Recaps

James and Konedia met envoys from thirteen Barbarian tribes who sought allegiance with the Raine Kingdom. James brought their representatives to camp and arranged to report the offer to Duke Alex through Victor, leaving both forces on alert.

• James and Konedia met two unarmed Barbarian riders, who asked whether they served Duke Alex Iron Birch.
• Dane, acting chieftain of the Blood Scorpion Tribe, and Iron Stone, brother of the Iron Hoof Tribe's chieftain, said thirteen tribes wanted to pledge themselves to the Raine Kingdom.
• James told the envoys he could not accept their offer himself and brought them back to the Temporary Camp.
• James introduced Dane and Iron Stone to Brown and Markut, then decided to send a messenger to Rose Town to report the matter to Victor.
• James, Konedia, and the others reassured the envoys while keeping their troops alert and watching the Barbarian camp.

Victor received intelligence that thirteen Barbarian Tribes had submitted to the nobles of the Vela Three Provinces, leaving Alex to decide how to handle the more than a hundred thousand herders and twenty thousand warriors. He sent the report toward Alex, ordered further covert intelligence gathering, and departed with reinforcements for the Northwestern Frontier.

• Veronica urged Victor to stay safe before he left the Lord's Mansion to join the troops heading for the station.
• Orlando gave Victor a cipher-authenticated report from James, Brown, and Markut describing the Barbarian Tribes' submission.
• Victor ordered Orlando to deliver the intelligence to Alex in Iron Tree City by three routes within two days and to keep investigating the grasslands.
• Victor authorized three thousand gold for intelligence work and told Orlando to use the Horseshoe Tribe and Horse Mane Tribe caravans to gather information.
• Victor briefed Santos, Luoza, and the other officers, then led the follow-up force west by train and packhorse convoy toward the Northwestern Frontier.

Victor and Marvin traveled with their forces toward the northern front as the territory rushed to move troops and supplies. A message from Victor told Marvin that the barbarians had surrendered, giving him time to strengthen the defenses around Blue Lake Bay.

• Victor rode the second military train with his guards and noted that the uncomfortable flatcars needed better shock absorption.
• Marvin transported his Fourth Regiment north by ship along the Lime River and sent for his family to move to Woodfort City.
• A messenger delivered Victor's letter to Marvin as his fleet traveled north.
• Marvin read that the barbarians had surrendered and learned that the expected major battle would no longer take place.
• Marvin received Victor's suggestion to use the extra time to mobilize Blue Lake Bay's people and build new fortifications.

Victor met Horne, the acting chieftain of the Blood Scorpion Tribe, at Redrock Iron Mine and learned how the Iron Bone Tribe had rapidly strengthened. Horne revealed that newcomers had brought superior warriors, ironworking skills, and high-yield crops, leaving Victor alarmed by the scale of the change.

• Victor arrived at Redrock Iron Mine, where James reported that the mine was stable and that he had shared stored grain with the hungry Barbarian Tribes.
• Victor agreed to meet Horne, the acting chieftain of the Blood Scorpion Tribe, and welcomed him at the Temporary Camp.
• Horne explained that the Iron Bone Tribe had once maintained a wary peace with the Blood Scorpion Tribe, but its fortunes changed after Kledun'e'emas a arrived with more than three thousand well-equipped warriors.
• Horne said the newcomers brought craftsmen who forged steel weapons from poor-quality grassland iron, strengthening the Iron Bone Tribe's forces.
• Horne revealed that the newcomers had taught the Iron Bone Tribe to grow high-yield rye and barley, with the first harvest supplying one-third of the tribe's annual food.

Victor learned from Horne how the Iron Bone Tribe had grown powerful by feeding refugees and offering farming improvements, then routed a coalition of tribes with lightning-firing weapons. Horne’s people had lost their pastures and fled to seek Duke Alex’s protection and the Vela Nobles’ acceptance.

• Horne told Victor that the Iron Bone Tribe had taken in at least a hundred and ten or twenty thousand refugees, who survived the winter on its grain.
• Horne explained that the Iron Bone Tribe offered improved seeds and farming techniques to allied tribes, drawing many small and midsize tribes to its side.
• Horne said his father joined the Iron Hoof Tribe and others in an attack with over a hundred thousand people to seize the Iron Bone Tribe’s craftsmen and seeds.
• Horne recounted how Kledun'e'emas a’s troops used lightning-firing rods to destroy the coalition’s ranks and burn his father to ash.
• Horne said the defeat triggered a rout, after which neutral tribes joined the Iron Bone Tribe and his people lost their pastures.
• Horne told Victor that his people had fled to seek Duke Alex’s service and ask the Vela Nobles to take them in.

