenary fools of the League of Captains! They have proclaimed us, the Sailor People, the ones who travelled through oceans in the Great Migration, the First People to master the seas, 'Landbound'! All ships of these so-called 'Captains' should be looted and burned and their captains executed, their crews sold in the slace markets! This is the word of the Machta-Regent, through whom speaks the Machta![/ic]

[ooc]
Announcement
Happy Holidays!  TWAD is in the process of updating, though it may be a while as I'm on vacation too.  In the meantime, the nature of the events in this update dictates that I may have to send a few "mid-update" PMs out.  Please check your inboxes.[/ooc]

[ooc]A new round of PMs has been sent (3, to be exact).  Check your inbox![/ooc]

[ooc]I'm awaiting a few more PM responses, and then I can update.  No rush - just letting you PMers know![/ooc]

[ooc]A Rolling Update
I will not be posting this update all at once.  Until I post the updated stats, please refrain from posting in this thread.  Here, without any stats or specific country information, is the outcome of TWAD's numerous wars.  Yikes!

If there are any errors here, please tell me in the discussion thread.  Note that all these war orders were incredibly complex to link together in one narrative, so minor discrepancies between what you ordered and what happened should be attributed to the natural difficulties in ancient politics and a bronze age military command structure.[/ooc]

The Wars
The known world was seized by a series of wars in these years.

[spoiler=Na-Ammur'allik (202-208)]
In the Year of the Comet 202, rumors spread of the return of the Ammar, the awaited leader prophesized to take the Atur to greatness.  There had always been such rumors, however, since the Ammar first left the world.  The difference in this case was that these rumors were quickly followed by warriors.  The leaders of the Ashu'uk, Kurat, and Idurru Atur proclaimed that they had seen the Ammar in their visions, and that he walked among men once more '" a young leader of the Nishappak Atur named Sikumesh.  Receiving the blessings of three clan chiefs, Sikumesh proclaimed that he was indeed the prophesized one and set about to unite the clans as the wise men of the Atur foretold.

His ascension was, at first, easy.  Hounded by Kuregn and driven from much of their ancestral land, the Atur tribes welcomed a source of unity and strength.  There were those, however, who did not flock to the banner of the Nishappak Ammar '" chief among these the Nem-Ammar brotherhood, which called Sikumesh a 'false Ammar' who was backed by Kuregn's Despotissa, not the will of the Atur people.  The Nem-Ammar's accusation was a stinging rebuke, and removed all chance of a peaceful resolution.  In the autumn of the same year, a civil war exploded in the deep desert.

The Nem-Ammar originally suffered multiple setbacks.  The Ammar's loyalists seemed to have a great deal more weaponry, good bronze spears and arrows '" weapons that appeared Kuregnite, though the Tar'shal'sikumeshi ( or 'Ta-Sha-Si,' the 'party of Sikumesh') claimed that they had been stolen in raids on Kuregn.  The Nem-Ammar lost many tribal allies until they were joined to some degree by the Wardens of Kashtu, who devoted some of their own forces to the conflict.  In terms of soldiers contributed, Kashtu was fairly minor, but the very fact that the richest and one of the most powerful Atur polities supported the Nem-Ammar was an important psychological and moral victory.

The ebb of tribes leaving the side of the Brotherhood was reversed completely after the Battle of Kanda, when the Nem-Ammar host defeated a similarly sized Ta'sha'si force, thanks to a surprise night attack preceded by a barrage of bitumen-soaked flaming arrows.  This was a boon to the Nem-Ammar and Kashtu, but it did not win the war.  On the contrary, the conflict continued for over six more years.

The fortunes of war went back and forth, with raids and counter-raids turning most of the Ma'a into a battleground.  In 206, the Nem-Ammar was decisively defeated at the Hemush Wells.  The confederation's leadership escaped only because of the brave rear-guard action of a group of 'Zurshuk,' or 'Men of Dusk' in the service of the Nem-Ammar.

Zurshuk warriors had been trickling into the Ma'a since the beginning of the war.  Their language was so alien to the Atur that even by the year 225, only the most basic mutual understanding existed.  It seemed that the Zurshuk believed that the Ma'a was the birthplace of the Sun, and that their elders had said that the Sun fought a war against the stars every morning in order to rise.  For the Zurshuk, this was a literal battle of blood and bronze, and pious warriors made the long and tiresome trek into the desert to prove their worth and secure the future of their world by fighting for the 'People of the Sun' (the Nem-Ammar) against the 'People of the Stars' (the Ta'shi'si).  Before Hemush Wells, the foreign warriors in the Nem-Ammar's service numbered nearly 300.

In 207, a seasoned Kashtu raiding party ambushed and seized a caravan of weapons traveling south from Kuregn.  The Kashtu had found proof that the weapons were not the product of raids, but of support.  Though most Ta'shi'si tribes rejected the Kashtu find as so many traitorous lies, it began a tide of resentment against Sikumesh that gave the anti-Ta'shi'si alliance a new lease on life.  By 208, the war had become hotly contested again, and on one occasion the Nem-Ammar almost captured the 'false Ammar.'

In 208, the Despotissa, tiring of the continued charade to the south, sent spearmen and camelry south to end the Ta'shi'si losses and crush the Nem-Ammar.  Though the introduction of Kuregnite troops caused the Wardens to abandon the war, this move was a grave mistake.  The force set out in the summer, when most campaigning ceases in the desert '" thirsty and exhausted, they were ambushed by opposition tribes as they raced for a nearby oasis.  The Kuregnites that survived the slaughter were buried in their necks in the sand and left to die.

This loss alone did nothing to the Ta'shi'si, but the intervention of Kuregn tainted the entire enterprise.  How could the Ammar, prophesized to lead the Atur to victory over the likes of Kuregn, be their ally '" even their vassal?  The alliance for the Ammar began to collapse.  A few months after the intervention, one of Sikumesh's warlords came to the decision that he was indeed a false Ammar and stabbed him to death in his tent.  The Ta'shi'si disintegrated, but only after the Na-Ammur'allik ('The savior's war march') had caused the Atur immense hardship, loss, and devastation.  Despite the great casualties, this war remained largely unknown to the rest of the world '" for starting in the year after the return of the 'Ammar,' a much greater conflict began.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Peninsular War (203-217)]
At the dawn of civilization, it is said that there was a great kingdom that spanned the South, ruling all the Ma'turi.  Eventually, however, the King died, and left no heir to continue the royal line.  In the chaos that followed, the King's greatest general proclaimed himself Despot, and took the northern part of the kingdom; the priesthood of the kingdom, eunuchs all, took the eastern part; the King's chamberlain pronounced himself Regent, and took the southern part; and in the Ma'a, those who spurned all these pretenders retreated to the deep deserts.

In the year 203, goaded by the Yaffan blockade of the straits, Despotissa Koura of Kuregn invaded Yaffa from the west.  Most realized this as a pretext; under the Despotissa's rule, the army of Kuregn had grown to the point where it could not reasonably be sustained save by conquest.  Fewer realized that Koura, unlike many of her forebears, sincerely believed that she was destined to reunite the Ma'turi.  Beitar had been in a shambles for a century, making Celend the only serious rival for domination of the entire South.  Accordingly, the strike at Yaffa surprised nobody, and neither did the force that attacked the Matriarchy.  Headed by the Despotissa herself, the army was far and away the largest ever fielded.  The Archons held back their strength, choosing to reinforce Yaffa rather than meet the Despotissa in the field '" and so Kuregn's troops settled into a lengthy siege of the city.

