Recaps

Viscount Borey pursued a ship suspected of carrying Count Lloyd, but found a lookalike who had killed himself aboard. Far away, Count Black prepared to lead a deliberately weakened campaign and pressed Victor to become Brando’s guardian.

• Grand Duke Mora dismissed Count Lagos after discussing Council Speaker Lance and the nobles who had followed Jorah.
• Viscount Borey traced Count Lloyd’s escape through the eastern gate and pursued a ship south with Light Cavalry.
• With help from the Third Legion, Viscount Borey intercepted the ship and lost many soldiers boarding it before finding a dead man dressed and disguised as Count Lloyd.
• Count Black received Baron Lovsky’s report that the plan was progressing and summoned Boler County’s independent nobles to Dos City before October 10.
• Count Black ordered campaign supplies prepared and insisted on leading the army himself, despite his butler’s concerns, while saying he intended not to win.

Count Black sailed from Sunset City with three battalions to join the defense in Boler County, while asking Knight Yellen to judge whether Victor Golden Sunflower was fit to lead Great Oak Territory’s forces. Count Black hoped Yellen would support Victor and Brando after his death.

• Count Black sent three battalions aboard ships, leaving his steward and Brando watching from shore.
• Knight Yellen warned Count Black that Boler County’s noble houses could field at least twenty thousand troops, far more than the force they had brought.
• Count Black explained that he wanted the nobles to act independently and intended to test Victor’s abilities before entrusting Brando to him.
• Count Black urged Yellen to assess Victor and assist him if he proved suitable, for Brando’s and the Great Oak Family’s sake.
• Yellen pledged not to fail Count Black’s trust.

Victor received the Northlands relief fleet at Linshui Town and organized its troops, supplies, and horses for safe unloading and rest. As the reinforcements marched to camp, Ron reported that Victor’s family was settled in Two Rivers Territory and that its combined army now exceeded ten thousand men.

• Victor told Lessot to continue expanding and maintaining Linshui Town’s docks despite the decline in merchant traffic.
• Victor welcomed Captain Jack and learned that all forty-one ships had arrived, though two sailors had died in an undercurrent.
• Victor ordered the exhausted cavalry horses to camp for rest and arranged feed and salt, while Ron led the infantry to the Main Camp for hot meals.
• Victor entrusted the remaining unloading to Lessot and the military equipment to Foss, then rode with the troops and asked Ron about Two Rivers Territory.
• Ron said Victor’s family had adapted well, recruitment was progressing, and the forces of Baron Brown and Viscount Black Pine had helped bring the territory’s army above ten thousand men.

Victor discussed troop deployments with Ron and learned how Count Black had secretly helped Ron's fleet reach the Blackwater River. Rather than wait for Count Black's forces to assemble, Victor decided to launch an early operation using three detachments and a battlefield he had already scouted.

• Victor planned to leave detachments behind next year to guard Two Rivers Territory and considered whether Iron Birch Territory's fleet could transport the southern expedition.
• Ron told Victor that Count Black had sealed off the estuary and disguised their fleet under the Great Oak Family's heraldry so it could sail upriver unnoticed.
• Victor inferred that Count Black intended to weaken Boler County's loyalist nobles while testing Victor and supporting Count Colt's Northern Alliance Army.
• Victor ordered Ron to select a well-rested detachment for a mobile operation the next day, explaining that two other detachments were already set aside.
• Victor explained that he had surveyed the neighboring independent nobles' territories and searched for suitable battlefields using a detailed map.

Victor identified the neighboring Perilla and Red Ginseng families as his targets after scouts confirmed that their private armies were assembling. He planned to strike before they could join the other nobles.

• Victor reviewed the duchy's divided noble factions and noted that the Golden Sunflower Family had become openly disloyal to the Silver Maple Ducal House.
• Victor's account traced the Golden Sunflower Family's old feud with the Green Oak Family to wildfolk settlements in its former exclave and the Green Oak barons' efforts to obstruct its development.
• Victor recalled that the Perilla and Red Ginseng families had refused his offers of commercial cooperation and remained hostile toward Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Victor learned that both neighboring families had begun assembling forces of roughly seven to eight hundred men each, including only two to three hundred actual soldiers.
• Victor decided to attack the two families before they could gather with the other nobles, confident that three detachments could defeat them.

Victor and Ron planned to attack Red Ginseng Territory first, with Victor aiming to seize its serfs and grain for Golden Sunflower Territory. Victor laid out a two-route assault, while warning that their coming war carried grave risks.

