Duchess General Calypso will be heading back home to Southport to be with her people during this time of turmoil. Having a very public and visible presence with her signature state of calm and grace in hopes that it will reassure those who would otherwise be unsure of her leadership. She will be appointing new leaders to fill the positions that were lost and bring stability back to the military. During this time she will also be having her two children, Cosette and Lukas Malvici, naming Cosette the heir and assuring the line of succession. Hopefully giving the people something to celebrate. She will also be enlisting the support of allied politicians to help spread the word of her competence, and allied economists to help sure up the stability of the Duchy and make best use of its resources while others hunt down the missing silver.

Anze is going to southport to be side by side with Calypso not only to be visible along with her but to be present for the birth of their children. Anze may not have calm and grace in the same way that Calypso does but he has worked to make himself a part of the Malvici and instead of relying on grace will instead try and use charm and good nature to calm the people of Southport. Anze will also pull no stops in giving honest opinions of his wife. How she is brilliant, capable, talented, and strong and the best leader Southport could possibly have in this time or in any other.

Harald will send several longships to accompany Calypso in her homecoming, to further illustrate that even traditional rivals support the Duchess against her enemies. One ship of veterans who fought with Harald and Calypso at the Battle of Giant's Fall will get a brief vacation in the Lyceum as winter looms near. Harald's message is that so long as Calypso and Malvici rule, all is well. Should they be overthrown... not so much.

Reese would like to support Calypso by talking about how great a leader she and trying to prompt her leadership in Southport

Edain has assigned 25 of his 100 sworn blades that are present in Arx, under the command of Captain Calevaro to escort to Archlector Bianca in her efforts to assist Lady Eirene in finding the missing Southport Soldiers.

On a more personal note, Edain will do his best to show his faith in Duchess Calypso publicly, and will send some new shipments of lumber to Southport for their ship building efforts to continue and keep up with their contracts. Edain will take this opportunity to distribute some pamphlets about the great achievements of Duchess Calypso as the MInister of Defense and the leader of Southport.

Alarissa's putting her silvered tongue to good use with regards to the Duchess Calypso. Never has she met a woman who even blindfolded, knows how precisely to complete a task effeciently and correctly and come out shining on the other end. Where Calypso's name comes up or even an opportunity to apropriately laud the woman, Alarissa is doing just that. Her support of the Duchess Calypso is without fault. Sure as the sun rises in the morning, Thrax and the Princess-Consort supports Calypso.

Calista Fidante is known for being an exemplary courtier prior to taking up the role as Duchess of Roses and as such there are few who can hold a candle to her charm and grace. When called upon by Duchess Calypso Malvici to offer assistance to Southport, Calista did not think twice. One time fierce enemies, the two cities are bonded by the bridge of marriage. The pending arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Tor's first child and heir is the perfect opportunity to help assuage the ill feelings the people of Southport are feeling these days. The pen is mightier than the sword and words offer a soothing balm to ease the disgruntled citizens. There are many friends and allies to Southport who are coming out in support of House Malvici and Duchess Calypso. Calista will make sure to reiterate this to the people of Southport and do all in her power to make sure they understand they are not alone and will not be left in the dark during troubled times.

Eleyna Velenosa, Archduchess of Lenosia and Grand Duchess of the Lyceum, lets stand no question as to her feelings regarding the competence of Duchess Calypso Malvici. But it's not in what the Archduchess does that speaks to her faith in her vassal, but what she does NOT do. Despite rumors of unrest and turmoil, she does not march Velenosa soldiers into Southport to secure the city. Despite the dire situation that seems to be unfolding, Eleyna doesn't seem particularly moved to 'sweep in and save the day'. It's not as if rebellion and political intrigue are particularly unusual in the Lyceum. Instead, when she is asked, the Grand Duchess simply explains that she trusts Calypso to set things right, which speaks more to her liege's confidence in her abilities than an incessant insistence on the fact.

The Newly made countess of Magotta has a vested interest in her new county and its ports. She will reach out to the serfs and providing morale where morale is short. Spreading propaganda of Calypso's great deeds and reassuring she has the best intentions for all that live within.

Princess Roxana Grayson was first and foremost a Malvici and is loyal to her siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews just as they are to her. She will attempt to assist the family while staying in Arx, letting Calypso handle what needs handling in Southport itself. Roxana will be writing letters to nobles she is in contact with back 'home' in Southport to reassure them that the Duchy is as safe and reliable as it ever has been under the rule of House Malvici, and praising the work of her sister Eirene and her niece Calypso in their dedication to addressing this turmoil. In addition she will be sharing those same opinions with her contacts in her house-by-marriage, House Grayson. Her status as a Grayson princess and a widowed one at that has elicted warmth and sympathy for years, and she will leverage this through gentle cajoling and occasional hints of manipulation. The focus will be having Calypso's competence praised on several fronts, enough so that any support among her contacts for a rebellion in Southport is quashed and redirected.