It was evident to all that no siege could succeed without a full encirclement of the city, which in turn required control of the seas.  Having secured a firm alliance with the Machta through her marriage to the Machta's heir, the Despotissa's fleet sailed to Yaffa.  Celend sent its own fleet, which was modest but supported by the sizeable navies of Yaffa and the League.  Even Inveran, though its ruler feared an attack by the Machta, saw the importance of this battle and sent a detachment of ships.

The Despotissa's forces on the waves were outnumbered and in unfriendly territory '" but history, it seems, was to be on their side.  The League forces were conspicuously late in arriving; this was no accident, but rather a decision by the Free Captains to switch their allegiance and back Kuregn.  The Despotissa and the Captains launched an expertly orchestrated pincer attack on the unsuspecting Celenites and allies.  Yaffa's fleet fought viciously but was crushed, along with the entire Celenite force.  Only Inveran's ships did well '" their commander was all too wary of another betrayal, and so the League actions surprised him not at all.  Displaying rare clear thinking in the midst of a disaster, Lord Admiral Hecato extricated his own fleet with minimal casualties, and even managed to rescue the Matriarch of Yaffa in the midst of the chaos.  She and some Yaffan survivors were spirited away to Inveran.

Koura threatened war with Inveran over Hecato's decision; had the Despotissa and the Dragonlord been the only interested parties, perhaps a war could have been averted, but the Machta saw his chance and launched a full scale attack on Inveran, making further negotiation irrelevant, and effectively removing both the Machta-In and Inveran from the Yaffan theatre.  The Despotissa turned to more important matters.

With the encirclement of Yaffa complete, their best sailors dead or captured, and their leader taken into exile, the city could not survive.  The Grand Archon, believing his only hope was to break the siege by land but unwilling to face the host of Koura directly, counterattacked over the mountain passes into western Kuregn.  Though incensed at the attack, the Despotissa refused to budge despite the wide scale of pillage inflicted on her territories by Celend.  Within a year, Yaffa surrendered.  The eager Kuregnite army sacked the city, and the Despotissa proclaimed the Matriarchy dissolved and accepted the title of Protector of the League from the Free Captains present at the siege.

The Archons' forces, meanwhile, had seized the passes not only to Kuregn but those west of Yaffa as well.  From these forward positions they disrupted Kuregnite supply lines and raided widely.  In 207, the Kuregnites regained control of the northern Yaffa passes, but the highlands remained threatening; the Archons had paid princely sums to turn the scattered but fierce mountain tribes against the Despotissa.  At the battle of White Eagle's Pass the next year, a large Kuregnite force cleared that pass, but only after suffering grievous losses to a heavily outnumbered band of mountain men and Celenite border troops.  Celend lost the pass, but the army of Kuregn was battered enough to scuttle their campaign.

The attack would have resumed in the year 208, but events in the Ma'a forced the Despotissa to take up a defensive stance while attempting to swing events in the desert to her favor.  This failed miserably, and the loss of her Atur allies meant that Kuregn's long flank was no longer secure, especially given Kashtu's continued intransigence.  The Despotissa led a renewed raid into Celend in the year 214, and again in 217, both of which were largely unopposed and quite devastating, but in neither case could Kuregn make its gains permanent.  After their second large raid, Celend agreed to pay a large indemnity for peace and the preservation of its borders.  Peace indeed followed, but with Kuregn holding the passes and Yaffa itself, it seems clear that it is at best written on water.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Invernessi War (204-206)]
In many ways, the war between the Machta-In and Inveran was a sub-theatre of the Peninsular War; in others, it was a native conflict '" the Machta was certainly not the first of his line to consider unification of the isles by force.  Though in theory Inveran was backed by Celend and Ar-Auriban, neither of these powers could possibly spare ships or men for the conflict.  It was to remain, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, a civil war.

The fleets of the two Invernessi states were approximately equal; the spirits of the Machta's soldiers were high from their recent victory, but Inveran's sailors and navigators were more skilled.  The first engagement of the war was within sight of the city of Ruthern; the Machta had more ships in play, but the winds were against his fleet and Inveran prevailed and held the cape after a brief skirmish.  The fleet of Inveran was able to make a lightning raid on the Machta's isle west of Ruthern, but could not tarry long '" it was more of a psychological victory than a material one.

The Machta's fleet regrouped at their latest acquisition, the island taken from Inveran by the Treaty of Inveran.  Inveran launched a pre-emptive strike; it was ill-fated, as the Machta's admiral Ehar'hat pulled off a daring windward flanking maneuver, Inveran was defeated, and the Machta's men captured the westernmost isle of the Dragonlord.  The tide turned futher against Inveran in the year 205, when Yaffa fell, freeing up the Kuregnite fleet to pursue other aims.  Though Inveran had been frantically building new ships, they now found themselves heavily outnumbered with the addition of a flotilla of Kuregnite galleys to the Machta's cause and the loss of some of their own galleys in the recent battle.

The Invernessi admiral Hecato had been relieved by the Dragonlord, as he was blamed for the recent defeat.  His subordinate had been killed in the battle, so it was not readily apparent who would lead the fleet.  Lacking a suitable naval commander, the Dragonlord appointed the 'Banner Captain,' the master of the Dragonlord's spearmen, to the position of Lord High Admiral.  The new admiral Numenus sent a scout detachment north of their newly lost island, and the Machta-Kuregnite fleet gave chase.

Numenus placed the lion's share of his ships in the Bay of Norpost, within sight of the city.  As the Machta fleet prepared to move against him, he secretly took a boat to shore and entered Norpost.  His lieutenants feared he was abandoning them despite his assurances, and rumors spread through the fleet.  Numenus, however, had a plan, and received a meeting with Azolon, the Auri legate permanently residing in Norpost.  Numenus asked for a strange kind of aid '" lumber.  Though perplexed, Azolon was happy to oblige, having been given word by the Agah to support Inveran insofar as it was feasible.

Numenus knew he did not have the experience or ships to outmaneuver the enemy, so he sought to make the sea battle into something of a land battle '" with lumber smuggled out of Norpost, he built jury-rigged elevated platforms on his heaviest ships.  These made them fairly unseaworthy, but this was of little consequence in the calm waters of the Bay of Norpost.

When the fleets met, the Machta's ships pressed the attack.  A defeat of Inveran would lay all the isles bare to attack '" and Numenus' gambit meant that his fleet had nowhere to flee to if defeated.  The bay, however, limited the amount of ships that the fleet could send forward, limiting their advantage of numbers, and when the ships came to grips with each other Numenus' additions showed their worth.  Though simple, the platforms allowed the naval archers and javelineers to loose missiles downward into the decks of the opposing ships, causing many casualties '" no galley had any defense against missiles from above.  The initial wave of attackers failed and Inveran counterattacked, winning a decisive upset victory and even managing to capture the commander of the Kuregnite fleet.

Inveran regained both western islands, putting it back where it was before Aristo's disaster.  If the Machta's fleet had been defeated, however, his Kuregn-backed army was unbroken and quite capable of defending the Machta-In's core territories.  Inveran briefly held the Machta's northernmost isle, but an armed rebellion by Zakhite-led peasants forced them to withdraw.  The Dragonlord requested aid from the Agah's legate, whose army might have been able to take advantage of the victory, but the Auri declined '" Ar-Auriban had its own problems to worry about in these years, and could spare no troops for island-hopping.  Technically, the war is still ongoing, though since the Battle of Norpost Bay the Machta-In was unable to make more than minor skirmishing forays into the Dragonlord's waters.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=First Serpent War (209-211)]
It was in the year 209 that the world heard of a grave alliance.  In a bold stroke, the Auri and the Teschan army attacked the Triple Alliance simultaneously.  At the Battle of Four Kings, The Triple Alliance was routed and the King of Atamn, his vassal, captured and executed.  Fearing retribution, the people of Atamn stormed the King's palace and offered their own royal family to the Auri in exchange for leniency; Zegar agreed, placing his relatives upon Atamn's throne and permanently extinguishing the original royal line.