• Victor told Ron that he intended to attack their neighboring families, and Ron enthusiastically supported the plan.
• Ron recommended attacking Red Ginseng Territory first to draw Baron Charles Zisu into reinforcing it, and Victor agreed because the territory had more people and resources to seize.
• Victor explained that he would lead two detachments overland to distract Baron Freyzer while Ron took a detachment by ship to capture Red Ginseng Territory's dock.
• Victor said he wanted to take Red Ginseng Territory's serfs and grain to provide labor for Golden Sunflower Territory's production and construction.
• Victor admitted that he was worried about the campaign despite their military advantage.

Victor prepared Golden Sunflower Territory’s troops for battle while assessing the enemy’s grain shortage, possible allies, and timetable. He left the Main Camp to inspect the eastern fortress, then assigned Orlando an intelligence mission to investigate the Boler County Coalition and the nobles who were staying out of the campaign.

• Victor told Ron that the Central Region faced an autumn grain shortage and discussed the difficulty of winning its nobles over to Count Colt’s side.
• Victor estimated that the enemy would need several days to assemble and march from Dos City, giving his forces time to strike Red Ginseng Territory and move its people and grain.
• Victor returned with Ron to the Main Camp, where the troops rested before their planned departure the next morning.
• Victor inspected the eastern fortress and told Harris to signal for reinforcements if the enemy threatened to overwhelm him.
• Orlando arrived at Victor’s quarters, and Victor assigned him to identify the Coalition’s participants, survey their remaining forces, and investigate nobles not joining the campaign.

Victor received the Northern Alliance nobles’ unanimous declaration granting him command of their forces in the Eastern Region, strengthening his prospects of becoming a marquis after the war. Meanwhile, Alex and Viscount Hawke learned that a regiment from the Fifth Legion had arrived in Sextus City and ordered an investigation before deciding how to respond.

• Orlando gave Victor the nobles’ declaration, which endorsed his command over Northern Alliance forces in the Eastern Region.
• Orlando delivered a dark-gold signet ring from the Iron Birch Territory, and Victor accepted it without investigating its meaning.
• Victor told Orlando to remain in the Golden Sunflower Territory through winter and continue his Intelligence Department assignment.
• An officer reported to Alex and Viscount Hawke that the Third Regiment of the Fifth Legion had arrived in Sextus County.
• Alex ordered his people to investigate the new regiment and told Hawke to strengthen vigilance until they confirmed its strength.

Alex planned to lure the Third Regiment out of Sextus City while Viscount Hawke followed with reinforcements, and their forces marched toward the city. At the same time, Victor set out to draw Freyzer into Red Ginseng Territory while Ron prepared to seize its dock.

• Alex rejected an attack on Sextus City and proposed using his cavalry as bait while Viscount Hawke's troops struck the enemy's flank.
• Viscount Hawke agreed to follow Alex and pledged his territory's support to the Iron Birch Family.
• Alex and Viscount Hawke's troops left camp on the morning of the 8th and marched south toward Sextus City.
• Victor told Ron to attack Red Ginseng Territory's dock after its castle garrison left, then led his troops across the border.

Baron Freyzer prepared Red Ginseng Territory’s army to join Count Black’s forces before attacking Golden Sunflower Territory, while planning to plunder its townsfolk despite orders to leave the family’s property untouched. In the morning fog, Sertis spotted approaching black-armored Cavalry and realized the column was under attack.

• Baron Freyzer told Fick and Sertis that the army would march to Dos City and later return to attack Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Fick explained that although Count Black forbade taking the Golden Sunflower Family’s property, they could still rob Freemen and serfs.
• Red Ginseng Territory’s army set out, and Sertis and Fick patrolled the slow-moving column through the fog.
• Sertis chased a dark figure, then saw a formation of black-armored Cavalry charging toward him and shouted that the enemy was attacking.
• The leading black-armored Cavalryman struck a Red Ginseng Cavalryman from his horse, and the others turned to flee.

Victor Golden Sunflower led Golden Sunflower Territory’s cavalry in a surprise attack that routed Red Ginseng Territory’s column. Baron Freyzer escaped, while Sertis died defending a small force that surrendered after his fall.

