The Concord is old, and yet it is young.
The Concord carries the bones of ancient Iron Valleyfolk kings, but it also carries the dreams of the downtrodden of the Docklands. The Concord battles foes who look upon stars with newborn wonder, but it also struggles against avarice as old as humanity itself. The Concord stands on the thin pretenses of treaties barely older enough to be forgotten, but it also draws forth a unity and a camaraderie born of struggle.
As The Concord stumbles, its people lift it up, As the Concord soars, its people shelter under its wings, as The Concord stands firm, its people stand at its back.
As 226 goes from hopeful future to hard won present, The Concord breathes a sigh of relief. There has been no great victory, no great calamity has befallen our foes, but The Concord still stands, this present exists because it was bought with blood and sweat. As will every dawn to come.
May there be many of them.
Welcome to the Winds of the World for Autumn 226!
The Winds of the World detail the changes and progression of the world of Concord over the last season, detailing the wars, fortunes and opportunities that have arisen over time. These are intended to show how the world has moved, provide prompts and guides for characters as well as let you see the results of your actions.
This page will detail the Winds of the World as a summary, with a short introduction for each individual section of the Winds. If any particular section draws your attention or has game information that might affect you, click into it and read the full text which will be substantially longer and contain game information. These pages are in a slightly new format, broken up into subheadings allowing the Concord Team to focus information and provide a better cause and effect.
It is important to note that The Winds of The World are not an In-Character document. Rather, it represents a collection of documents, rumours, reports and tales that have swept The Concord. Any character is more than welcome to know as little or as much of the Winds as possible, reflecting how well informed they like to keep themselves. It is perfectly acceptable to arrive in Passage having heard nothing or to only seek out the Winds that apply to you. Particularly studious, influential or well-travelled characters may know all or most of it. When referring to the Winds in character, you are welcome to characterise it as 'rumours heard in tavern houses' or 'the latest report from Weiland!' rather than the idea of the Civil Service putting out a gigantic almanac of goings on and gossip.
We've attempted to tag each entry in the Winds in regards to who it affects - hopefully this will make it easier to navigate. Each sub-section will be updated as the Autumn Summit draws nearer, with an entry being posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until they are all posted. The Winds will be posted in the order that they are listed here.
Hostile Takeover - The War in Mukarrem
- The War Chamber / Andash / The Foreign Service
For many in The Concord, Mukarrem has become the new Bolsterlee; a rolling conflict slowly grinding a once beautiful land into a wasted battlefield. It has been years since The Concord held the Salt Road, and the forces of the Trade Principality strike on such a narrow front that their pace is relentless. Concordian’s whisper that of Mukarrem in much the same way that they do of Mancante Terra, and Vassertal;
Lost causes that cost more than they reward.
But perhaps there is a change on the wind, blood in the water, that will change this war arithmetic. Although, not always for the better.
We Carved War from the Mountainside and Gave it Meaning - The War in King's Pass
- The War Chamber / The Iron Valley
When the Illsevir first came to Esterra they were a looming threat in the mists and ice. Their ships tore through merchants and war galleys alike. When they took to the land they nearly crushed two nations into ash and lamentation. Their hands broke fortresses, called dragons, and forged naught but despair.
The Valleyfolk called it ‘The Long Retreat’, and from them it took nearly everything. It forced them back into the oldest of their lands, the quietest, the meekest. With one fortress left to hold them and the charity of new allies to see them through the dawn, hold is what they did.
But the time of holding has passed. The time of staring up at familiar stone with dread is over. The Valleyfolk and The Concord do not mean to leave what is rightfully theirs in enemy hands.
Now is the time to retake Baelags Holdfast.
The Fallen of the Shadowroot War - The War in Resinderholz
- The War Chamber / The Greenweald Baronies
The northern front. The river of blood. The Shadowroot War. The Hordling Hell.
Soldiers call fighting in the Sableheart a lot of different things, and over time many armies take their stance along the line; few more often than the First Banner of Bordevar, but few are more welcome than the Legion of the Blackheart Bear. This past season saw both forces rally in and around the city of Eisen to spend another season of uncomfortable heat, the stench of death, and the grime of mud and blood as they fought back the undead once more.
Danakka Rimortis, the Wraith of Port Gargant, the Alchemist of Brumhaven, brought forth ten thousand shambling corpses, corruptive alchemists, and the threat of plague. The Hirschkind, a powerful Weald-beast, seeks out armoured Ritters and Knights for its brutal revenge, The Fae Queen musters her armies of tricksy murderous allies, and every drop of blood threatens doom by disease.
The summer sun through the leaves shines only on death. Welcome to the Shadowroot War.
It Was Not Meant That We Should Voyage Far - The War Against the Drowned
- The War Chamber / The Iron Valley / Lerona Mere
The Drowned remain a lurking threat to Esterra’s far south-western regions, haunting the ruins of Vidania like algae in brackish waters. Ever since the Concordian forces of the Legion of the Blackheart Bear, the First Banner of Bordevar, and the Fleets of Lerona Mere forced these monstrosities back south of the Plateau of the Gods, they have slumbered. While their horrors persist, so do they.
