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| Action Id: 3597 | Crisis: | Participants: Orrin(RIP), Mia, Irisa, Kaldur(RIP), Scythia and Lise | |
| Status: Resolved | Submitted: July 1, 2019, 10:07 p.m. | Public: True | GM: Apostate |
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Silver: 75000 Economic Resources: 2000 Military Resources: 2000 Social Resources: 2000 Action Points: 50 |
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Action by Orrin(RIP)
Typical Orrin playbook: look at what's happening next door, and expect that it'll come home before long. He would very much like to avoid Shavsbane swinging up north to decorate his border like they did with Riven, and to that end, he's assembled a team to go out and do outreach with tribal leadership in the area south of Pearlspire along the coast and west to the Twainfort.
The marching orders: tell the tribes what happened, that we find the slaughter unacceptable but the torture and display utterly beyond the pale. That we are not with Grayreeve and Shavsbane, and would like to provide protection. The terms of that protection are simply swearing fealty to either Pearlspire or Riven. Neither house desires to displace the tribes from the areas settled; tribes taking this option would simply become legitimized Compact citizens under either house, a front-line of defensive forces moved as is appropriate.
It is anticipated that some of the shavs that fled the original aggression by Shavsbane on the Riven border may have fled north closer to Pearlspire, especially with the recent overtures of welcome to settlement by ex-thralls and other refugees. The team will be directed to be on the lookout for such people, singly or in groups, who can corroborate the truth of the testimony.
For those who have a personal stake in the Grayreeve/Shavsbane hostility - perhaps having lost family or friends to that slaughter - an offer will be made for them to fight with the Pearlspire or Riven infantries at The Twainfort, as outlined separately in actions 3594 (Thesarin) and 3566 (Rymarr). Non-combatant family members of anyone who fights with our forces will be offered quarter in Pearlspire, away from the main conflict, if desired. Individuals who decide to swear fealty irrespective of larger tribal choices will be offered the same.
In case it is not abundantly clear, this offer is in good faith, and troops/protection will in fact be extended. I can't be entirely clear what troop commitment that requires before the success or failure of the diplomatic action is understood, but it will be appropriate to the result.
Action by Scythia
Where Count Seliki goes, the new Countess Consort Seliki is not far behind. She will accompany her husband where she might to put to use her diplomatic skills, relying on every unbiased tool of the trade that she learned with her association with Whisper House. She would engage with the shav'avari and certainly speak of the benefits of joining the Compact, but there is a more keen focus on the fair and just rule of the Count Seliki. She has more personal experience and bias there, telling the tale of House Seliki and how they were not nobility but, through the belief of Deepwood, they were told to earn their place and they carved a place for themselves. Though less known, she would also tell the tale of Countess Riven with her Count Consort, and how it is that the Countess held to her word, married the Count, and his tribe were treated with the dignity that they deserve. She would do her best to pitch to the dramatics, to romanticize it, and have the people that she speak to seek to embrace this culture.
Action by Kaldur(RIP)
Where Count Orrin, Countess-Consort Scythia, and Countess Mia treat with leaders and deal with high-level strategy and appeals, Kaldur's outreach is no less pragmatic, but more out and about with the commoners of the Abandoned they meet. Shavsbane is denounced, as is Grayreeve, for the atrocities by his vassal under his authority. For any (however few) of the tribes who are shamanists, Kaldur can speak to the abhorence of the spirits for blood sacrifice which Shavsbane's murders approach in their horror and scale. He will underscore Orrin's offer to any potential recruits and family answering questions and highlighting Pearlspire's strengths as a refuge from the chaos erupting.
Action by Mia
Mia Riven is normally a reserved woman, rarely allowing more than a flicker of emotion to pass over her face when outside her own walls or the company of dearest friends. Now, it would seem, would be no different -- save that the strength of her feelings breaks through in her impassioned conversations with the clans that they encounter in their search for other Abandoned who may soon be threatened by the Grayreeves, or fleeing Shavsbane swords.
She will explain that she cannot, by Compact law, demand justice and blood-payment for those who were slaughtered, but make no mistake about it. That her armies have not sought to set Grayford to the torch does not mean that she has not been stirred by the violent horrors reported back from her borders. Mia Riven is heartbroken. But more than that, she is ANGRY, a simple fact which cuts through her diplomatic reserve each time she speaks of it, which she does to any elder or chief that can convince to hear their party's words. The actions of those abominable Houses are an atrocity, an act she considers no less than the near-genocide of a people, and one she knows quite well was meant to terrorize the many Prodigals that have sworn to the Twainfort these last twenty years. In her heart of hearts, she knows, as she tells them now, that a man like Augustus Grayreeve will care little for whether or not they retreat from her borders or from his, whether they pledge themselves to King and Compact or not. To him, and to Shavsbane, Abandoned and Prodigal alike are and always will be less than human. His armies are a threat to Riven, and Seliki, and shav'arvani alike.