Donella doesn't just talk Calypso Malvici and her leadership up at home with Northerners who do business in the south. She makes overtures to captains on the Lycene coastal transport routes (esp. those interested in Redrain business), and puts a ship or two of bullish veterans who served as raiders and soldiers during the Silence crisis on shore leave in Southport. With extra coin to spend on resupply and repairs, of course. She makes sure that crews talk war stories on the way into port, encouraging effusiveness in their praise of the Duchess, and generosity during the process of social lubrication. Because nothing speaks louder, literally or figuratively, than a man (Thrax or otherwise) waxing poetic about the woman who successfully led them in battle. It just doesn't happen that often, unless there's something extraordinary to praise. The captains themselves can speak to the prosperity of Southport with an outsider's perspective. "The princess-consort of Farhaven will gladly take Calypso's leadership wherever it lands. Arx would not still stand if not for her able administration of our defense effort."

Karadoc will call in every favor he has to stimulate trade to and from Southport, get the silver flowing, even if, in some cases, this means trading IOUs for IOUs until the coffers can support the ebbs and flows of day-to-day exchange. He will lean hardest on markets that need Southport goods the most, and are thus most likely to accept brief hiccups. (He will, of course, try to keep the hiccups modest to low. Eradicate where possible!)

Marquis Mydas Nightgold aids by applying his knowledge of economics to Southport's aid. As such, he works with Karadoc to not only ensure trade flows, but pays particular attention to ensure proper book-keeping is kept of the finances, with as many copies as is required to ensure no information regarding the economy is lost. As such, his role is far more the one of an accountant, than to personally encourage further trade or making deals with various houses and groups.

Cicero will work with Karadoc and Mydas to bring trade and commerce to Southport to get that tax/customs money flowing. Silver Consortium gonna Consort

Dafne works on encouraging trade between Gemecitta and Southport, assuring Gemecittan merchants that such trade is both safe and profitable, and Southport is stable under the rule of Duchess Calypso. Among the goods flowing to Southport is a certain amount of Gemecittan granite, just in case any fortifications need repair.

Quenia will be speaking to her various nobles and merchants, and sending letters to Granato, letting her people know she has complete faith and confidence in House Malvici and Duchesss Calypso. She'll also remind them what an important trade hub Southport is, and that if trade fails there, that the effects of the disrupted economy may very well hit their own bottom line.

The King of the Compact aims to cut off support to rebellious factions in Southport by any party who wants to hedge against a possible change at the top (or get ahead by getting in on the ground floor of an potential transition) by making it known through various diplomatic channels that the Crown judges the situation in Southport to have very suspicious indications of an externally directed plot to personally discredit an effective Minister of War by foreign powers that would stand to gain a lot by the Compact -not- having an effective Minister of War. As such any aid at all to the rebellious factions is actively discouraged by the clear implication that anyone found doing so will draw attention to their own dealings in Arx and with the Crown for invasive scrutiny by the Inquisition for any other evidence of collaborating with enemies of the Compact. And the Inquisition has a reputation for being good at finding things, whether they were originally there or not.

Alis will be singing Calypso's prpaises as a General and a Leader every chance she gets, going so far as to give anecdotes and stories from each of the battles they have fought together. Strong, smart, capable, loyal. And she will encourage those cavalry that were given to Malvici as part of the marriage contract between Edain and Caelis to do the same.

Khanne is known for many things, for those who know her. She is not widely known as an economist though, despite her role in the NDC (she prefers to be thought of as an idea person on that front), so lets Darren and Mydas help support Calypso and Southport when it comes to their economy. She is not known as a soldier, so is more than happy to let those more capable help there. She is also not widely known for her negotiating skills or diplomacy so to speak... though she does have experience there. What she might be known for is her ability to connect to people, understand their concerns, and speak to them in ways that ease their minds. This is where she focuses her time in helping, knowing and working with Calypso for some time, as a fellow Crown Minister, she assures them that the Duchess General is more than capable in her position, and is not responsible for Southport's current issue. She agrees with King Alaric that it was an external force of some sort. She would emphasize the fact that all of the Houses of the Compact are behind her offering their support and assistance as needed to help Southport thrive again, through economics, trade, and whatever support is needed. She would talk to those in Arx, but would also travel to Southport to spread the word if it would be of further help.

As High Lord of Redrain, Darren will offer his public and private support to Calypso and the Malvici family as a whole. Darren is going to be sure anyone who will listen will hear about how much confidence he has in her leadership, and at a time when evils from outside the Compact threaten our shores, we must all stand behind the Minister of Defense. Patriotism and all that. Finally, to seal the deal, Darren is going to encourage the distillers on Farhaven to release a special, "Calypso's Reserve" whiskey brand, top shelf stuff with the slogan "Strong, but smooth - like the General herself." Because, you know, the Northlands!