But they slumber no longer. Forces move north, intent on retaking Mandrianos. And most strangely, forces move east, across the Bay of Promised Gold.
Are We One or Are We Five?
- The Senate / All Nations
We as your Senate, inspired by the great and dire state of our nation declare this State of Emergency. Our enemies are at our hearths and homes, far from beyond the borders where they belong. But to you all, we your chosen leaders write this promise to you, this declaration to you all.
We are one. Five realms, one Concord.
In this, one of our darkest hours, we will stand together, we will fight together, we will win together.
- Senator of Windholme, Ivern the Inheritor.
The words spoken in the Senate can often seem empty to the outsider, the hot gas expelled by politicians whose only purpose is to empower themselves and to cast great shadows over history. But all things matter within the chambers of Concordian councils, it matters that we breathe, it matters that we speak, it matters that we live.
In the Summit past, the Senator of Windholme declared that The Concord was in a State of Emergency, that the maladies, curses, and foes arrayed around it were far too extreme to be tackled with the tools that were available. More than the ravings of one angry Valleyfolk, Senator Ivern presented words to this effect that were added to by every assembled Senator, an agreement in chorus that The Concord was failing, that The Concord desperately needs aid from within.
Standing Before Evil
- The Kingdom of Bordevar
The strength of Bordevar is found in many places. It can be found in its traditions, both those inherited from Drummond, and those forged in the blood of King Bordevar’s conquests. It can be found in the raw strength-at-arms of its people, be they knightly or commonfolk. It can be found in the stubbornness, that dogged determination that keeps them holding on one season after another.
But for many, this strength has been used to put Bordevarian concerns aside while they shoulder the weight of its ignorance. Bordevar CAN hold, so it becomes Bordevar MUST hold, while other nations, groups, causes, and fights are brought to the forefront, due to the weakness of their abilities, not their strength.
As 226 becomes a year not of future concern, but present problem, Bordevar and the entire Concord considers how long it can rely on Bordevar putting the needs of the many before the needs of the few, or how long Bordevar can tell themselves this, before something comes to a head.
Until We Break, Our Home We Must Keep Alive
- The Iron Valley
Eyes sternly gaze west, towards The Kings Pass and Baelags Holdfast, yet hearts remain firmly rooted in the stones of home. The Valley, despite the energies focussed towards reclaiming their heritage, would not forget their hearths within the Regions of Bolsterlee and Windholme. There are a great many grand things to celebrate, concerning events and happenings to worry over, and countless occurrences both large and small that cannot be ignored.
The Iron Valley may be tested in the fight to take Baelags, but they are tried by what remains when all is said and done.
Only the Wrong Words Are A Waste of Time
- Lerona Mere
Lerona Mere, even as it grows, maintains a wildly complex variety of concerns. They are a Realm of great cultural concerns, violent problem solving traditions, and seemingly-petulant ethos of contrarianism. Even as their great democratic experiment continues into this new year, and their war with The Drowned, the people of Lerona Mere continue to pursue the arts and joy with an intensity unmatched by any other realm.
In 226 the Lerona Mere pursue monsters in the mists below their feet, vanquising foes that have haunted The Concord for years, claim their place as the creative heart of The Concord, explore the mysteries of magic unknown to any who speak the common tongue, and all the while they grow into more than a single city.
Grow into a Realm of untold power and influence.
En Evante!
My Ignorance Is Just as Good as Your Knowledge
- Lerona Mere
What was once another piece of Lerona Mere’s strange regional madness has become the core of its nation; The Lerona Mere Parliament. This collection of elected representatives from across the Realm come together in Legend City to speak on behalf of their people, guide the realm, make decisions, make money, and make mistakes. Through fire, revolution, another fire, and more than a few subcommittees, the Lerona Mere Parliament has stabilised as a pillar of the Realm that appears to stand tall.
The greatest part of this pillar is election season, which has fallen on the Autumn of 226. With the three incumbent parties not only battling for supremacy, but also fighting to retain control over their piece of power. While votes flow in from across Mancante Terra and Lerona Mere, the heroic delegation must also decide where the future of the Realm lies.
The Parliament will hold their positions for two years, with the next election expected to be Autumn in 228. So choose wisely. Every Lerona Mere character will find a voting slip in their character pack, which can be submitted to the voting box held in the Civil Service Hub.
Burn the Woods Through Faith and Flame
- The Greenweald Baronies
None can say that life in the Greenweald is a calm or easy one. Even without the undead reaching to grasp Resinderholz in their cadaverous clutches, it is not a realm absent of shadows awaiting weakness, man-made, monstrous or otherwise, to pick and pick at until a pestilent void is left behind.