Victor questioned Horne about Keledu and learned that the Iron Bone Tribe’s mysterious leader and his troops likely came from Skyline Grassland, where a few powerful tribes had destroyed the Tribal Alliance. The chapter ended with Victor judging that a battle was unlikely soon and ordering preparations to receive his main army and settle the arriving Barbarians.

• Victor questioned Horne about the metal rods that had unleashed lightning, and Horne described how the attack had devastated the allied tribes before the Iron Bone Tribe defeated them.
• Horne revealed that Keledu kept his troops and camp under strict control, and that the Blood Scorpion Tribe and Iron Hoof Tribe believed he came from Skyline Grassland.
• Horne explained that Skyline Grassland’s Tribal Alliance had collapsed as large tribes absorbed, killed, or drove away smaller tribes, including the group that fled across the desert to the Northlands Wasteland.
• Horne told Victor that Keledu’s soldiers called him an “Apostle” who served a “Sovereign Lord,” and Victor praised Horne for providing valuable intelligence.
• Victor confirmed Horne’s account with the Iron Hoof chief’s son, ordered the information sent to Woodfort City, and discussed the situation with his viscounts.
• Victor concluded that the Iron Bone Tribe was unlikely to attack soon and ordered James and Santos to expand the camp and clear space to settle the Barbarians.

Victor arranged for Two Rivers County to take in more than a hundred thousand Barbarian tribespeople under a five-year labor agreement while their leaders kept their possessions and troops. As the relocation proceeded, Keledu’s cavalry defeated the rearguard on the grasslands and prepared to wait for the Iron Bone Tribe’s forces before pursuing the remaining tribes.

• Horne reassured Zaro that Victor could provide for their tribespeople, and the two leaders helped Two Rivers County soldiers manage the crossing.
• Victor ordered food, clothing, and housing for the Barbarians, having negotiated an agreement that preserved their leaders’ livestock, possessions, and command of their armies.
• Two Rivers County soldiers and officials divided the tribespeople among settlements and newly opened lands as the relocation proceeded smoothly.
• Keledu’s cavalry crushed the Iron Hoof and Blood Scorpion tribes’ rearguard, confiscated the survivors’ weapons, and executed some junior officers.
• Keledu rejected an immediate pursuit, explaining that he would not risk his three thousand veteran cavalry against more than a hundred thousand tribal remnants before the Iron Bone Tribe’s troops arrived.

Keledu ordered Mizhene to arrange Kachi’s death in battle after deciding the commander had grown too close to the Iron Bone Tribe. A few days later, Barbarian forces withdrew from the border of Two Rivers County when county reinforcements arrived.

• Keledu sent Kachi to the Iron Bone Tribe to hurry its preparations, then secretly ordered Mizhene to choose replacements and ensure Kachi led the next charge.
• Keledu warned Mizhene that Kachi had been corrupted by the Iron Bone Tribe and urged him to remain loyal to the Holy Church.
• Keledu vowed to take control of the grassland and establish a new diocese for the Holy Church.
• A few days later, Barbarian cavalry faced Two Rivers County troops near the county border.
• Two Rivers County reinforcements arrived, and the Barbarians withdrew when their numerical advantage disappeared.

Victor sent James, Ron, Horne, and Zaro to watch the retreating Barbarian forces while he awaited approval for the surviving tribes’ allegiance. Keledu realized his pursuit had failed to capture the fleeing tribespeople, putting the Iron Bone Tribe’s religious plans at risk.

• Victor sent James and Ron to scout the retreating Barbarians, then assigned Horne and Zaro two thousand warriors each to join them and avoid a large battle.
• Victor returned his main force to the Temporary Camp near Redrock Iron Mine, where Luoza’s auxiliary troops guarded the remaining tribespeople.
• Alex wrote that he accepted the surviving Barbarian Tribes’ offer of allegiance and entrusted Victor with settling the negotiations.
• Keledu told Mizhene that the pursuit was meant to destroy enemy forces and bring the fleeing tribespeople into their faith, but he feared losing nearly two hundred thousand followers would prevent them from fulfilling their Lord’s task.

Keledu recounted the Faith Order’s origins, its devastating defeat on the Skyline Grassland, and its new alliance with the Iron Bone Tribe in the Northlands Wasteland. Though the alliance had secured land and followers, Keledu knew the Faith Order still needed enough strength to protect what it had gained.