There were more rumblings in the east, however.  In the winter of 210, the Sorghedai swelled over the steppes into Ar-Auriban, sweeping away the Auri tribesmen and again taking a wide swath of land.  The Agah, having just fought a war with the Triple Alliance and Nargaq, found it difficult to respond, and was forced into a humiliating peace agreement.

The chariot-riders of Xukhia closed the chapter of this war as ruthless opportunists; with the Triple Allance shaken and split by a succession crisis, the Xuk attacked them and seized lands up to the Serpent's edge.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Siege of Nargaq (210)]
In the early spring, the Agah of the Auri turned his attention once more to Nargaq.  He assigned his general, Yezagan, the task of taking the city once and for all.

Inveran had, as usual, pledged support to the clans, but their attention was largely directed elsewhere; despite their earlier victory, they were wary of further attacks from the Machta, especially if Kuregn opted to send more support.  They had done the Nargaq the valuable service, however, of informing them from where the attack would come.  Informing the clansmen that the Auri were preparing to travel up the river through Avardera, the clansmen prepared their defenses in that area.

Inveran's advice turned out to be treacherous.  The Agah had no intention of traveling up this river, and the Dragonlord knew it.  The Agah had come to an accord with Inveran, though he privately did not trust them.  Thus, Inveran was equally surprised when the Auri came not by sea, but overland, traveling north of Nargaq and to the border of Avardera.  The Dragonlord believed that the Auri had played them all and was preparing to engage Avardera, but that was not correct either '" instead, the army of Avardera met the Agah and prepared to move out together.  Avardera had chosen cooperation, and Nargaq now found itself totally surrounded.

Meanwhile, hearing of the surprise Auri advance, a fleet from Andos sailed with warriors to aid the clans.  King Meas, once he got wind of the Andosen ships, had a choice to make.  His relations with Andos had been tense of late, but peaceful.  He did not want to fight Andos, but also knew that he could not allow their warriors to reach Nargaq.  Thus, when the Andosen fleet arrived at the river's mouth, they found it blockaded.

Realizing the King's treachery, the Andosen warriors departed.  The King believed they had given up; this was a grave underestimation of his northern foes.  The King tried to assure his Andosen guests that no aggression would come to their shores, and that this war was in the best interests of these lands; the delegation was noticeably upset, but could do little more that accept this news.

Two days after this meeting, Hurscha Nolyne, accompanied by her personal warriors, entered the King's chambers with murderous intent.  A battle ensued between the King's bodyguards and the Andosen warriors ensued.  The King's bodyguards managed to whisk him out of the room, but only after the Andosen ambassador stuck a bronze knife through his ribs.  Hurscha Nolyne and her guards were killed, and the King's men took their collective heads to mount on spears on the city's gate '" to find that the warriors of the Andosen fleet were attacking the city.

With most of the Avarderan soldiers on campaign, the King's regulars were hard pressed to defend against this surprise attack.  The gatehouse was taken, and the Avarderan soldiers retreated with their motionless King to the city's citadel.  The Andosen warriors took the city, but were unable to breach this fortress.  Soon, the Andosen warriors were guarding the walls and calling for more men from Andos.

Now our narrative returns to the Auri.  For the time being, the Auri and the Averderan army were unaware of the situation in Averra.  Yezagan assured Gregor that the plan, though somewhat altered, was still in motion.  A group of soldiers were sent under the pretext of a grain shipment into Nargaq; they wrested control of the gates and nearly killed the chief council of the clans, but were eventually slain by the clansmen within the city.  Realizing the betrayal, the clans sent word to their men preparing for the Auri invasion in the west, but it was too late.  The Nargaq spotted the Auri fleet (recently constructed in Pinur) move up the river with the Avarderan ships in tow; as they prepared to resist them, the fearful sound of horns and bells came from the forest to the north.

The Auri swept down upon the defenders like a swarm of angry wasps.  In the river lowlands, the Nargaq had little defense against chariots, who were accompanied by Auri archers and the foot soldiers of Avardera.  The clansmen were crushed.  Their fleet, which had moved to block the advance of the Auri ships, was caught under the range of the Auri composite bows on the river's edge.  The Auri showered their ships with flaming arrows while the Avarderan and Pinuri fleets attacked.

The defeat was crippling.  Some warriors did make it back to Nargaq, but these were few, and their morale was shattered.  Nargaq itself had long been a shell of its formal self; the Auri raids had caused many to flee, and parts of the city had been abandoned to weeds and animals for a generation.  There was little will to fight and fewer soldiers to fight with.  After a comparatively brief three-month siege, the city fell in the autumn.  The defenders that remained fought like lions but were unable to hold the walls as breaches appeared everywhere.  They took refuge in the citadel; the Auri hauled great stones around the citadel's entrance, barricading the remaining defenders and clan chiefs within.  Refusing to surrender and unable to escape, they starved to death.

During the siege of the city, the Auri and the Avarderan captains had received word of the capture of Avarra.  Yezagan dispatched half his foot archers and some tribal auxiliaries, and the majority of the Avarderan forces left the siege to free their homeland.  Avarra was encircled, and the Avarderan fleet prevented further reinforcements from reaching the Andosen invaders.

Had Avarra been an Andosen city, it might have been easy to hold.  The population of Avarra, however, was not passive.  Though the Andosen spread amazing rumors of the King's corruption and treachery, saying that the King planned to harvest their first born children in some bizarre ritual, the Avarrans had no reason to trust them.  For the people of Avarra, the conclusion was very simple: The Andosen had attacked them; the Auri had not.  The Andosen had attacked, and perhaps killed their King; the Auri were his allies.  The King enjoyed great popularity and the Andosen enjoyed a reputation as violent, untrustworthy barbarians.  When the Avarderan army approached, the citizens revolted en masse.

Tradesmen and artisans took to their roofs and hurled stones, pots, and tiles on their occupiers.  They armed themselves with whatever they had and set fire to their city's own defenses.  With most of the Andosen warriors on the walls, they stormed the gates of the city's citadel, freeing the King's soldiers and arming themselves from the citadel armory.  In a pitched battle in the streets, the people and the King's men seized a gate, and in poured the Avarderan army.  Soon the city had fallen again; the Andosen warriors were cornered and many fought to the death.  Some surrendered on the promise of good treatment; the Captain of the Guard had them executed anyway.  The losses to the Avarderans and their citizens were heavy, but after the battle the walls were lined with hundreds of head-topped spears.  The Auri, spiritually opposed to such grisly mutilations, were aghast; the master of archers reported to Yezagan that the Avarderans were 'the most ruthless people on earth.  The merest child thinks nothing of the gravest atrocities in the name of their King.'

In Nargaq, some remaining clansmen fled to the mountains rather than face surrender, but this was not sustainable.  Winter was coming, and the mountain country was cold and unforgiving; the Auri controlled all the lowlands and withheld all food from those who would not surrender to them.  Eventually, the Nargaq faced either defeat or starvation.  Most chose the former.  Without their leaders, chased from their homes and farms, shaken by constant warfare and facing a brutal winter with only scraps and roots to eat, the people of Nargaq were worn down to nothing.  There was simply no will left to fight; the clansmen ceased to exist as a unified people, the last spark of their leadership having died within the citadel of Nargaq.