Across Eisen cobblestones drip with Blasserstreit-infected blood, spreading with them a plague that seems to be as cemented into the Weald’s nature as their stoic dispositions. In the forests and towns, monsters, both those masquerading as men, and those more blatant with their presentations, wander through darkened canopies plotting, patrolling, and indulging in their primal priorities. And throughout the Sableheart, the wind echoes with the cacophonies of green-fleshed fae, their raucous writhing joined by clanking carapaces and undulating undergrowth.
But perhaps, as the final stones, syringes, and scalpels find their homes in the freshly finished Schloss Mortis there forms the dawning sun the Barony so desperately needs. Perhaps.
Lost Lands of the Librarian
- Andash
For an outsider, Andash is its history. It is nomads and cityfolk living in the ruins of a once great empire, scratching their chins while they try to emulate the long dead who probably were as similar to them as the Drowned are. It is a land of abandoned ambitions, lost hopes, and forgotten glory.
But it is so much more than that.
It is the next generation of Nomads striking out across the sands, because there is no one who can do it better. It is the thriving city of Obregon that refuses to die, even as its waters continue to dry up. They are a people who can see failure all around them, and will do their best to avoid repeating the past. We can only hope that they succeed.
Legends Are Not Found, They Are Built
- The Senate / Lerona Mere
The power of appraisal, replacing misplaced and misguided seat-of-the-pants assessments of cost, has become one of The Senate's most fought over powers. Through shrewd manoeuvring or perhaps political power, both of last season's appraisal slots were leveraged in favour of Lerona Mere. One in pursuit of military power, another in the pursuit of improving the life of the common people (and the bottom line of the Realm). How well the civil service has performed has a uniquely Lerona Mere flavour, and a strongly Concordian assessment.
On the Edge of My Last Concern
- The Shardcircle
The Shardcircle is a council so quiet and small that you can’t even enter it without a certain spell. A council so unknown that it struggled along on ten locks of income for years. A council so unremarkable that page-upon-page of arcane lore goes unread.
But The Shardcircle is also a council that wrought the stone of Weiland asunder with arcane power unmatched by any other. It is a council that sent a soul into the afterlife and pulled it back. It fights monsters without form, maladies without mercy, and quandaries without answer.
The Shardcircle does all of this without pursuit of riches, without the dream of accolades, without power-hungry malice.
It does all of this for the love of the game. For its own reason.
No Council in the Concord can do what the Shardcircle can do. And we should all be very afraid.
In the Shadow of Distant Stars
- The Church
The Concordian Church stands as a tempermental, but powerful organisation with the will and the way to save souls, and Condemn them. But with so many disparate cultures, so many threats, it can be difficult to see the way forward.
In this past season the Concordian Church has pushed to mend bridges, survive the darkest night, and sought to remain intact, as they are attacked from all sides. In the light of the starlit Sphere, it is unclear how the Concordian church will survive this darkness.
Where Will I Find You? Where Oh Where?
- Weird Events
Tall tales, unfounded rumours, unbelievable stories. It does not matter what is true, and what is real, it matters what is believed. What is understood, taken to heart and carried forward into the minds and hearts of the many, rather than the cloistered few. Perhaps there is truth hidden in the mysterious, or perhaps the mad ramblings of fools remain as exactly that.
Is it this madness, perchance, that leaves us with so many questions unanswered?
There are strange events and happenings in the lands of Southern Esterra. Some best left forgotten, and others working as if their lives depended on it to ensure it is so.
Fading Places - News from Across the Seas
- Foreign Nations and the Wider World
There isn’t a great season to travel the Bay of Promised Gold. In spring and autumn it is wracked by foul winds and storms. In the Winter it is bone-chillingly cold from the swells from the south, in Summer it is temperamental, curled by rogue currents and brutal waves. It breeds cunning sailors who learned this craft in harsh climbs, but it is hardly enjoyable.
But the allure of Esterra’s vast wealth, heroic populace, and weakened economic state brings sailors from across the World. Esterra’s own children find themselves in ports far across the sea, and in all of this the rumours and knowledge of the world seafolk reaches all the way back to The Concord. What they have to say can often be The Concord’s first warning sign against possible tragedy, or perhaps it is The Concord’s only sight of a possible future better than this one.
Monument Mythos
- Civil Service Report
For some, it is a mystery how the Civil Service managed to conduct its standard operations while also producing the legalistic abomination that is the State of Emergency. But bureaucracy waits for no-one and matters of treasury and state must always be completed.
The Civil Service report details such mundanities as the construction of important infrastructure, the deployment of troops, changes to Concordian titles, the wealth of the Treasury and the state of international trade.
Chains of Fate, Slicked with Blood
- Conflux Report
A Summit could not occur without the passing of at least a single soul. No matter the victories. No matter the losses. Death pervades the actions of Concordian Heroes. It is wrought by their hands. In kind, it is unfairly placed upon them. Justice, truth and worth are all useless in the hearts of the grieving, no matter the side they find themselves upon. The Concord survives, Season after Season, built upon the bones of the fallen. The Spring Summit of 225 was no exception.
The results of last Summit’s Confluxes can be found within, roughly summarised.