THE SEASON IS SUMMER.READ DISPATCHES?
As the seasons of war turn ever on, may this dispatch find you in fair health and fairer counsel. Within this brief missive, I have enclosed rumours and accounting of the war’s ebb and flow: the banners raised and broken, alliances sworn and sundered, whispers from court and camp alike, and the toll each clash has taken upon our fair Calorum.It is my hope that these tidings will serve you well. May the light of the Bulb guide your judgment and grant you advantage where your fortune yet wavers.In service and vigilance, on this day of Brightdawn, 1194, I remain yours,
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VEGETANIA
Major Alliances: None
Major Conflicts: Fructera, Ceresia
Neutral with Candia and the Dairy Islands.
Vegetania and Fructera's conflict is at the heart of the Ravening War.
Opposed to the Meatlands through the Meatland's alliance with Fructera.
FRUCTERA
Major Alliances: Meatlands
Major Conflicts: Vegetania, Dairy Islands, Candia
Aligned with Ceresia through Ceresia's ally, the Meatlands.
Although Fructera's main conflict focuses on Tomaté’s claim to the Vegetanian throne, its allies have involved Fructera in their own conflicts.
CERESIA
Major Alliances: Meatlands
Major Conflicts: Vegetania, Candia, Dairy Islands
Ceresia's democratic Senate has been overtaken by an imperialist semi-dictator. Uneasily allied with the Meatlands, it seeks conquest of neighboring territories. Temporarily aligned with Fructera through their alliance with the Meatlands and their mutual adversary Candia.
MEATLANDS
Major Alliances: Fructera, Ceresia
Major Conflicts: Dairy Islands, Candia
The Meatlands are a collection of tribes that span the northern continent atop Calorum. It is uneasily allied with Ceresia.
DAIRY ISLANDS
Major Alliances: Candia
Major Conflicts: Fructera, Meatlands, Ceresia
As a critical geographic kingdom in Calorum, whoever controls the Dairy Islands controls much of the coastal access to the rest of the continent. Its conflicts are mainly to do with other countries looking to control access to ports rather than any political conflict with the Dairy Islands itself.
CANDIA
Major Alliances: Dairy Islands
Major Conflicts: Fructera, Ceresia, Meatlands
Candia entered the war with great reluctance after a long neutral period at the start of the war. Its priorities involve defending its ally, the Dairy islands, rebuffing Ceresian imperialist forces, and ending the war.
MAJOR BATTLES
Battle of Vinolia – Count Tomaté has been slain. House Uvano, as the only remaining great house, is emerging as sovereign house of Fructera. With the death of his challenger, Belvedere will be crowned as king of Vegetania. His coronation will be attended by senior Bulbian officials.
Siege of Port Béchamel - Ceresia has attacked Port Béchamel in the Dairy Islands, a valuable island historically settled by Ceresians and Dairy Islanders alike. It is also seasonally inhabited by pilgrims of the nomadic Goat Clans. Imperator Foccacia's forces have started a months-long siege to take the settlement as a naval base for themselves. With ships and aid blocked from entering, resources to wait out the invasion are quickly drying up. The ancestral city burns, sowing discord in both the Meatlands and the Dairy Islands.
RUMOUR HAS IT...
...that Dairy Islanders and Seafood Meatland Tribes have reported sightings of the legendary sea serpent, The Loop Ness Monster, sinking pirate and merchant ships alike. It was last sighted off the coast of Kellogg's Peak. Travel with extreme caution along the coast for the next three months!
...that disgraced Vegetanian houses who supported Tomaté's claim to the throne have fled into the Verduran Forest. Word on the grapevine is they've turned away from the light of the Bulb. Peasants in the surrounding area report disappearing livestock and haunting music late at night. The Church has put a bounty on whoever can find the source of the heresy.
... that following Belvedere's crowning, an ambassador's meeting will be held to discuss an alliance between Imperator Focaccia and King Belvedere. A band of Vegetanian diplomats accompanied by Bulbian priests will meet the Imperator and his court at his summer palace, the Palazzo Brioche. Focaccia has arranged for a munera (gladiator fight) at the Challahseum for the amusement of his guests.
LAY OF THE LAND
Fructera, along with its Meatlander and Ceresian allies, pushed toward the heart of Vegetania at the start of summer. The Vegetanian forces successfully repelled them at the Battle of Vinolia, where Counte Tomaté was slain.
Candia is assisting the Dairy Islands, who are being besieged by both Ceresia and Basha's faction of Meatlanders.
Tensions are growing between clans of the Meatlands as other nations have difficulty understanding the Meatland's lack of central governance. Meatlanders are being indiscriminately grouped together as one nation despite individual affiliation and alliances.
After routing Fructera at the Battle of Vinolia, Belvedere will be crowned King of Vegetania. This ends the initial conflict that ignited the Ravening War. Under Belvedere, Vegetania will soon ally itself with Ceresia and join their imperial conquest.