• Victor Golden Sunflower’s cavalry caught and killed three fleeing riders, then continued its charge through the fog.
• Sertis warned Baron Freyzer and Rick that a large enemy cavalry force was approaching, but Red Ginseng Territory’s column scattered under the attack.
• Rick pulled Baron Freyzer to safety as the Golden Sunflower Territory cavalry surrounded the fleeing soldiers and called for their surrender.
• Sertis rallied nearly two hundred trained soldiers into a square formation and refused Victor’s offer to surrender in exchange for joining Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Victor ordered his cavalry to fire arrows and charge the formation, and Sertis fell in battle.
• After Sertis died, the soldiers in his formation lost their will to fight and surrendered.

Victor defeated Red Ginseng Territory’s army, captured more than six hundred prisoners, and advanced on Red Ginseng Castle while splitting his forces to secure them. He found that Ron had already taken the castle and sealed its warehouses, and asked him how he had captured it so quickly.

• Victor’s cavalry surprised Baron Freyzer’s marching army in the fog, routed it, and took most of its soldiers prisoner, though Freyzer escaped.
• Victor ordered the prisoners to dig pits for the fallen, then split his forces between escorting soldiers to Red Ginseng Castle and guarding the remaining Serf Soldiers.
• Victor led his troops to Red Ginseng Castle, where he found the Golden Sunflower banner flying and learned Ron had captured the castle and sealed its warehouses.
• Victor praised Ron and asked how he had taken the castle so quickly.

Ron captured Red Ginseng Castle while Baron Freyzer was away leading troops to Dos City, and Victor took control of the baron’s family and territory’s resources. Victor arranged to relocate serfs, supplies, and the families of captured soldiers, then returned to Golden Sunflower Territory, leaving Ron to guard the castle.

• After learning that Baron Freyzer had taken most of his troops north, Ron led his force through the fog and captured Red Ginseng Castle.
• Ron’s men overwhelmed the castle’s fewer than fifty defenders and captured Baron Freyzer’s wife, court ladies, and children.
• Victor secured the Baroness’s cooperation and ordered the territory’s stewards to inventory its supplies and serfs for ransom.
• Victor sent soldiers to relocate serfs and supplies from nearby farms and ordered two hundred Cavalry to bring the captured soldiers’ families to Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Victor left Ron in charge of Red Ginseng Castle and rode back to his territory with one hundred cavalry.

After taking Red Ginseng Territory, Victor returned to Golden Sunflower Territory to prepare to stop Perilla’s forces from interfering with Ron’s seizure of supplies and laborers. Meanwhile, Baron Freyzer failed to persuade Baron Charles to launch a full counterattack and left with only a squad of soldiers promised to him.

• Victor handed Red Ginseng Territory over to Ron and returned to Golden Sunflower Territory to prepare the cavalry for action.
• Baron Freyzer arrived in Perilla Territory with Fick and fourteen cavalrymen after fleeing his lands and abandoning his troops and family.
• Freyzer urged Baron Charles to lead Perilla’s forces to retake Red Ginseng Territory, but Charles refused to risk his army without knowing the situation there.
• Charles offered Freyzer a squad of soldiers and weapons to investigate and recruit serfs, promising further aid if Freyzer brought back reliable information.
• Freyzer angrily left, and Charles gave Fick a sealed letter to collect the squad and try to persuade Freyzer to return to Red Ginseng Territory.

Baron Freyzer left Perilla Territory to seek soldiers from Count Black, intending to retake Red Ginseng Territory later. Baron Charles prepared Perilla Territory’s defenses while expecting Count Black’s main army to arrive within days.

• Fick caught up with Baron Freyzer, who decided not to return to Red Ginseng Territory and instead planned to borrow soldiers from Count Black in Dos City.
• Baron Freyzer collected a squad of soldiers and military rations from Perilla Territory before departing with his Cavalrymen.
• Baron Charles learned that Freyzer had taken enough rations for a week and realized he planned to wait for reinforcements rather than fight immediately.
• Baron Charles told Colin, Indigo, and Osric to prepare Perilla Territory’s defenses, patrol the border, and reinforce its sentry posts.
• Baron Charles declined to guard the farms, believing the Golden Sunflower Family would not attack and Count Black would arrive in four or five days.

Victor assembled a force of cavalry and fortress troops to test Perilla Territory’s defenses and Baron Charles’s response. He captured a border sentry post, leaving the consequences of the attack unresolved.