• The Exalted One founded the Faith Order to lead his followers toward peace, but found the Skyline Grassland consumed by conflict and displacement.
• The Faith Order backed a small tribe’s growth, then the tribe’s chiefs and nobles turned against it, seized its lands and followers, and drove it into the snowy mountains.
• After repeated failures to reclaim its lands, Keledu led followers east to seek a new path for the Faith Order.
• Keledu’s group allied with the Iron Bone Tribe, strengthened it, and helped defeat the Tribal Alliance army, including forces from the Blood Scorpion Tribe and the Iron Hoof Tribe.
• The alliance gained a pasture, roughly a hundred thousand Barbarian herders, and a new armed force, but Keledu knew the Faith Order needed greater strength to hold its own land.

Keledu withdrew his army after the Vela forces pursued him across the grassland, and James chose not to chase the retreating Barbarians. Back in Two Rivers County, Victor oversaw the settlement of nearly two hundred thousand Barbarian herders and considered sending captured warriors to frontier territories.

• After learning that Vela cavalry had killed more than a thousand men and pursued his army, Keledu ordered a retreat rather than risk his elite Order Warriors.
• James rejected Horne and Zaro's proposal to pursue the retreating army and sent only mounted patrols to watch its movements.
• After the Barbarian army disappeared, James and the others returned to Two Rivers County.
• Victor arranged for the relocated Barbarian herders to be settled across Two Rivers County and its vassal lands, adding nearly two hundred thousand people.
• Victor considered assigning the nearly twenty thousand Barbarian warriors brought by Horne and Zaro to frontier noble territories in Durham County.

James and the Cavalry returned to the Main Camp after successfully forcing the Barbarian army to withdraw. Victor welcomed the troops and gathered the commanders and nobles for a hot pot meal and a toast.

• Victor heard that the Cavalry had returned and hurried to the Main Camp gates to greet James and the others.
• James reported that the operation had gone smoothly and the Barbarian army had withdrawn.
• James led the soldiers to their assigned camp zones, where they received hot food and wine.
• James brought Horne and Zaro to Victor’s tent to give their report before they could eat.
• Victor welcomed the gathered nobles and commanders, then raised a toast to their efforts protecting Two Rivers County.

At Victor’s banquet, James described the strange forces encountered on the grasslands, prompting Victor to order an investigation into the Faith Order. Victor then asked Horne and Zaro to help defend Durham County against the Iron Bone Tribe’s expected advance.

• Victor and James introduced Horne and Zaro to Firebrand Liquor and hotpot at the banquet.
• James reported that the Iron Bone Tribe had drawn in dozens of small tribes, and that some fighters spoke of Order Warriors, the Apostles, and the Holy Church.
• Victor inferred that the Faith Order targeted ordinary herders and low-ranking warriors, then ordered Orlando to investigate it through the Intelligence Department.
• Zaro agreed to help Victor in exchange for Firebrand Liquor, and Horne also offered his help.
• Victor explained that Durham County faced the greatest danger from the Iron Bone Tribe and asked Horne and Zaro to station troops nearby and help defend it.

Horne and Zaro agreed to help defend the border against the Iron Bone Tribe, provided someone else handled dealings with Durham County's nobles. Victor appointed Viscount Brown to lead the army and let him bring Sura and his unit.

• Horne offered the tribes' help against the Iron Bone Tribe's invasion and asked Victor to appoint a commander to manage relations with Durham County's nobles.
• Zaro agreed with Horne's request, worried direct contact with the nobles could cause conflict.
• Victor chose Viscount Brown to lead the army because James needed to oversee fortress construction near the Redrock Iron Mine.
• Brown accepted the assignment and asked to borrow Sura and his unit from the Territorial Legion.
• Victor approved Brown's request to bring Sura and his unit.

Victor arranged a force led by Zaro to travel to Durham County, while Sura went ahead to prepare the local nobles for the Barbarian army’s arrival. Meanwhile, Keledu explained why he distributed the captives among the small tribes, leaving Mizhene to understand how the gesture would help secure their future cooperation.

• Victor agreed with Viscount Brown on the Durham County mission and assigned Sura to help negotiate with the local nobles.
• Victor approved the Barbarian chieftains’ plan to reduce their forces and set a roughly seven-thousand-strong force to depart for Durham County after preparations.
• Victor sent messengers to Durham County’s nobles and arranged for Sura to travel ahead and explain the situation and his plans.
• Keledu’s Order Warriors gave their captives to the small tribes and set off home ahead of the others.
• Mizhene asked Keledu why he had given away the captives, and Keledu explained that sharing the spoils would preserve the tribes’ trust and make them easier to summon again.