[ic=Epitaph for Nargaq]Duration: YC 1-210 (210 Years)
Capital City: Nargaq (founded YC 1)
Largest Population: 16,000
Known for: Developing swordsmen, mining copper, resisting Auri aggression for generations
Demise: Conquered by the Auri and Avardera[/ic]

Now, Nargaq (renamed Ar-Naghk, 'the tower,' by the Auri) is little more than a fortified logging and mining camp on the edge of the Auri dominions.  Its citadel remains untouched, a towering tomb of Nargaq's clan chiefs that is considered sacred ground by those who still inhabit the city.

As for the King of Avardera, he survived the attack, but remained in ill health.  In the year 216, he succumbed suddenly, many say to poison, though others say he simply never quite recovered from his injury.  He died greatly mourned by his people.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Second Serpent War (223-224)]
In the year 217, one year after the death of King Meas, Agah Zegar died of a sickness and left his son Surhezman the throne.  Within a few months, Surhezman was seized by men loyal to his younger brother, Khozun, who had his elder brother strangled.  Khozun and those loyal to his dead brother, who now supported the succession of Surhezman's infant son, fought a civil war beginning in the year 220.  Khozun only managed to end the rebellion two years later.

The ascendancy of the Sorghedai on the steppe proved short-lived.  Having recouped from their previous battles and led by a new Agah, the Auri sought and found an accord with the Xuk and the eastern Chalu.  In a series of chariot battles beginning in the year 223, the Sorghedai were overwhelmed and forced to migrate northwards, relinquishing the land of the Auri and greatly expanding the lands of the eastern nomads.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=March of Rusol (225)]
The Agah dispatched an expeditionary force under the general Rusol to go northwards, with a mind to find the northern barbarians and punish them.  The Auri knowledge of the north was limited, however, and in his march along the coast Rusol mistook Arrania for Andos.  He attacked by surprise, without bothering to ask for tribute '" he did not expect the 'Andosen' to pay any.  In a pitched battle, Rusol crushed Arrania '" largely by the force of his chariots '" and put the city to a brutal sack.  Rusol returned to the Agah with the booty of a once impressive city-state as an offering.  The Auri showed little interest in Andos after the return of Rusol, though they believed the northerners to be totally destroyed '" Rusol famously said that 'the land of the northerners is barren, poor, and utterly without worth.'[/spoiler]

The Years of the Bloodied Hand
Year of the Comet 201-225

[spoiler=The Map]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Terrain Map]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Inveran]
Inveran's navy had victoriously defended the isles and even regained lost territory.  From Gregor's perspective, however, all was not well.  Celend, though still powerful, no longer had any ability to project power north of the Yaffan straits.  The Machta's blockade continued, only now it extended to the straits as well.  Inveran was essentially isolated '" though the Machta's shattered navy could no longer threaten Inveran's isles, Machta-In ships could still pirate lone merchant ships, and Mandrian piracy swelled again in these years.  As fate would have it, the Auri were the Dragonlord's most capable ally, but this was useless from an economic standpoint '" the Auri had little to trade and were not interested in trading it.

Salvation for Inveran's traders came from other lands.  The elimination of Nargaq and the relatively lax attitude of the Auri prefect at Ar-Naghk toward exports allowed Invernessi merchants to trade more copper than they had even at the height of the ancient Copper Road.  The fall of Beitar to the Prince-Regent of Jemna led to a collapse in the global copper trade, perhaps the most important commodity of all, and left Inveran holding around two-thirds of all copper traffic.  After the First Serpent War, Atamn entered the Auri orbit, and the Agah Zegar allowed Invernessi ships to ply their wares as far down the Serpent as they wished (though Tescha would abide no ships in their own land).  There, the Invernessi met the Xuk, a nomadic confederation like the Auri who recently acquired much of the Serpent's northern shore.  The Xuk themselves were not terribly interested in Invernessi goods, but were well aware of the value of being the middleman '" their carts and chariots could make the overland journey to Murrhat with not too much difficulty.

Friction grew between Gregor and the Lord Admiral Numenus; Gregor distrusted him for his great popularity, and Numenus resented the Dragonlord for not taking a more aggressive stance against the Machta.  Gregor was the more experienced politician, however, and Numenus lost out in his power struggle with the plutocracy.  Frustrated in Inveran, he led an expedition up the Serpent and founded a city east of Atamn in the no-man's land between Xukhia, Tescha, and the Triple Alliance.  Known as Numenas, the trading post became a hub of regional trade, facilitated by the Xuk; the nomads traded copper, almonds, and salt in Murrhat, and brought horses, spices, and ivory back to the west.

Numenus ran his settlement as a virtual private fiefdom, making himself rich and following the example of Isedun by spurning the Dragonlord's control.  He was quick to make friends with the Xuk, who foiled a coup attempt inspired by the Dragonlord in the year 220.  Three years later, however, Numenus died (some whispered that the Dragonlord had poisoned him), and Inveran assumed control of the post (as well as much of the Lord Admiral's personal fortune, which funded renovations to the main temple of the Dragon Saints).  The Dragonlord was loath to appoint any governor, fearing another Isedun debacle; the result was that Numenas grew into a rather lawless (though still profitable) market town, lacking any local power and too far from Inveran to be effectively administered by the Dragonlord.

Numenus was also responsible for bringing the chariot to Inveran; he had several Xuk chariots made and maintained for him while he ruled, and these found their way back to Inveran (along with a few Xuk craftsmen) when the post fell to the Dragonlord.

Elsewhere, Inveran colonized parts of the Lost Lands, though settlers seeking a new life of chopping lumber were hard to come by.  The colony was primarily populated by native peoples, and only loosely administered by Inveran.  Further colonization efforts were foiled by the war and the closing of the Straits.

The pair of elephants given to the Dragonlord proved surprisingly long-lived, and were still the centerpiece of state parades and processions in 225.  As these were the only elephants ever seen in Inveran '" indeed, in the entire Middle Sea '" the elephant became the unofficial symbol of the Invernessi state and the Dragonlord.  Avarderan scribes used the newly created 'elephant' pictograph to represent both the animal and Inveran itself.  As for economic growth, they were less valuable, and no more were forthcoming '" though some suggested that the beasts, if they could be procured from Murrhat, might be able to make the long trek through Xukhia.  Finding a boat to carry them down the Serpent, however, is another matter entirely.

Inveran has gained access to horses.

Additionally, Inveran has invented a new military technology:

War Galleys (WGa): The war galley is a specialized fighting craft.  It is longer and narrower than a normal galley and has more oars, allowing for greater speed but reducing the available space for supplies (thus limiting its effective range).  The ship has two decks: the main (rowing) deck, and a raised fighting platform where marines can loose arrows and hurl javelins down into opposing ships.  This innovation, however, makes it substantially less seaworthy, and war galleys must be restricted to relatively short journeys on calm and coastal waters.

Player: Stargate525
Government: Plutocratic Elective Monarchy
Popularity: 5
Dread: 2 [+2]
State Religion: Cult of the Dragon Saints
Popular Religion: 91% Dragon Saints, 7% Mandrian Polytheism, 2% Animism
Fervor: 5
Population: 9,500 [+1500]
Cities: Inveran (C), Ilneress
Prosperity: 4 [-1]
Trade: 4
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 2
Espionage: 3 [+1]
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Sli, Boa, Gal, WGa
Forces: 3 (3)
Army: 1 Spr
Navy: 1 WGa, 1 Gal[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Machta-In]
The Machta's state was heavily militarized during these years, but that was not enough to defeat Inveran '" on land, the Machta's force was formidable, but Inveran managed to retain control of the seas.  Still, the Machta's soldiers could hold their own territories, and raiders both native and mercenary were gainfully employed in raiding Inveran's shipping even after the Machta's defeat.  The Machta struck alliances with numerous Mandrian pirate captains and warlords, encouraging them to attack Inveran with the understanding that they would be able to use the Machta-In as a safe harbor and a place to sell their pirated cargo.  