• Victor learned that Alaric could provide only three cavalry squads because many warhorses were still recovering from the sea voyage.
• Victor took the cavalry to Number Two Fortress and learned from Diodor that Perilla Territory had reinforced its border sentry posts.
• Victor borrowed three squads, the patrol squad, and both ballistae from Diodor, then set out to probe Perilla Territory.
• Victor’s force approached a sentry post, where the defenders raised beacon smoke to alert Perilla Territory.
• Victor ordered an attack, and his troops tore down the wooden fence and captured the sentry post within minutes.

Victor captured Perilla Territory’s border outposts and seized a farm’s serfs and grain, while Baron Charles chose to withdraw and fortify his forces rather than confront him. Victor returned to Golden Sunflower Territory and abandoned plans for another attack as the Boler County coalition approached.

• Victor’s troops captured two Perilla Territory outposts, then took Farm No. 1 and drove its serfs and grain back toward Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Indigo reported the farm’s loss to Baron Charles, who refused Knight Colin’s request to lead an attack and ordered troops concentrated at Perilla Castle.
• Knight Osric proposed thinning the remaining outposts, and Charles ordered the serfs and grain at Farms No. 2 and No. 3 moved or hidden.
• Charles sent Indigo to escort people out of the territory and waited for Freyzer to inform Count Black, while worrying that Perilla Territory would struggle to recover its losses.
• Victor returned to fortress No. 2 with the captured serfs and supplies, set up a temporary camp, and abandoned his plan to attack Perilla Territory again.

Victor moved Red Ginseng Territory’s serfs and supplies to Golden Sunflower Territory while keeping pressure on Perilla Territory. In Dos City, Count Black learned that Baron Freyzer Red Ginseng had arrived with few troops after losing his domain to Victor.

• Victor arranged the transfer of Red Ginseng Territory’s serfs and supplies, prioritizing families and preparing dwellings for the newcomers.
• Victor stationed Alderick’s cavalry at Fort Two and ordered frequent reconnaissance of Perilla Territory, but Knight Indigo’s cavalry and Baron Charles’s defenses prevented progress.
• By the afternoon of the tenth, Golden Sunflower Territory’s population exceeded fifty thousand and its grain reserves surpassed eighty thousand tonnes.
• Count Black heard from Yellen that Baron Freyzer Red Ginseng had arrived in Dos City with only a little over sixty troops and asked for help reclaiming his territory.
• Count Black and Yellen concluded that Perilla Territory might also have fallen, then discussed the eleven nobles who had reported for the muster.

Count Black realized that the eastern nobles were challenging his authority and that Great Oak Territory faced threats from both the Duchy's Direct Legion and its neighbors. He ordered Yellen to maneuver Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo into helping Baron Freyzer, while leaving Victor to face the allied army himself.

• Count Black learned that ten nobles from Boler County could field a large force, but trusted Victor to defend against it and refused to intervene beyond providing intelligence.
• Count Black told Yellen to investigate Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo, whose troop numbers exceeded the standing-army limits set by the eastern nobles’ agreement.
• Count Black explained that coastal nobles had recalled ships from the Coastal Defense Fleet and that some were trying to turn Great Oak Territory’s navy against him.
• Count Black warned that the Direct Legion in southeastern Sextus County threatened Great Oak Territory after its losses and the fall of White Earth City.
• Count Black ordered Yellen to make Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo take the initiative in helping Baron Freyzer avenge his grievances.

Knight Yellen encountered Viscount Isold Olive, Viscount Leo Asparagus, and Baron Freyzer Red Ginseng rallying nobles to press Count Black for an early advance. He turned their proposal into the count’s plan to send troops ahead, and the three nobles agreed to deploy immediately.

• Knight Yellen arrived at the Main Camp and found Viscount Isold Olive urging nobles to petition Count Black to let him and Viscount Leo Asparagus lead an advance to recover Baron Freyzer Red Ginseng’s territory.
• Knight Yellen confronted Viscount Isold and explained that Count Black intended to send a force ahead to help Baron Freyzer reclaim Red Ginseng Territory.
• Knight Yellen said Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo could lead the force, and that he would report their deployment to Count Black.
• Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo returned to their camps to prepare their troops, while Baron Freyzer followed them gratefully.

Yellen arranged for Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo to march as the vanguard while Count Black prepared the rest of the army. Isold and Leo planned to combine their forces, reclaim the Red Ginseng Territory, and wait for the main army before attacking the Golden Sunflower Territory, but Count Black warned them that victory was essential.