She will describe for them the banners of both Grayreeve and Shavsbane, so that if a single man or woman bearing the colors from either House is seen near the Abandoned settlements, they will know that peace -- or even armstice -- is not an option. That their only options in the face of those colors will be to flee, or to fight. Any who wish to do the latter now, should they be willing to so as her people or as Orrin's, under Riven's banner or Seliki's -- she makes it plain she is so incensed that it makes little difference to her which they might choose -- will be made welcome among the fighting forces at that Twainfort. The family of any man or woman who swears and fights with them will be given shelter behind the walls of one House or another. Those who choose to flee or simply not to swear fealty will neither be harassed nor followed. Her first interest is in seeing no more tribes destroyed by Grayreeve, and after that, for the murderous Count Augustus to meet the same sort of ignoble end he believes THEY deserve.
They are impassioned arguments that she makes, and hopefully ones that will stir the Abandoned to join them in a common cause.
Action by Irisa
Irisa speaks Crownlands Shav and isn't afraid to go speak to these people. She knows how to approach respectfully. But what's more, she isn't going alone. Irisa (with the permission of Mia) is going to bring some of their settled Prodigals. Volunteers, all of them. A couple families will be brought along that can speak well to different aspects of Shav vs Compact life. She will also be playing up the need to protect their families - all of them. Irisa is going to be very frank with them about the threats out there and what has been happening and what may be coming. The families will be allowed to go and mingle with the Abandoned as they see fit, but kept an eye on for safety reasons.
Irisa will urge them to not just be on the look-out for possible threats, but how best to react to them. What to run from and what to report. Joining the Compact would be the best way for them to have a larger defense, but if they choose not to, their lives *do* matter and some people really are concerned about them. Riven and Seliki especially want to see them healthy and happy because a strong frontier means that everyone is safer - and more prosperous.
There won't be any preference for the Abandoned to join with Riven or Seliki. This isn't about who comes out on top. This, right here, is pure diplomacy about making sure security is seen to and preventing future problems by recruiting new members.
Action by Lise
Lise is going to travel with Orrin, acting as a translator, guide, and walking sign of good will- she stands out among any Compact. She translates, largely, in good faith. But she'll advise any would-be Prodigals about what she knows of the Seliki and the situation at large. She opens meetings with important leaders with Shamanistic incantations and traditional invocations for blessings, wisdom and protection. She does her best to present herself as the Shaman and priestess she is. Always in full paint, always ready to offer blessings and prayers to whatever local spirits and gods are honored by the people. She'll even offer invocations of the Pantheon.
But mostly, Lise wants to use the opportunity to divine the course of the Greyeeve's campaign. She wants to speak with the spirits of the area and learn what they know of Greyreeve movements and plans. This will happen mostly on nights in which there are no villages to speak with. Minor rituals, casting bones and feathers, reading the entrails of fallen animals they happen across, observing the behavior of birds. All of this speaks of what the spirits are up to. By learning these things, Lise can infer the actions and will of the spirits.
Result
It's worse than it seemed. It was obvious purges were happening from Grayreeve and Shavsbane, but the extent becomes terrifyingly clear. The peaceful and isolated Taralissi Tribe, which was said to have several thousand through their nomadic numbers, appears to have been completely exterminated. A handful of ravashari said that as they were passing through their villages to trade, they only found burned out huts with mountains of bodies of individuals that had been forced inside and buried alive, with scores of bodies of individuals cut down that had tried to flee through pickets surrounding them. Clan Winterhawk had their camps attacked and burned out, with just a few dozen escaping to bend the knee at the Twainfort. House Brownwither clashed with Shavsbane men and fled to bend the knee at Pearlspire. One single family of the Tah'haruus Tribe speaks that they were left for dead in a mass grave, and are the only survivors out of about a thousand.
Refugees come to Pearlspire and Twainfort, bending the knee, but less than there should be. The pogrom has been widespread, and not all the soldiers were flying Shavsbane or Grayreeve colors, some weren't recognized. But through their efforts to secure their borders, any of those attempting to attack Abandoned stops well short of Riven or Seliki lands, or the lands of their vassals, and it is becoming a bastion of hope for Abandoned deciding that after years and years of independence, they must seek shelter.