The Zakhites enjoyed a resurgence during the war years.  As far as the Machta was concerned this was a mixed blessing.  While he appreciated their fierce resistance to Inveran's abortive counter-invasion, the Zakhites were strident opponents of the alliance with Kuregn and more often than not were at odds with the Machta's government.  The reformed priesthood certainly did not appreciate their presence; though by this time the Order of the Hand had passed into the history scrolls, their philosophical legacy had seriously altered the priesthood, which looked uncomfortably on the Zakhites as both their theological predecessors and opponents.

The union of the Machta's heir and the Despotissa was otherwise rather successful.  Their first two children died at an early age, but a second son was born in the year 211, the presumed heir to both the Machta-In and the Despotate.  Two other healthy children were born to them, both girls.  The young son, named Talor ('magnificent' in the language of the Ma'turi), spent his young childhood in the isles, and later returned to Kuregn to live at the Despotic Palace and study with the priests of Kuregn (along with his sisters).

Some settlers from the Machta-In colonized one of the Mandrian isles in 215, growing a mixed Mandra-Invernessi community.  This isle enjoyed modest prosperity as a fishing port, but by the year 225 was perhaps the axis of Middle Sea piracy, controlled only loosely by the Machta.  The League captains of Maducreon attempted a punitive raid against the island at one point, but were decisively defeated in a skirmish with a corsair flotilla.

The wars in this era made trade difficult for all, though a brisk trade did develop for Machta-In tea and herbs in Kuregn and Otahvy.  Traders brought back camels, among other things, from Kuregn.  Difficult to tame and control, they saw some limited use during this time, though in a wetter land like the Inverness they were somewhat less perfectly suited to the environment as they were in their homeland.  The Machta never saw much use for them in war, and they proved to be poor draft animals.

Player: Wensleydale
Government: Hereditary Monarchy
Popularity: 5 [-1]
Dread: 5 [+1]
State Religion: Sadatism
Popular Religion: 90% Tumiiri Sadatism, 10% Zakhism
Fervor: 6
Population: 17,000 [+500]
Cities: Danhula (C)
Prosperity: 5 [-1]
Trade: 3 [-1]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 4
Espionage: 3
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Sli, Boa, Gal
Forces: 3 (4)
Army: 1 Spr, 1 Bld
Navy: 1 Gal[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Avardera]
The kingdom was greatly surprised by the seemingly unwarranted attack by Andos, and the liberation of Avarra was a costly affair.  Clearly, the planned exchanges between the two states did not go ahead.  King Meas IV and his brother and successor, Meas V, supervised the reconstruction of the city and attempted to strengthen the navy to ensure this would not happen so easily again.

In the east, the defeat of Nargaq opened up new lands to the Avarderans, whose numbers exploded as new riverside lands were cleared for farming and fertilized with the product of the fallen trees.  Though potash was useful, it became far more useful as farmers learned how to refine it in stone kilns, which began to pop up in many riverside villages.  This necessitated the growth of granaries, as well as a comprehensive system of food distribution.  Originally, this distribution system was created to feed the exiles from Nargaq, whose lives had been shattered by the war and conquest.  The Auri did not persecute or unduly starve them, but were inexperienced in managing farming populations and paid little attention to farmers at the fringes of their massive empire.  The King instituted a food allotment to such refugees, causing many to move to Avardera's territories.

This redistribution required records and people to keep them.  In most societies, this duty would go to the priesthood, being the only widely literate group.  Avardera, however, lacked such an organized priesthood, so this duty went to woodcarvers, craftsmen who had carved pictures and symbols into wood for generations.  These artisans were recruited by the King to assist in the administration of royal granaries; a wing of the palace held thousands of strips of pounded bark on which the daily records of the grain supply were tabulated.

These same woodcarver-scribes were also natural choices for journeys to foreign lands, owing to their literacy.  The bark-strip archives in Avarra became a local nexus of foreign learning, though it was difficult to attract foreign speakers and scholars in the midst of war.  Many scribes did have contact with Auri visitors, who themselves studied Avarderan writing '" the Auri themselves were illiterate.  The brisk trade in lumber and copper at Ar-Naghk made the local Auri potentates take an interest in keeping records as well, and by the year 225 Avarderan pictographic script was in use throughout the western reaches of Ar-Auriban.

In the rolling hills near Taripont, other farmers turned to grape growing.  The ongoing wars in the south and piracy in the west, however, kept such goods from being widely traded in this time.

Through trade and an alliance with the Auri, Avardera has acquired horses, as well as a new military technology (CAr).

Player: Tillumni
Government: Hereditary Monarchy
Popularity: 6 [-1]
Dread: 2 [+1]
State Religion: None
Popular Religion: 57% Animism, 10% Runethainism, 16% Dragon Saints, 2% Cult of Svyorn, 7% Mother Earth/ Father Sea, 8% Zhasmunism
Fervor: 3
Population: 16,500 [+2000]
Cities: Avarra (C), Taripont
Prosperity: 5 [+1]
Trade: 1 [-1]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 2 [+1]
Espionage: 1 [+1]
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, CAr, Sli, Swd, Boa, Gal
Forces: 4 (4)
Army: 2 Spr, 1 Sli
Navy: 1 Gal[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Otahvy]
The Dual Kingdom was a rare island of calm in these years.  Its kings focused on the further unification of their land; attempts to bring the mountain villages into the fold continued to fail, but elsewhere the power of Otahvy was extended.  This was not always a very direct control '" some villages merely sent an annual tribute to the Kings, retaining near total autonomy.

The name of Otahvy again became linked with piracy in these years, partially because of the Machta's encouragement and incentives.  Mandrian corsairs attacked Avardera, Inveran, the League city of Norpost, and even briefly occupied Ruthern's main port, forcing the priesthood to pay them off.  Some engaged in legitimate trade, bringing salt into Inveran (which the Invernessi traded to the east).

Though the Dual Kings remained popular, the expectations of the East Mandrians '" who had lived somewhat more prosperous lives in Inveran '" caused a growing discontent amongst the kingdom's upper classes.  Certainly the wars were not the fault of Rodonso and Puul, but the 'returners' and their descendents were unsatisfied with the monarchy's failure to integrate the nation further with the peoples of the Middle Sea.  Others pointed to the League exclave of Maducreon as the source of their trouble '" why indeed should a foreign people be allowed to export the products of Otahvy?  Maducreon found that even it was not immune to Mandrian piracy, leading to incidents of Mandrian-on-Mandrian piracy on the route between Maducreon and the Inverness.

In the year 219, a rather fortuitous discovery was made in the high mountains west of the Mandra peninsula that had only recently come under Otahvy's rule.  The streams running down from the mountains were yielding, of all things, gold.  The gold trade in Mandra was small and local in these years, but if more can be found the country may have uncovered a more valuable resource than fish and salt.