Keledu planned to send priests into small Barbarian tribes under the guise of sharing farming and forging technologies, while ordering Mizhene to kill Kachi and suppress anyone who questioned his death. After Kachi was killed, Keledu told Mizhene to secure the Left Banner and considered sending him to serve at the Venerable Lord’s side.

• Keledu decided to send trained priests to small Barbarian tribes and offer their leaders improved seeds, cultivation methods, and ironworking in exchange for access to their people.
• Keledu ordered Mizhene to prevent Kachi from reaching the diocese or contacting the Iron Bone Tribe, make his death look like a sudden illness, and silence anyone who investigated.
• Keledu reacted angrily when Mizhene questioned killing fellow believers, then insisted that Mizhene carry out the plan without hesitation.
• The next morning, Mizhene reported that Kachi was dead, and Keledu instructed him to watch Kachi’s subordinates and ensure the appointed banner lord took control of the Left Banner.
• Keledu decided that after returning to the diocese, he would send Mizhene to serve at the Venerable Lord’s side so he could gain experience with the Faith Order’s power struggles.

After learning that the Iron Bone Tribe had unified much of the grasslands, Victor prompted Durham County’s nobles to mobilize and prepare for war. Their swift support led him to propose an offensive strike into the grasslands before the Iron Bone Tribe could consolidate its power.

• Count Benjamin read Victor’s warning about the Iron Bone Tribe to his officers and ordered Golden Pear Territory to raise its alert level, gather supplies, and recruit soldiers.
• The nobles of Durham County began assembling troops and preparing for a possible Barbarian invasion, trusting Victor’s information and accepting his Barbarian reinforcements.
• Sura reported to Victor that Durham County’s nobles had mobilized and trusted him, while offering support for the reinforcements.
• Victor told Viscount Brown that Durham County’s response had changed his plans and proposed leading a large cavalry force deep into the grasslands to attack the Iron Bone Tribe before it consolidated its gains.
• Viscount Brown considered the risks and judged that an offensive could deal the Iron Bone Tribe a heavy blow and relieve pressure on the northern border.

With intelligence on the Iron Bone Tribe’s stronghold still scarce, Victor and Viscount Brown abandoned their plan to strike first and settled on a joint defensive strategy for Durham County. Victor sent the plan to Durham County’s nobles and Alex, leaving the counties to prepare for fortifications and a cleared borderland.

• Victor and Viscount Brown shelved their preemptive attack because the Intelligence Department had not located the Iron Bone Tribe’s stronghold.
• Victor and Viscount Brown agreed that Two Rivers County would send nearly ten thousand soldiers to Durham County, while Durham County supplied provisions and assembled seven or eight thousand troops of its own.
• The two counties planned to establish a joint command and build four or five fortified strongpoints along the main routes from the grasslands into Durham County.
• The joint force would clear tribes from the surrounding grasslands, relocate allied Barbarian Tribes behind the fortresses, and destroy pasture and local supplies to hinder an Iron Bone Tribe invasion.
• Victor sent the final plan to Durham County’s nobles and Alex so North York County could adopt the same defensive approach.

Victor mobilized Two Rivers County and urged the Northern Frontier nobles to prepare for the Iron Bone Tribe’s rise, then traveled to Iron Mountain Fortress to meet Alex and discuss the threat. The chapter ended with Victor reuniting with several counts and learning that Count Edmund would fund the defense but refused to send troops.

• Victor ordered Two Rivers County to build defenses, improve roads, gather intelligence on the Iron Bone Tribe, and mobilize affiliated nobles’ private armies.
• Alex spread news of the grasslands’ upheaval across the Vela Region and sent an urgent report to the Raine Kingdom.
• Three days later, Victor traveled by canal to Iron Mountain Fortress, where Alex welcomed him at the dock.
• Victor and Alex discussed the Iron Bone Tribe’s unification of the surrounding tribes and agreed that they needed to focus on countering the threat.
• Victor met Count Benjamin, Count Albert, Count Hawk, and other Northern Frontier counts, while Alex explained that Count Edmund would provide supplies and funding but would not send troops.

Alex and the Northern Frontier nobles turned Victor’s proposal into a coordinated defense plan against the Iron Bone Tribe, agreeing to build and garrison fourteen fortresses. The meeting ended with the nobles preparing to spread the plan across their territories, while Victor reassured his father-in-law that the nearly two hundred thousand Barbarian Tribe refugees in Two Rivers County were under control.

