There is often no greater thing than the happenings within one’s nation, and the way that such things can viciously affect one’s very way of life. For The Concord, this is felt near every Season, with conflicts both external and internal. Yet even in the face of such conflicts, there are those who look even further beyond their own borders, seeking to explore and learn of what lies beyond Southern Esterra.
The world is vast, filled with more monsters, machinations and mysteries than any single person could ever discover in one simple life. Yet this does not stop the curious from trying, from traders to pirates, marines to diplomats, those of all walks gather what they can from beyond their own coasts.
What is brought back are stories and rumours, perhaps tainted by time and travel but nonetheless telling more of the wider world to those who would listen.
With No Winds in Favour
The Concord is in a unique situation as a powerful mercantile entity with a wide breadth of goods for sale (both raw and worked), large ports ready to load and unload, but tempered by a near-disastrous need for economic aid, and constantly wracked by war and plague. The world around Esterra is a busy one, with traders of all stripes and favours. But a weak presence on foreign shores, temperamental economic management, and vindictive pirates have warded off most traders from making the approach to our markets.
The Concord has had to make do with sparse visits by Dendarri traders willing to brave the treacherous waters, and that strange breed of ships captain that comes from everywhere and nowhere. The kind of merchant who has the strangest things for sale, the kind you know better than to question their providence. While it is an income, it is hardly one worth the scale of the port at Lerona Mere. The growing shanty houses on the Ribs and Reach district, small houses perched atop what used to be essential docks, belies the lack of trade within the Concord.
As 225 draws its first breaths, there is hope on the horizon. White sails on heavyset cogs making good time around the Cape of the Bailes. Concordian introduction to Drummond brings with it new partners and there is hope for future boons. As Drummondite merchants flying the banner of House Rayleigh and the port city of Crownsport dock alongside Dendarri biremes, the chatter is constant. But through it all, one question raises again and again like a bobbing buoy; Where are your traders?
As Concordian ships battle Imperial foes on far away seas, as they scout the depths for untold riches, as they rest at anchor - their crews called away on some heroic endeavour - so much money goes unclaimed. But as time marches on it is not just money that lies unclaimed, but also friendship. Growing connections with the Dendarri ask for trade, but the Concord does not return the favour. Requests for Iron Valley ironworks come in from Kameiros, orders for Lerona Mere wines from Drummond. They rest unanswered on desks and shipmasters quarters across the Bay of Promised Gold.
But if there is work in the Concord being left undone, you can be sure the Civil Service will find it. As Lord Lanval of House Segremore departs the office of Senate Treasurer, he passes Civil Service workers in the hall with bundles of letters, trade requests, and other such bureaucratic misfortunes. “Who are these for?” He inquires.
“Not to worry your lordship, these are for your successor.”
Game Information
With The Concord's embassy to Drummond, trade ships have begun to arrive from the east, bearing Drummondite weapons, armour, gold, and rumours. Businesses based in Legend City will find that they have produced more this past season due to the uptick in trade. Businesses based in the Bayward territory will find that they have produced slightly more, as new traders occasionally dock there, but lacking a port such deals are of smaller scale. There will be decisions related to Drummondite Trade for the Senator of Lerona Mere and the Senator of Bolsterlee.
The Concord has entered into a treaty with the Dendarri nations under the long guidance of the Concordian Ambassador to Dendarr, Eodwulf of the Iron Valley. With the new obligations this places on The Concord, the Civil Service has made an attempt to direct the Concord’s trade obligations through the office of the Senate Treasurer. The Treasurer will receive additional information on Trade Obligations the Concord holds, as well as opportunities with other nations to increase these ties and make a decent amount of coin. The Treasurer will need the support of ship captains from across the Concord to accomplish these goals. By the same token, ship captains interested in making money in distant ports would be well advised to speak with the Senate Treasurer.
I Hold Both Collar and Blade, Pick Which You Wish to Wear
The seas of the North and East yet again see raiders hitting far shores, spurred by a need for wealth, a hatred of an enemy, or simply a need to war.
This time, it would be the fleets of Dendarr that strike out, sailing from their harbour in Kameiros with a great debt that need be paid. Rumours abound that it was not Queen Thestoiri that ordered their Admirals set sail, but instead the cold hands of the dead that grip Dendarr. Regardless of the truth, the sizable fleet would set itself upon its target with vicious intent over the Summer Season.
Taking the brunt of such a raid would be the Hukarri, still recovering from the coastal attacks of The Golden Fleet a Season prior. While their coastal settlements had little to offer, they would also have few to defend them, allowing the large Dendarri force to work their way inland and truly raid one of the great river cities of Hukar, an unexpected boon for Dendarr and bane for the slaver nation.