Player: Jharviss
Government: Complete diarchy ruled by King Rodonso and King Puul
Popularity: 7 [-1]
Dread: 4 [+1]
State Religion: Mandrian Ditheism
Popular Religion: 74% Mandrian Ditheism, 22% Mandrian Polytheism, 5% Mother Earth/ Father Sea, 1% Dragon Saints
Fervor: 3
Population: 15,500 [+1000]
Cities: Nilburg (C)
Prosperity: 3
Trade: 3 [-1]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 0
Espionage: 2
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Sli, Boa, Gal
Forces: 3 (3)
Army: 1 Bld, 1 Spr
Navy: 1 Gal[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Andos]
The total destruction of Arrania was a valuable lesson to the people of Andos.  Firstly, the actual power of the Auri had been demonstrated to them.  Secondly, and more importantly, the close call illustrated to many the value of some semblance of unity '" for the Auri would likely learn the truth eventually, and if not them, another might someday attempt a serious attack.  The strategy of total extermination practiced by the Auri was foreign and appalling to the Andosen, whose warfare usually took the form of skirmishes, not campaigns to utterly annihilate an enemy.  So too the wrathful slaughter of the Andosen warriors in Avarra made the Andosen realize that the southerners, too, could be dangerous and very ruthless opponents.

These were not the only foreign peoples to make contact with Andos in these years.  In 220, a fleet of strange looking galleys arrived on the west coast of Andos.  Thinking them to be southern interlopers in strictly Andosen waters, the Andosen attacked '" and were sorely beaten.  They did not sound like any southerners the Andosen had met, and their ships were of no southern pattern.  Was this 'Tuarescou,' or another people?  The foreigners responded by raiding all the way down the western coast of Andos.  Only the mustering of all the Ryvan-Holme's ships within a stone's throw of Grycham prevented the city from falling under attack '" in the face of such superior numbers, the foreigners tacked westward and were never seen again.

In the east, the Andosen were the foreigners, searching a largely unpopulated country for something worthwhile.  They found that the mountains barring their way to the 'Lands of Eternity' were not of one range, but two '" the Arranian mountains running to the south, and another, separate range to the north.  Between these two was a wide valley thick with immense trees.  It was here that the Grychgayte focused their efforts, for the trees in this valley were often twice the size of any tree the Andosen had seen.  Their mountain searches were somewhat less productive '" the real mineral wealth was found by the Ryvalnya on the shores north of the strait.  One could simply walk along the coast and pick up pieces of amber washed up by the tide; some pieces even had insects, leaves, and seeds perfectly preserved inside.  The Andosen did not know how an insect could come to be trapped in a rock and lost in the sea, but the stones certainly were beautiful when polished.

As it turned out, they were not the only ones who knew of this.  Amber-gatherers on their way north were attacked by a fierce warrior people from the deep forests of the north.  Apparently, amber was a precious good to them, and they did not appreciate it being gathered from their shores.  Over the years, several skirmishes were fought between the Ryvalnya and the 'Ivruskans,' as they called themselves, but the situation eventually stabilized '" the Ryvalnya simply stayed outside of Ivruskan territory, where amber beaches could be found as well.  The Ivruskans did have bronze weapons, hinting at the existence of a source of copper and tin somewhere in the Lands of Eternity.

The acquisition of metals was a great problem for the Andosen.  After their attack on Avardera, they found themselves totally cut off from the trade networks of the Middle Sea.  Not even the League ventured here with the resurgence of Mandrian piracy.  Knowing how to smelt bronze was all well and good, but the Andosen possessed no metals of their own, and old weapons and tools became valuable commodities.

The Andosen found these eastern lands ill-suited for farming, being too rocky and wooded, but the foothills of the eastern mountains were ideal places for grazing goats and sheep.  Though the war with Avardera limited their cultural and economic exchanges, sheep pastoralism became more common in the east, and wool grew greatly in favor '" when cold winds blew in from the north, nothing kept a person warmer.  This same climate was responsible for the mediocre progress of farming in Andos.  The wheat and millet cultivars common in the south did not do well in the harsher soils and cooler climate of Andos.  Sedentary fishing and transhumant herding remained the primary methods of sustenance.

The transhumant lifestyle '" herders moving seasonally with their flocks to stay with good grazing lands '" resulted in the establishment of set routes taken by hundreds of shepherds and thousands of sheep each year.  Quite by accident, these became the first roads in Andos; only later did local houses establish roads between population centers.  Andos was hardly an easy place to build roads, and corvee labor was difficult to assemble '" the roads were mainly earthen tracks, improved by clearing brush, moving stones, and building fords through creeks.  Still, something is better than nothing.

Likewise, simple drainage ditches and channels were dug in Stavram to try to deal with the growing population.  Oddly, the job was made easier by the earthquake, as not many houses needed to be pulled down to accommodate the new system.  Some suggested trying to prepare for another earthquake, but few seemed to know how this could be done, and most thought that preposterous '" could one prepare for the will of the gods?  Few failed to notice that, subsequent to Arrania's great earthquake, the city came to ruin at the hands of the Auri.  It was argued by some that, should an earthquake ever come to Andos, preparations would be irrelevant anyway '" the shaking was clearly an omen of inevitable doom.

Player: amikaligula
Government: Matriarchal Timocracy
Popularity: 5
Dread: 3
State Religion: Cult of Svyorn
Popular Religion: 28% Cult of Svyorn, 13% Other Cults, 59% Animism
Fervor: 5
Population: 10,500 [+1000]
Cities: Andos (C), Stavram
Prosperity: 3
Trade: 1 [-2]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 3 [+1]
Espionage: 3
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Sli, ASp, Boa, OCa, Gal
Forces: 3 (3)
Army: 2 ASp
Navy: 1 OCa[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Kashtu]
Of all the peoples of the Ma'a, Kashtu fared the best.  Their limited entry into the devastating wars of the desert and their precarious neutrality in the Peninsular War meant that battle never reached their own territory, and their military losses were relatively slight compared to the horrendous loss of life among the Atur tribes.  Nevertheless, with the end of the war came hostility from all quarters against the Wardens; other tribes accused them of cowardice for not fully supporting them and 'turning tail' when the Despotissa entered the war.  Though Kashtu played a role in the eventual victory, this was largely ignored '" many said that if they had intervened more forcefully, many lives could have been saved.

Kashtu's own people were no less harsh.  The people of Kashtu shared a common ancestral, cultural, and linguistic bond with the Atur, and nearly half Kashtu's population claimed an Atur tribal name, including many Tarkad who had become largely indistinguishable from 'native' Kashtu.  The news that the Wardens had retreated from Kuregn's advanced sparked a rebellion in the state's own garrison soldiers that was only put down with difficulty.  Some said that the Wardens had been bought off by Kuregn, others that the Wardens had no faith in the true Ammar.  When the grizzled veterans returned from the desert, they surrounded the Wardens' palace and forced the Grand Warden to abdicate in shame.

The removal of the Grand Warden only softened the precipitous decline in the government's popular legitimacy.  Though the Wardens retained control of the army and state, they were severely weakened.  The Peshuek cast themselves as populists and opponents of Kuregn, using the Wardens' weakness as their gain in an attempt to seize greater power for themselves.  With an unsympathetic mob and a disloyal army, the Wardens remained in a very unenviable position.  Threats of rebellion by the army, which seemed to be on good terms with the Peshuek, forced the abdication of four Grand Wardens in less than a decade.  When the Grand Hierarch tried to intervene in one such instance, the soldiers laid siege to the main temple until the Hierarch surrendered himself (and was subsequently forced into exile).  The soldiery also forced the current Grand Warden to recall his ambassador to Kuregn, only sent a few years before.  The state's warriors had found political leverage and clearly had no intention of giving it up.  The militia was of no help, tending to side with the soldiers more often than not.