And now Duchess Calypso Malvici arrives in Southport herself. She brings offerings from her friends, and she brings friends as well - a special limited edition whiskey from Redrain, a ship full of Redrain sailors speaking well of her. Grayson charm and Velenosan confidence, words of support from Fidante, praise from the Princess-Consort of Maelstrom and longships of Grimhall as an escort. Soldiers from Valardin and trade credit from Saik and the Silver Consortium alike - well and carefully accounted for. Trade with Gemecitta and personal friends too, as well as an endorsement from the King of the Compact himself!

All of this means that Calypso arrives with friends and allies and gifts aplenty, ready to set things right in Southport. Indeed, as she arrives she finds the path eased for her by Hadrian and Melinda. She finds work done by Eirene, Orazio, Bianca, Leola, and Sophie. She works to establish order. She works to make peace, to fill in the ranks that were decimated by soldiers not at their posts. In short, she steps off the ship and she goes to work.

Is it enough?

Harald is committing the Grim Fleet to the support of Kennex in the following ways: first, in hunting down the renegade Kennex longships which newly freed thralls took over, as well as cracking down on any other pirates looking to exploit the chaos. He will lead this effort personally. If found, the leaders of the mutineers will be publicly crucified as traitors in Grihem's Point, and the crews returned to thralldom under Grimhall.

Second, the fleet will escort any Kennex Freedmen who accept passage from Stormward March to Grihem's Point, where they will be considered free serfs. They won't be paid much, but they'll have work, shelter, and food for their families. Harald rejects Aleksei's placement of Churchmen aboard his vessels in this relocation.

Third, the fleet will provide escort to any mainland ships bringing aid to Stormward March, to ensure pirates do not prey on idiot mainlanders who announce they are transporting loads of silver and supplies.

Lastly, the Grim Legion is being prepared against the possibility that Stormward March falls into open revolt. Should this happen, Harald is prepared to land his troops together with Thrax to prevent a lengthy civil war and impose an overlord's order on the March. Should this be necessary, the army will bring supplies and silver to encourage cooperation, so that there is a carrot to go with the stick.

Ian will be going along with the grim fleet (hopefully together with Aethan and Porter). He's not just there to lend his blade to the fight, but also his expertise; Ian sailed Kennex waters for years, and if it comes to fighting pirates, it's a fair bet that they'll be pirates who became thralls after a ship Ian was on caught them in the first place. He knows the tactics that pirates in that area use, where they like to hide, etc. More personally, he's spent a lot of time with the grim legion, and also wants to go because he feels a certain obligation to dive into trouble alongside them. As an aside, it may or may not be worthy of remark that the Brothers Kennex, who used to have a reputation as pirate hunters, at least in their own House if not on the Isles as a whole, are together again on a reunion tour of sorts, and together under Grimhall's banner. Given the tension between Ford and Harald, it might set tongues wagging.

Aethan is joining his brothers in sailing with Harald to hunt former thralls turned pirate.

Faelan is going to come along with Harald to fight and hunt down the renegade Kennex freedmen. He is also going to bring Navegant soldiers with to help.

Traveling with the Grimhall Fleet, Edward will go as someone to meet with traditionalists and progressive who are concerned over their loss of thralls and provide financial and economic advice on how to spend the monies they should expect and demand of House Kennex and the Compact to help with the transition, recommending wage prices for thralls who want to stay and how to incentivize them to not leave on the great fleets that come to pick them up to take them away. This will include conversations to confused and lost thralls who do not know what to do, encouraging them to stay and continue their trade and craft - with examples of how wealthy a crafter in the Compact can become. And for those who still desire to escape their Kennex cages an encouragement to resettle inside Thrax instead of without - his focus then on places like Navegant and Whitefrost.

Melinda will be using her skills in Propaganda to help her father keep morale amongst his crew and his ships. She is also getting Artorius to lend more ships to her fathers cause.

Sameera, being more of an organazier, it set on keeping track of the inventory of the Grimhall fleet as well as organzing those on reserve for occupation Kennex, should it come to it. She is heeding any change of orders that Harald might give her or acting on any ill actions done by those following the Grimhall Duke. As a note, if Harald or a Grimhall, especially Harald, is in a situation of risk she will, absolutely disregard the orders Harald gives her to keep them safe. She will also attempt to try getting former thralls to follow her command, using her status as a former thrall, to draw them in and convince them to cease and then swear themselves to Grimhall. She will be nudign Torstein to join her, under her command.

Torstein will be assisting and playing bodyguard (babysitter) to Sameera.

Let's get some pirates! And probably do some other helpful and boring stuff, too. But mostly catching some pirates!