• Yellen told the nobles that the army would depart the next morning and reported to Count Black that Viscount Isold and Viscount Leo had agreed to lead the vanguard.
• Viscount Leo went to Viscount Isold's camp, where Isold reassured him that Count Black was unlikely to defeat their combined forces.
• Isold and Leo decided to unite their troops, help Baron Freyzer reclaim the Red Ginseng Territory, and wait for the main army before advancing on the Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Isold and Leo broke camp and led their armies south as Count Black and Yellen watched them depart.
• Count Black told Isold and Leo that they must reclaim Baron Freyzer's territory and win decisively, promising them foremost credit for the victory.

Count Black sent intelligence to Viscount Golden Sunflower by carrier pigeon and prepared to leave at dawn, while Alex withdrew from Sextus City after failing to draw out the Fifth Legion. In Wood Fort Town, Old Baron Wembley received news of Victor’s campaign in the west and hoped Victor would overcome the pressure.

• Count Black told Yellen he had arranged to send intelligence to Viscount Golden Sunflower by carrier pigeon, then ordered the troops to prepare to depart at dawn.
• Alex and Viscount Hawke withdrew their forces from Sextus City after the Fifth Legion refused to leave the city, ending the fighting there for the time being.
• Alex ordered the combined forces to sweep the farms on their way back to White Earth City.
• An officer reported to Old Baron Wembley that Victor had taken Red Ginseng Territory and then returned after the baron of Perilla Territory abandoned its outer lands.
• Old Baron Wembley read the intelligence and believed Victor would overcome the difficulties facing him.

Victor learned that the punitive army’s vanguard had split its forces and approved an offensive against it in Red Ginseng Territory. He halted the transfer of spoils and supplies to prepare for battle, leaving the story with nine detachments gathering for an attack.

• A messenger delivered intelligence to Victor, and Foss and Holmes recommended attacking the enemy’s separated forces with more than five thousand troops.
• Victor ordered Foss to remain at Fortress One, Diodor to defend Fortress Two, and Holmes to bring troops and horses to Red Ginseng Territory in three days.
• Steward Boon reported that Red Ginseng Territory had yielded relocated Freemen and serfs, wheat, goods, and livestock, and Victor told him to secure the people and supplies already transferred.
• Victor went to Red Ginseng Castle, stopped the remaining transfers, and told Ron that Viscount Olive and Viscount White Asparagus would bring a roughly seven-thousand-man vanguard.
• Victor told Ron that nine detachments would assemble in Red Ginseng Territory to strike the vanguard, and Ron eagerly agreed with the plan.

Victor prepared to fight the forces of Viscount Olive and Viscount White Asparagus on the riverbank plain, relying on the canals and a hidden force led by Holmes. As the enemy vanguard approached, Ron rode out with the cavalry to delay them and conceal Holmes's position.

• Victor explained to Ron that he would abandon Red Ginseng Castle and fight on the plain between the canals, with Blackwater River behind his forces.
• A messenger delivered Holmes's letter confirming that his troops had reached a position northwest of the battlefield, where Victor planned to use them for a surprise attack.
• After a beacon signaled the approaching punitive army, Victor ordered Ron to lead the First Regiment's Cavalry and Alix's cavalry battalion north, fight while retreating, and hide Holmes's position.
• Ron accepted the Golden Sunflower flag and rode north with more than seven hundred cavalry.

Victor prepared a shield-wall defense at the docks and coordinated with the fleet as Viscount Isold's army approached Red Ginseng Territory. After learning that Viscount Golden Sunflower had concentrated his troops and supplies by the docks, Isold ordered his army to speed up and drive off the enemy cavalry disrupting its march.

• Victor arranged three Heavy Infantry detachments in an arc around the docks, with archers, crossbowmen, and a concealed position for Ron's cavalry behind them.
• Victor signaled the fleet and docked vessels to begin moving as preparations for the battle continued.
• Knight Fick reported to Baron Freyzer, Viscount Isold, and Viscount Leo that Red Ginseng Territory had been stripped of grain, wealth, and nearly eight thousand serfs, but that Baron Freyzer's family was safe and Lady Mary had retaken the castle.
• Fick advised the nobles to hurry to the docks, where Viscount Golden Sunflower's army was guarding supplies and preparing to withdraw by water.
• A messenger reported that Golden Sunflower cavalry was harassing the vanguard, and Viscount Isold ordered the army to increase its speed and placed Viscount Leo's cavalry under his commander.