Some time after the successful raid on the Hukar city, news spread that a particularly renowned band of Vandekotos were seen commissioning a boat to the Astranan City States. While it did not take long for such holy warriors to find a vessel, rumours spread that it was a very distant sail they were searching for.
As the summer comes to an end, the port of Kameiros flourishes, its scars healed and its markets busier than ever. It had been some time since Dendarr had shown its might, and its people would be all but happy to bear the fruit of such successful voyages.
Game Information
Particularly successful raids on the Hukarri would see Dendarri ports filled with a variety of goods, many of which suitably prepared for trade. Naval Investments who take the Trade with Foreign Port action targeted towards Dendarr this past Season and the Season coming will find they have produced a wider variety of resources than usual, and in rare circumstances greater quantities.
From Whom it Must be Kept
Like a terrier slipped from its leash, The Concord has an infuriating tendency to appear where it shouldn't—biting deep and refusing to let go. While the Artebazzani Empire struggles to keep the immense machinery of Imperial Ambition afloat, a cabal of Concordian ship captains have made it their business to see that struggle made ever more difficult.
Tabbadar, a vast and sparsely populated land at the southernmost edge of Invicta Minor, has long been an Artebazzani military protectorate—a polite term for a province where the Empire keeps the populace tightly leashed, forced into service to fuel its endless wars. Here, the Western Fleet is maintained, an armada tasked with guarding against the unseen dangers beyond the Great Trade Sea. To most, it is a land of little note, home only to sages studying foreign cultures and shipwrights building war vessels on an industrial scale. But to these Concordian captains, it is something else entirely: an opportunity to wound the Empire where it least expects.
At first, the stories came in whispers and rowdy laughter—tales of slipping past Artebazzani patrols to bring supplies to the oppressed Tabbadari. But the toasts soon shifted. Now, crews caroused to the sinking of Artebazzani ships, to the smoldering wrecks left in their wake. In Lerona Mere, these stories go down like a fine liquor, celebrated in backroom taverns with knowing grins. But in Nazafeza and Jaalstead, the mood is different. Here, such recklessness is dangerous. The Concordian Banner is no mere symbol—it is a precarious shield, and angering the slumbering beast that is the Western Fleet risks more than just a few rogue captains. It risks everything—freedom fighter and free merchant alike.
Word rises like smoke, drifting toward magistrates, who set to work drafting writs and accusations. Before the fall of Nazafeza, the matter was already perilous. Now, with Nazafeza gone, much of the bureaucracy and the will to pursue convictions for murder, arson, treason, and dereliction of duty have vanished with it. And yet, with the Autumn Summit looming like a ship cresting the horizon, magistrates in Lerona Mere and Bolsterlee attempt to pick up where their Andashi counterparts left off. Even they begin to wonder: are they chasing a criminal conspiracy, or a ghost story best left for the Senate?
Far from courtrooms and ink-stained paperwork, beyond a sea and behind a blockade, a small banner unfurls—a pennant of black and white, tattered but defiant. A simple scrap of cloth, yet it carries the weight of lost dreams, raised by those whose only gifts from their distant benefactors are the twin flames of fraternity and revenge. This ember still smolders in the dark, but the beast will not tolerate its nest disturbed.
In the east, an Artebazzani mission of great importance is cut short, an opportunity for dominance humiliatingly postponed. Resources are redirected, ships recalled—the meddlesome Concordian captains have forced the Empire’s hand. For now, Concordian ships would do well to stay home, to look eastward, where new opportunities await.
But these captains did not come this far by choosing the safest course.
Game Information
Rumours of Concordian Captains acting in the distant region of Tabaddar across the Great Trade Sea have spread, to the point where Concordian Magistrates are investigating the circumstance. Artebazzan, as a nation The Concord is not at war with, has no particular protections under Concordian Law, but Concordian citizens are still beholden to it, even when travelling abroad. But the complexity of the relationship (or lack of) between The Concord and Artebazzan are joined by the lack of clear knowledge of what has been pursued in Tabaddar.
Magistrates in Bolsterlee and Lerona Mere have collected the results of the investigation, but seek a Senate ruling on whether these acts should be viewed as criminal. Failed votes within the Senate to declare War on Artebazzan have pushed Magistrates in this direction, but the ultimate ruling will fall to the Senate. These Magistrates will present their investigative results in writing, but they are unlikely to be endearing. Characters interested in avoiding justice for these actions may do well to seek out Senators in private to sway their votes, or in public if they believe the risk is worth the reward. Although there is risk in legitimising the actions of ‘Concordian Pirates’.
Meanwhile, characters who acted in Tabaddar this past season will receive details of their actions in their character packs. The news bodes well for the people of Tabaddar, but not without considerable risk for both The Concord and the people across the sea.
There will be additional choices for the Admirals of the People’s Gift and Liberties Fist fleets.