The High Lord is providing Thrax's own marine forces to assist Harald in combating piracy and aid in whatever other military campaigns that the Duke sees fit. By Victus' order, they will be led under Harald's command until order has been restored to Stormward and the mutineers are brought to swift justice.

Piracy? In our waters? Against our people? No. That will not stand. The Lady Regla Navegant, alongside the Marines and Navegant fleet will assist in anti-piracy and escort operations.

Two things go extremely well, from the standpoint of the Isles. First, no revolt happens under the watchful eyes of Isles' military might, which in turn stops the flow of blood due to anarchy and help stabilize the freefall of Kennex's economy. Most of the traditionalists are happy about that, even if they are disinclined to put their own money forward to buy old thrall debts that have now been abrogated by Ford's actions. Secondly, two renegade longships have been run down by their forces and destroyed. They were flying Kennex colors, but the flayed crucified bodies of their former commanders on decks made it not very ambiguous about whether they were legitimate Kennex vessels or not. Those ships were run down, cornered, and slaughtered with the surrendering survivors brought back to Grihem's Point to be presented to the sea. The overwhelming force combined with the vastly more disciplined soldiers made them extraordinarily one sided, with only three Grimhall men dying for 78 former thralls being slain in combat, and one of the deaths was from a man named Rolf trying to leap from a boarding plank, hitting the side of a longboat, and then drowning.

As a result of the show of force, a small amount of refugees choose to settle on Grihem's Point, Escuma, Whitefrost and Maelstrom. They all see a modest boost in their labor forces as a result.

It's not a complete success, but that is largely out of their control and their forces wish for more clarification on how to proceed, since they are crossing into some dangerous waters (a pun which they all argue is not intended). The problem is there are now hundreds of ships of the Compact's houses in Kenenx waters helping with relief efforts. While the morons on the two renegade longships were easily dealt with because they got carried away, more professional pirates and smugglers are much less stupid, and are taking advantage of the chaos by flying false flags. This is a predicament because many of the other ships are ducal houses from the Lyceum, Grayson, and the Oathlands at least. And some suspect that some pirates are flying Thrax colors as well, and this creates issues as asking any other ship to stop to be boarded could provoke some extremely ugly incidents- particularly since most would expect Kennex to be the ones doing this by law, and they aren't here. Grimhall could argue they have the rigths for this, as the liege of Kennex and it being a problem, but some of the craftier pirates might be flying Grimhall flags. It's very hard to tell how many are out there, but there was at least 3 attacks on isolated ships after the two longships of Kennex mutineers were killed, meaning -someone- at least is still in the business of piracy, and those ones are being extremely careful. Most of the large fleets of the Compact are traveling in far to big detachments for pirates to risk, but for smaller groups of refugees fleeing, it's a serious concern.

A joint Grimhall-Navegant campaign is being launched to subjugate one of the abandoned northern Isles near Escuma.  The island must be large enough to eventually support a stable barony. The combined fleets of both houses under Turo will secure the coasts, deliver warriors and supplies to support the armies ashore. The Grim Legion (Army #91) under Harald will land on the western shore, establishing a base of operations on the coast, where a palisade and ditch will be raised for defense, while Navegant warriors under Lady Regla (Quirin’s Army #105) will land and begin their sweep from the south coast.  Merida and Valdemar will also be with the army.

This fortified camp is intended to grow into a town after the campaign, once settlers are brought in. Initially, the camp will support a lengthy and thorough sweep of the island by the armies.  Organization of the camp will be entrusted to Sameera Coldrain, who will also direct initial construction while the military operation is underway, with an eye toward the settlement to follow.

Diplomats (Melinda, Titania, Edward) will travel with the armies to handle negotiation with any tribes of Abandoned who are encountered. Their aim is to avoid the massacre and enthralling of any Abandoned  tribes by persuading them to turn Prodigal. Titania speaks Island Shav, and will be primary translator. Shavs who resist before surrendering will become thralls, Tribes who kneel peacefully will become free subjects. (Rolf will not be allowed anywhere near negotiations. Fucking Rolf.) The diplomats will have the secondary task of inquiring after any rumors of magic, or sorcery among the Abandoned.  Gifts of steel, mead, and furs will be offered, to sweeten the offer.

Should the island be pacified, the final phase of the campaign is long term settlement. Refugees from the Silence have been promised land through Lady Caelis Malvici, who has agreed to re-settle any fisherfolk, farmers, woodworkers, or any folk willing to learn those trades, starting at the fortified coastal camp.  Combined with any Prodigals, this should provide the island with a self sufficient population base after a few successful growing seasons.  With Navegant's approval, governance of the island will be entrusted to Edward Stormbreak, in vassalage to Navegant.

Made all the roles, made ALL the posts, and the adjustments, opened up the new dominion too. Congratulations! You have colonized an island!