Leader: King Sheb McBrent
Your spymaster has been thoroughly grilling the docks of South Alestrom, especially in Mitre. Leads have been low, but a source close to Lieutenant Westley suggests that the Dread Pirate Roberts is planning a major attack in Brentish waters by next Autumn, allegedly because 'the opportunity will be ripe'. The increase activity of shipyards in North Alestrom suggests that he will be well-prepared for the attack as well.
You return your vassal Harticus' troops to him as promised, along with a healthy reward for their service. Your trireme, which leaves the port of Gasket long enough to ferry the gnomes and then return to port, is unmolested by pirates. Fearing their use against you in rebellion, you tear down the defences of Sutcliffe and Mitre, the raw materials of which will fetch a handsome price on the open market.
Bearskin takes your command to attack South Sutter as a command to attack South Lester instead, rather than declaring war on the Old Empire. He executes a pincer movement with troops from East Sutter and South Alestrom as directed to attempt to storm the castle of Leicraft, a fortress controlling a key pass through the rocky Lestings (the mountain range that covers most of Lester).
Brentish and Leicraft forces engage.
Brentish Forces
Archers: 1 Intact, 0 Damaged
War Bears: 2 Intact, 0 Damaged
Light Axemen: 1 Intact, 0 Damaged
Spearmen: 3 Intact, 0 Damaged
Bearskin the Druid
Leicraft Forces
Longbowmen: 3 Intact, 0 Damaged
Fortifications
A Brentish War Bears [Bearskin] has utterly destroyed a Leicraft Longbowmen! [93 vs 73]
A Leicraft Longbowmen has utterly destroyed a Brentish War Bears [Bearskin]! [102 vs 69]
A Leicraft Longbowmen has defeated a Brentish War Bears [Bearskin], but sustained heavy damage. [81 vs 80]
Bearskin the Druid has been wounded in combat.
A Leicraft Longbowmen has defeated a Brentish Light Axemen, but sustained heavy damage. [83 vs 80]
Brentish Forces
Archers: 1 Intact, 0 Damaged
War Bears: 0 Intact, 1 Damaged
Light Axemen: 0 Intact, 1 Damaged
Spearmen: 3 Intact, 0 Damaged
Bearskin the Druid [Wounded]
Leicraft Forces
Longbowmen: 0 Intact, 2 Damaged
The attackers have crushed all resistance.
My Liege,
The fortress of Leicraft, if it is typical of the fortresses along the spine of the Lestings, might well be a stern warning of challenges to face. I can find little fault with the strategy of the defenders, supremely trained high elven longbowmen behind high fortifications built into the natural defences of the valley. Had I not been able to divine a hidden pathway (now collapsed), we might never have breached the walls.
Despite the element of surprise, we suffered casualties taking the fortress. Though my bears felled a third of the defenders within the first ten minutes of battle, the local commander had them concentrate their fire on our allies of nature. One full clan of bears was destroyed in their volleys before we were able to disrupt them further. The bear I was riding was shot and I received an arrow through my leg, from which I am now recovering and shall likely continue to do so for some time.
Nevertheless we were able to capture the fortress. It seems this region is rich in green marble deposits, a stone of quite some value. There is a local quarry set up to extract the mineral, along with a forge that processes the miscellaneous ores brought down from the mountainside.
A handful of kobold shamans arrive as part of an exchange with the Greenblood Union, providing aid to your priests in the development of a more codified Imperial religion.
Your sages can appreciate the value of using saltpetre in aiding the start of fires, but honestly have no idea how to produce enough of it reliably to work with. The money you give them ends up being spent on projects aiming to try and produce it and other materials reliably. No success is reached with saltpetre, but your sages do rediscover techniques for reliably producing large-scale quantitites of alcohol from fermented grapes and grain, as well as for baking bread more reliably.
New Technology: Fermentation I. Allows construction of Brewery, Bakery.
New Buildings: Brewery: £200. Upkeep £10. Requires grain or wine. Provides industry bonus of 20% over basic income. Provides Beer resource.
Baker: £200. Upkeep £20. Requires grain. Provides industry bonus of 30% over basic income.
Resource: Beer. Manufactured resource. Acts as a trade good.
[The Fermentation technology only has two tiers at this early stage, until the development of Biology. You will need a total of six chemistry-related technologies (including tiers) to research proto-Alchemy. Valid technology examples are Fermentation, Metallurgy, Pottery, Painting, Herbalism, Leathercraft and Glazing.]
TerritoriesBrent L (£500/turn): Palace, Fishery. Fish.
(+£25/turn from fish)
(+£100: Fishery)
Brent S (£234/turn): 1 trireme, 1 caravan. Market.
(+£126/turn from Market)
(upk: -£120)
Brent U (£287/turn): Walls, Deep Mine, Forge. Coal.
(+£14/turn from coal)
(+£400: Deep Mine)
(+£92/turn from Forge)
(upk: -£10)
Brent N (£137/turn):
Sutter E (£252/turn): 0+1 light axemen.
(upk: -£60)
Alestrom S (£275/turn): 3 light axemen, 1 war bears, 1 spearmen, Market.
(+£149/turn from Market)
(upk: -£335)
Lester S (£256/turn): 3 spearmen, 0+1 light axemen, 1 archers, 0+1 war bears. Bearskin the Druid [W]. Mine, Forge, Fortifications. Marble.
(+£13/turn from marble)
(+£200: Mine)
(+£82/turn from Forge)
(upk: -£405)
Finances:Cash Reserves: £611
Revenue: +£3142
Deconstruction: +£400
Trade Pact(Farland): +£108 [Access grain, sheep]
Trade Pact(Arcadia): +£184 [Access lumber, game, iron]
Trade Pact(Grouting): +£137 [Access gold]
Trade Pact(Vremya): +£84
Trade Pact(Taikeni): +£208 [Access copper, wine]
Trade Pact(Free Tempest): +£125
Upkeep: -£1000 [2 trireme, 1 caravan, 5 light axemen, 2 war bears, 4 spearmen, 1 archers. Bearskin the Druid. 2 market, 1 walls, 1 fortifications.]
Total: £3999
TechsNature Magic [Foundation]
Summon War Bears
Weaponsmithy I
Marketplaces
Organised Religion
Fermentation I
Armies1 Trireme (Gulf of Troud) (upk: -£70)