Part of Winds of the World - Summer 222
Late in winter, as spring threatens, seven Concordian ships slip free from the mass of decks and sails that clog Lerona Mere harbour with subterfuge on their mind. From the decks of Andashi galleys and Lerona Mere cutters seven captains watch the night sky with trepidation.If one thing went wrong, if one ship fell behind, if one thing went unaccounted for, it would be their seven against hundreds. Admiral Leronardo Bonvelle, with orders given, watched as his own fleet, Liberties Fist,readied itself for war even as his own ship The Sopressa led the way into uncertain darkness.
Four days later, The Sopressa carved part of its hull on a dark gray stone, shuddering the deck and stumbling the crew. Off to their port Le Tyrans Malediction and Incendio II grappled to either side of an Illsevir destroyer, harsh and jagged vessels partially submerged and armoured. Off their starboard side the small island of Le Estebano was windswept and silent.
Behind them their ruse bobbed up and down in the squall, empty crates and barrels, for this ‘merchant’ convoy was some of the fastest and best captained ships in the Concord, and two dozen Illsevir Destroyers were in pursuit of them, the dreaded ‘Charybdis’, the Hunters of the Icereach sea. With their foe drawn away by heavy merchant craft it was their task now to break battle and rejoin with Liberties Fist to lead the true assault against the heavily ladened Scylla elsewhere in the Icereach.
Two more Andashi ships swept by, the Admiral could recognise The Emerald Queen, even spotting the mad Senator for Mukarrem waving his sabre from the bow as it slammed through the winter waves. As The Sopressa fell into the wake of the more sanely piloted Andashi galley commanded by Captain Shore, he saw the first of the Destroyers get lost among the jagged stone teeth of Le Estabano’s vicious reef. He saw flashes of purple magic as Charles Le Mer used arcane secrets to propel Esoterique into the lead of the fleeing Concordian ships, as Incendio II and Le Tyrans Malediction’s combined thrust tore the shackled Destroyer port from starboard, the thin River Galleys of Catalina El’Obregon’s marines once again lashing themselves to the various ships of the fleet.
Exaltation filled the Admiral. The ruse had been a success but only barely. The best of The Concord’s Free Captains of Andash and Lerona Mere had led five thousand Illsevir sea-demons on a merry goose chase into jaws of sharp stone. As these seven vessels careened off into the northern Icereach, they would become the hunters.
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The fighting against Scylla was chaos. The Illsevir War-Barges are overloaded with thousands of soldiers that make up the cohort of their warleader, the being known only as Leviathan. These massive craft are triple keeled barges more than a hundred paces on a side. But without their defending Destroyers, they are ungainly and slow.
Liberties Fist on the other hand is made up of twenty of Lerona Mere’s finest Galleons, flying the revolutionary colours of their Free Captains and crawling with sailors who were born to ride these waves. They slip between the clumsy warbarges and turn them about with harpoons. They land marines in vicious boarding assaults designed to sabotage the larger craft. They fire ballista and catapult ordnance into the foe in an entangling melee that lasts nearly a day and a night.
But on the decks of these vessels they are met with a confronting sight. As Lerona Mere marines slam to the half submerged decks of the warbarges they are met with circular shields, heavy iron blades and blank eyes. Long tunics with mountain designs, iron helms with reinforced spectacles and chain mail. Familiar designs all.
The people of Brotherslee have returned to drag the land into the sea under the command and control of the great Leviathan.
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Arriving back in port some days later, the sailors of Liberties Fist arrive at a harbour full, but not as they left it. Twenty new galleons rest at anchor, the new fleet commissioned by The Senate a year prior,ready to sail.
But not a single corsair cog, pirate carrack or misbegotten brig remains flying the golden banner of Opheila Diablos.It appears that a cunning ruse benefits all, and The Golden Fleet took the Concord’s daring raid as a chance to cut anchor and run, sailing West, back to the Guardian.
In the coming weeks the weather clears and so does the waters of Southern Esterra. As soon as they had arrived, The Leviathan and its fleets are gone, sailing off East around the Bailite Cape. Once again Concordian vessels can break free of their bay and sail the waves, but for how long remains a mystery.
Game Information
Taking advantage of an opportunity presented to the War Chamber, the Lerona Mere fleet Libertie’s Fist has launched a daring attack against the combined Illsevir Fleet in The Icereach Sea, inflicting nearly 1500 casualties on both Scylla and Charybdis. The Illsevir fleets have departed the Icereach for distant seas. Concordian fleets will be able to depart the Bay of Promised Gold without danger in this coming season.
Rumours abound that the new Illsevir reinforcements that have been seen across all fronts are garbed in Iron Valley arms and armour. Some have even reported recognising long lost companions from Brotherslee. These returned Valleyfolk offer no response to communication, like all Illsevir.
The freedom from the Illsevir Blockade has surprised the merchant houses of Lerona Mere, creating a massive demand for overseas shipping, particularly for fast ships that are well captained. Any Naval Investment based in Lerona Mere that takes the ‘Trade with Foreign Ports’ action during the Summer season will perform as if it was two tiers higher.