• Alex gathered the Northern Frontier nobles to discuss defense, and Benjamin, Albert, and the others supported Victor’s proposal to build a new fortress line rather than attack the Iron Bone Tribe.
• The nobles updated the Northlands map and selected fourteen fortress sites, assigning construction duties and requiring completion before the following summer.
• The counties agreed that Two Rivers County would provide technical guidance and supplies, while Durham, North York, and Bria Counties would share responsibility for garrisoning the defenses.
• After a full day of discussion, the nobles approved the plan and prepared to return home to organize its implementation.
• Victor assured his father-in-law that the Barbarian Tribe refugees were mostly women, children, and elderly people, and that militia were stationed near their settlements.

Victor and Alex saw off the Northern Frontier counts after agreeing on preparations for a possible barbarian invasion. Alex told Victor he planned to have inland nobles cover most of the Northern Frontier’s military expenses, leaving the proposal for them to pursue.

• Several high-ranking nobles left Iron Mountain Fortress to carry the mobilization and defense plan back to their territories.
• Victor planned to discuss extending telegraph lines through North York County with Alex, whose county was cooperating with the project.
• Victor and Alex saw the last count depart and rode together toward the inner city.
• Alex explained that Count Edmund’s offer to contribute money had inspired him to seek inland nobles’ help with the Northern Frontier’s military costs.
• Alex said his position as governor of three provinces gave him authority to push the funding plan through.

Victor agreed with Alex that the interior nobles should help fund the Northlands military operation, which could ease the Northern Frontier nobles’ burden and strengthen ties between the regions. Alex showed Victor an inflated expense list, and Victor replaced its elaborate accounting tricks with simpler exaggerations before Alex accepted the revised approach.

• Victor recognized that the Northern Frontier nobles could not easily afford the mobilization, while contributions from interior nobles could improve cooperation between the regions.
• Alex revealed a prepared list of military supplies and expenses, totaling 70,000 gold, which he planned to present to the interior nobles.
• Alex explained that his courtiers had inflated the figures by at least thirty percent to secure more funding.
• Victor reviewed the list and replaced its detailed cost manipulations with blunt increases to troop numbers, horses, labor, transport, and construction costs.
• Alex questioned Victor’s changes but accepted them and planned to have his courtiers revise the list accordingly.

Victor and Alex returned to Iron Mountain Fortress, where Victor helped arrange plans for telegraph construction before leaving for his territory. Meanwhile, a large, orderly Barbarians camp was thrown into alarm when its warning bell rang, leaving the cause of danger unknown.

• Victor noticed that Iron Mountain Fortress had become quiet, and Alex explained that most of the family and servants had moved to Iron Tree City.
• Victor and Alex toured North York County's factories with Telegraph Merchants' Guild experts, who decided to build two telegraph construction bases using local materials.
• Victor left the experts in North York County and returned to his territory with his guards.
• A bell rang from a watchtower in a large Barbarians camp, and the herders hurried toward the camp's center.

Keledu and the Warrior Corps returned safely to camp with few losses but little in the way of spoils, and the people welcomed them with great joy. Keledu promised the warriors leave to reunite with their families, while Mizhene reflected on how peace and happiness could strengthen faith.

• A bell signal and mounted scouts announced that Keledu and the victorious Warrior Corps had returned, calming the panicked crowd.
• The people welcomed Keledu and the warriors despite their lack of spoils, celebrating their safe return and few casualties.
• Keledu urged the subdued Mizhene to greet the crowd, and Mizhene reluctantly waved to the believers.
• Keledu led the Warrior Corps through the cheering camp and promised the warriors leave to spend the evening with their families.
• Mizhene praised the believers’ warm welcome, and Keledu explained that peace and happiness strengthened faith by giving people something to protect.
• The warriors entered the barracks to sort their equipment and prepare to reunite with their families or celebrate at a tavern.

Keledu returned to his quarters, cleaned and prayed in private, then settled a dispute over Kachi’s property. He allowed Kachi’s wife to take half his flock, despite the Faith Order’s claim to reclaim it.

• Keledu returned alone to his quarters, checked that no one had entered, and cleaned the room himself.
• Keledu prayed before a statue in an inner room for an hour.
• The Left Banner’s new banner chief and guards tried to drive away Kachi’s wife as she protested the seizure of her property.
• Kachi’s wife argued that Iron Bone Tribe traditions gave her the right to inherit her husband’s flocks and pasturelands, while the new banner chief said the Faith Order would reclaim them.
• Keledu stopped their argument and ruled that Kachi’s wife could take half of Kachi’s flock.