Away from the political front, Kashtu fared reasonably well, though the Peninsular War and its aftermath dampened demand for desert luxury goods for some time.  In these years, the digging of the 'long wells' became far more advanced; the work required diggers both skilled and brave, for the job was dangerous and required precise calculations.  Well diggers became a much praised and high-status 'caste' despite their dirty and dangerous profession, requiring both brains and brawn to bring life-giving water to Kashtu's fields.  Over the years, cisterns were built to hold excess water, and the amount of land under cultivation grew dramatically.  By the year 225, Kashtu was on par with the greatest cities of Kuregn or Celend, though many lived in poor and crowded conditions.  Kashtu was simply not prepared to deal with the great problems that urbanization entailed.  Physical improvements were stymied by the constant and sometimes nearly violent tension between the Peshuek, the Wardens, and the soldiery.

The Atur did carry word from the far west, describing further the country they called 'Zur'a' (simply, 'dusk place').  As the language of the Zurshuk remained largely indecipherable, no higher communication could be established, but caravans did bring a steady (though small) flow of woolen textiles and black seeds  to Kashtu and thence to lands beyond.  Tales of Zurshuk 'flying boats' that could carry men to the clouds, told by these caravans, inspired temple scribes to make numerous elaborate engravings of what they imagined these things must look like.

A notable account of these years was recorded by a priest and scribe called Misek, who wrote a long account of the Na-Ammur'allik (called, as one might expect, 'Na-Ammur'allik') on papyrus scrolls.  Though he seemed to have added some embellishments '" he wrote grandiose and stirring speeches for many Atur warriors he had never met, and the three deities of Kashtu made personal appearances, even whipping up sandstorms or calling down lighting for the virtuous Nem-Ammar and Kashtu warriors '" his epic record was extremely popular and was recited by tribal speakers far to the west.  A talented scribe, his writings seemed sympathetic to the Soldiery, further buoying their cause.

Player: snakefing
Government: Religious Monarchy
Popularity: 3 [-4]
Dread: 2 [-2]
State Religion: Kashtu Polytheism
Popular Religion: 81% Kashtu Polytheism, 18% Animism, 1% Celenite Polytheism
Fervor: 7 [+1]
Population: 14,500 [+3000]
Cities: Kashtu (C)
Prosperity: 4
Trade: 2 [-1]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 3
Espionage: 2
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Cam, Boa
Forces: 3 (4) [+1]
Army: 2 Cam, 1 Arc
Navy: None[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The League]
For the second time in recent history, the League switched sides.  Of course, this did not bother most of the Captains, and certainly did not bother the League's trading partners in the east, who wrote off the various wars of this period as so many foreign irrelevancies.  Not all were pleased, however.  In the year 205, the news of the League's betrayal caused several captains in Beitar, who had close relationships with Celend and admired Celenite culture, to repudiate their association with the League.  Part of this may have been because the Archon of Beitar had threatened to confiscate all League property in the city.  The League captains considered intervening forcefully, but it never came to that '" the following year, the Prince-Regent of Jemna took advantage of Celenite weakness and captured Beitar.  The Archon was executed, and the Prince took every last piece of property owned by the League traders and expelled them from the city.  Crowded onto fishing boats, the Freemen floated down the river until rescued by League galleys, and the rebellious captains '" now homeless and destitute '" asked for the League's forgiveness.

The league outpost in Maducreon also suffered at first, severed from contact by the fleet of the Machta.  Inveran's victory, however, enabled League ships to make contact with their colony again.  League attempts to undermine Inveran were a failure, largely because Inveran's routes '" into Auri-dominated territory '" were forbidden to League ships.

The loss of Beitar was balanced by gains elsewhere.  In 210, a League captain called Doram mounted an expedition up the 'River of Life,' the powerful river running through the countries of the east.  The captain's ships passed through Etropahan, monitored the whole time by the King's royal guard; normally the King allowed no traffic at all, and Doram only managed the feat by living in Patene for nearly a decade, learning the language and eventually gaining the trust of the royal establishment.  In the territory of Cyrenahan, the sailors found the ubiquitous agents of Sarar Udai, who cleared their expedition but taxed them heavily for passage.  It was learned that Udai was in fact one of the richest and most powerful men in the east, with people of several cultures using the phrase 'Not with all Udai's riches' to indicate that something was impossible.  Some said he was the son of a god of wealth, or that his palace was built on an underground mountain of silver, or that he possessed a secret map to a faraway land filled with riches.

There, the ships passed through the lands of the Triple Alliance, and saw transhumant herders in grazing villages near the water's edge, accompanied by enormous herds of horses.  Further on, the 'Ivory Gate' loomed ahead, two enormous rearing stone elephants on either side of the river that marked the entrance to the domain of Bharundalman IV, Prince of Murrhat.  Murrhati soldiers allowed only a single ship to continue.  Doram visited the city of Murrhat further upriver, and filled his hold with spices and ivory from the markets '" so much, indeed, that upon his return his expedition recouped its investment many times over.

Other captains went further up the coast, finding the wave-broken coastline of Dekkah.  The limestone coast was riddled with great monolith islands sticking up from the sea like errant teeth, and often shrouded in mist, making navigation difficult.  The terrain inland was a dense jungle, and ships that strayed too close to shore were sometimes fired upon by Dekkahi archers using cane-bows as tall as a man.  Still other captains founded a settlement on the 'white cliffs' between the territories of Cyrenahan and Etropahan by a seaside spring; the area was uninhabited because the fisheries were poor and the porous limestone topography made farming a waste of time.  A small trading settlement did thrive here during these years, though certainly no city could survive in such a place.

The travel went the other way as well.  Sarar Udai sent a mission of inquiry to the League's Isle of Whales; others followed, and by 225 nearly a third of the Isle's population spoke Sirrat (either natively or as a second tongue), the language of Etropahan and Cyrenahan, and closely related to the language of the Auri '" who, as the captains learned, had been a rather peaceful tribe living in western Cyrenahan before they were chased from their homes by the original charioteer nomads, the ancestors of today's Murrhati and Dekkahi.  Udai gave money for the building of a Darhist academy on the island, another import from the east that gained popularity among the southern captains in these years.

Still other captains set out to sea in search of giant turtles.  The methods for capture were too strange and numerous to be mentioned here, and none were successful.  In the year 222, however, a captain seeking turtles was blown off course by a storm and sighted land south of the Whale Isle.  He found two islands, inhabited by a pre-bronze people who spoke a completely unknown language.  They seemed friendly enough, however, and after a few years of interaction it was established that these were the 'Isles of the Sun and Moon,' partially because they seemed to be shaped that way.  The islanders had previously believed they were the only people left on earth after the gods flooded the rest of the world, and were happy to see other 'survivors.'  A stupendous discovery was made '" on the sheltered eastern shore of the Isle of the Moon, the League explorers found hundreds of giant eggs half-buried in the sand.  They had found the great breeding ground of the turtles, but could not touch the eggs or even land on the beach '" the islanders called it the 'birthplace of the sea gods' and said it was forbidden for any to set foot there save their own priests, who would go out to the beach after egg-laying season every year and paint the eggshells with magic figures and patterns to bless each new generation of 'sea gods.'

Player: AllWillFall2Me
Government: Confederated Republic
Popularity: 5
Dread: 3
State Religion: Mother Earth/ Father Sea
Popular Religion: 62% Mother Earth/ Father Sea, 5% Runethainism, 17% Mandrian Polytheism, 5% Beitaran Polytheism, 11% Darhism
Fervor: 3
Population: 17,500 [+500]
Cities: Hartport (C), Norpost
Prosperity: 4
Trade: 7
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 1
Espionage: 4 [-1]
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, Sli, Boa, Gal
Forces: 4 (4)
Army: None
Navy: 4 Gal[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Vandire]
In comparison to the tumultuous seas, the marshes of the Vands were unburdened by great wars.  Instead, Vandire grew '" indeed, quite extensively.  It was in these years that rice cultivation became not only common, but dominant, creating huge surplus crops that fueled a population boom.  The villages of the Vands were ill-prepared for so many people; in 211, a plague ripped through the city and claimed over a thousand lives.  The marshes were known to be disease-ridden, but the high populations of the Vand communities made it especially devastating.

