Drotid War - Brief Review of the Southern Nations

[spool32]

All the following can be considered "general knowledge" regarding the state of the southern nations as it pertains to the war. Obviously, IC events will cause the current timeline to diverge from this almost immediately, but consider it a snapshot of things are they are.

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Elysia
Alliances: T'Nanshi, Grantir
Neutral: M'Chek, Ferrell, Deglos, Visimontium, Blandenberg
Enemies: Drotid

Elysia is still in a strong recruitment mode, as Le'Megen T'Elysia has never fully recovered from the battle with Moreanne Tanasi. A constant slow burn of conflict exists deep under the city, and Le'Megen has successfully kept interruptions of daily life to a small minimum. This is a double-edged sword... the lack of a feeling of crisis leads to fewer recruits than if the war were more urgent or more obvious. The shaahesk have set up a solid forward base deep in the underdark tunnels, and destroyed the ancient Temple of Angadar below the city as well, reconsecrating it to Aarilax. Battle lines shift constantly as each side continually probes for a weakness, but the confined battle makes gaining any ground a very difficult task...

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M'Chek
Allies: Kurathene (marginally)
Neutral: Blandenberg, Elysia, T'Nanshi, Visimontium, Deglos, Grantir, Ferrell
Enemies: Drotid

M'Chek's east coast is overrun with shaahesk, and despite recent gains at Greylake and points north of Eastshore, the shaahesk have managed a toehold in the barren Warrens, concluding an apparent alliance with local bugbears. Western nobles have largely refused to commit their regiments to the war, following the lead of a recalcitrant Lord Nelthrope unwilling to leave his lands undefended while his men fight in the east. Prices for food and other goods have risen slowly but steadily as the effects of Drotid's domination of the eastern ocean make themselves felt. M'Chek has embarked on a shipbuilding effort to try and challenge the shaahesk Navy, and special operations continue to do damage to the invading army. Drotid's large army and uncharacteristically skilled warlords make the fight difficult, as have a recent influx of shaahesk veteran troops that seem to know the terrain almost as well as the locals.

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T'Nanshi
Allies: Elysia, Grantir
Neutral: Blandenberg, M'Chek, Visimontium, Deglos, Ferrell
Enemies: Drotid

T'Nanshi's northeastern forest is awash with parties of shaahesk soldiers looking to disrupt trade and attack Le'Nofaythen wherever it can. Le'Nofaythen has kept the fight on the ground so far, with a successful recruitment drive that made up in veterans what it lacked in raw numbers. While the new fortress at L'Hur'Aek Hegena has kept Drotid from marching into the forest in force, the altering of ancient wards on the Hel'Byssia peninsula has given Drotid an alternate beachhead currently impossible for the elves to assault. As a result, a constant running battle is happening throughout the forest, with Le'Nofaythen denying the shaahesk any opportunity to overwhelm them with superior numbers. Raids happen as far west as Zvidureth on occasion, and as far south as Nireth, though populated centers are largely avoided. In the northeast, nearly all civilians have moved away as the forest can erupt in conflict at any moment. Goods must flow south entirely over land due to complete shaaheks dominance of the eastern ocean. These caravans are increasingly coming under fire by Drotid war parties...

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Deglos
Allies: None
Neutral: Blandenberg, M'Chek, Visimontium, Grantir, Ferrell, Drotid
Enemies: None

Deglos has concluded a neutrality agreement with Drotid and currently is offering no assistance to any involved nation. They maintain trade ties with all their surrounding neighbors, and refuse to be drawn into the war despite requests for assistance from both T'Nanshi and Elysia.

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Ferrell
Allies: None
Neutral: Blandenberg, M'Chek, Visimontium, Grantir, Deglos, Drotid
Enemies: None

Ferrell has likewise maintained its tradition position of neutrality, enforcing a strict no-tolerance policy of conflict between opposing soldiers. They refuse to allow any war party to travel through their nation, and continue to do their best to keep Ferrell unblemished by the war. Though they have no formal agreement with either M'Chek, the T'Nanshi alliance, or Drotid, none of these nations has seen fit to force the hin into choosing sides.

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Visimontium
Allies: None
Neutral: Blandenberg, M'Chek, Ferrell, Grantir, Deglos, Drotid
Enemies: None

Visimontium continues to demand all nations respect its neutrality, and due to its remote location has largely succeeded. Despite some incidents between shaahesk and warmblooded races, the peace is largely kept and war conflicts do not touch this mountain city-state.

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Grantir
Allies: T'Nanshi, Elysia
Neutral: Blandenberg, M'Chek, Ferrell, Deglos, Visimontium
Enemies: Drotid

Grantir was the first nation assaulted by the Drotid in the current war, and they have been under a severe blockade. No news is available about the City of Angadar, and speculation runs the gamut. Whether the city still stands at all is, at the moment, an open question to which few know the answer.

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Blandenberg
Allies: None
Neutral: T'Nanshi, M'Chek, Ferrell, Deglos, Visimontium, Drotid, Grantir, Elysia
Enemies: None

The Blandenberg Protectorate is currently in the precarious position of being neutral in the war due only to the fact that no one has made a concerted effort to invade. With no standing army, it must rely on the good graces of the Churches of Mikon and Dru'El to provide holy warriors for border enforcement, and with shaahesk breaking its longstanding restriction on raids, a nervous Le'Nofaythen to the north, and an increasingly aggressive Nelthrope Fief posting regiments soldiers in the southwest, it may be only a matter of time before the Blandenberg tinderbox goes up in flames. In the meanwhile, however, traders and merchants are reaping the spoils of war, with practically all M'Chek-T'nanshi commerce passing overland and directly through Blandenberg itself. The distrust of the past has begun to fade, replaced with a newfound nationalism and a slowly growing drive to declare Blandenberg a sovereign nation in its own right, rather than a mere Protectorate designed only to separate the elves from the humans...

[spool32]

Edited BBerg to take into account a recent IC development I had forgotten.

[GunnJ]

Can this be stickied? Then you could update it every couple months or so?

[Seka]

Great write-up, very informative! I vote to sticky as well-