The population, of course, recovered, though the plague did have the effect of putting the Vands on the move.  Many departed from the cluster of villages that made Vandire itself, settling elsewhere in the marshes or moving downriver, where the League captains had aided a few pioneering Vands in settling at the river delta.  The settlement was not a great success '" the Vands knew nothing about sea fishing, and the delta was exposed to the tides, which tended to flood rice fields with saltwater on a regular basis.  Within a few years, the settlement had been abandoned.

The Vands fared better on the river itself, which was prone to seasonal flooding and suitable for rice cultivation near the shore.  Here, however, the land was less defensible, and the river farmers were sometimes subject to other local groups '" especially hunter-gatherers and wheat farmers who already populated the river.  The fearsomely masked warriors of the Vands were generally able to maintain their newly acquired territory, but the sheer length of the river and their large area of settlement precluded them from ending such raids entirely.  Individual river villages approached the problem in a unique way '" mud bricks were easy to make on the river's edge, especially after a seasonal flood, and large river villages were rebuilt on top of artificial earthen mounds held in by steep mud-brick retaining walls, which protected them both from floods and itinerant bandits.  These works had to be constantly repaired, but the villagers usually thought it worth the extra time and labor.

In the marsh itself, attempts to domesticate the hippopotamus typically ended in tragedy.  Hunting them was dangerous enough; killing a hippo was a masterful achievement of a very skilled team of hunters equipped with nets, spears, and bows.  Vand chieftains erected new buildings from mud bricks (most houses were made of reeds) and often decorated them with depictions of themselves hunting hippopotami, considered to be the true sport of a chieftain (depictions made by impressing colored glass beads and polished shells into earthen plaster).  Shrines were built devoted to the beasts, as the favored animals of the gods.

Once, however, something odd happened.  A young hunter rescued an abandoned young hippo, and raised it tame.  It did not seem to take to riding '" and this was difficult anyway given its tendency to spend most of the day in the water '" but it seemed proven that such an animal taken from the herd at a very early age could be tamed.  Making the animal useful, however, was another matter, and the hunter was heard to complain that all he could get it to do was beg for food.  Further attempts to take a young hippo from the herd usually met with a fierce and deadly attack from its mother.  Chieftain Farua (216-223), who had a flair for the dramatic, had his throne chambers accented by two tame hippos procured at great expense (and the loss of several of his warriors).  These made quite an impression on his visitors '" for if a man is capable of taming such a beast, what is he incapable of?

From contact with the Teschans, Vandire has acquired a new military technology (CAr).

Player: Locknpop4life
Government: Theocracy
Popularity: 6 [+1]
Dread: 1 [+1]
State Religion: Vand Polytheism
Popular Religion: 97% Vand Polytheism, 2% Mother Earth/ Father Sea, 1% Darhism
Fervor: 4
Population: 6,500 [+2000]
Cities: Vandire (C)
Prosperity: 4 [+1]
Trade: 1 [+1]
Advancement: Early Bronze Age
Infrastructure: 2 [+1]
Espionage: 0
Military Technology: Spr, Bld, Arc, CAr, Boa
Forces: 2 (2)
Army: 1 Spr, 1 Arc
Navy: None[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Military Units]
CHALCOLITHIC

Spearmen (Spr): Spearmen wield a short spear, and are usually equipped with a copper helmet, light armor (e.g. linen, hide, or leather), and a large hide or wooden shield. They are decent all-around troops that can handle most opponents adequately, but they don't excel at anything.

Bladesmen (Bld): These are usually younger and more agile warriors that serve as light infantry, fighting with some manner of bronze blade '" usually an axe, knife, or short sword '" and a hide or wicker shield. They wear little or no armor to preserve their mobility. Bladesmen are fast and flexible light troops who can ably accomplish tactical maneuvers and ambushes.

Archers (Arc): Archers carry a short bow, several sheaves of arrows, and little else. Their arrows are deadly, but inaccurate at long ranges, and can be blocked easily by shields and even light armor. They are often used to break up enemy formations and to assault or defend walled cities.

Slingers (Sli): Slingers fire deadly lead bullets that significantly outrange bows, and can break bones even through shields and armor. These bullets are heavy, however, which limits the number that can be carried into battle. They make good battlefield skirmishers.

Boats (Boa): These represent canoes, barges, and small boats primarily designed for rivers and day voyages over calm seas. These small vessels are quite handy, but very vulnerable to storms and ill-suited for warfare at sea.

Outrigger Canoes (OCa): Large canoes can be rendered more seaworthy by the addition of an outrigger, which stabilizes the hull.  Outrigger canoes are advanced craft driven by sail and oar that are noticeably more seaworthy than galleys, but their smaller crews and lower structures make them not much better than regular boats at naval warfare.

BRONZE AGE

Early Bronze Age

Galleys (Gal): The galley is a round-bottomed ship with 20-40 oars and a single square-rigged mast.  They are faster and more seaworthy than boats, but are unsuitable for open waters beyond sight of the coast.  They have no weapons, combat being conducted by boarding an enemy ship.

Swordsmen (Swd): The first truly heavy infantry, swordsmen wield bronze 'sickle-swords' to hew through enemy footmen.  Equipped with shields, bronze helmets, and cloaks reinforced with bronze scales, swordsmen are excellent assault troops.  What they lack in mobility they make up for in durability.

Composite Archers (CAr): The composite bow is a vast improvement over the old 'self bow.'  Its composition of wood, horn, and sinew gives it nearly twice the range of a traditional bow with the same bow length, not to mention increased power to penetrate armor (though shields remain an effective defense).  The animal glue involved, however, means that it can fall apart in humid or wet conditions.

Camelry (Cam): Camels are odd-looking animals perfectly suited for desert combat.  These warriors ride camels into battle, and carry a spear and small shield.  They are perfect for raids in the wide, trackless deserts and steppes, but are ill-suited for warfare in temperate regions.  The smell of camels is very disturbing to horses, and as a result these troops are put to good effect against chariots and cavalry.

Andosen Spearmen (ASp): Unlike the spearmen of other lands, these warriors fight as loose warbands rather than dense formations. They carry a selection of weapons, preferring the chor, a six foot bronze stabbing spear, and a versatile short bow. Equipped with a bronze cap, a hide shield, and a square bronze 'pectoral' as armor, they are swift and hardy raiders suited for ambushes and rough terrain, though they lack the cohesion and discipline of some troops.

Middle Bronze Age

Chariots (Cha): The chariot is a fearsome new weapon of war that brings mobility to the battlefield.  Each chariot carries a two-man crew, armored with bronze scale and equipped with a bow and a lance.  From their mobile platform, the crew can rain down arrows on infantry formations or trample them if they break formation.  For all their advantages, however, chariots are inoperable in rough terrain.

War Galleys (WGa): The war galley is a specialized fighting craft.  It is longer and narrower than a normal galley and has more oars, allowing for greater speed but reducing the available space for supplies (thus limiting its effective range).  The ship has two decks: the main (rowing) deck, and a raised fighting platform where marines can loose arrows and hurl javelins down into opposing ships.  This innovation, however, makes it substantially less seaworthy, and war galleys must be restricted to calm and coastal waters.
[/spoiler]