Recaps

Keledu prepared the parish’s growing Warrior Corps for negotiations with the Iron Bone Tribe, anticipating that they would arrive with troops to demand better terms. When their cavalry reached the camp, both sides displayed their strength, and the tribe’s leader challenged Keledu about the armed welcome.

• Keledu told Mizhene to provide for the families of Kachi’s men and let Kachi’s widow return to the Iron Bone Tribe, hoping the tribe would send representatives to negotiate.
• Keledu ordered Mizhene to fill out and reorganize the Warrior Corps, then return to headquarters with three thousand troops and take Judgment to the Revered Lord for recharging.
• Mizhene drilled the parish’s nearly ten thousand soldiers as they received new equipment and prepared for the Iron Bone Tribe’s arrival.
• Mizhene learned that the Iron Bone Tribe had sent at least three thousand cavalry and went with Keledu to meet them at the camp gate.
• Mizhene’s cavalry blocked the visitors from approaching the parish’s fields and flocks, while the parish’s newly armored troops formed a show of strength.
• The Iron Bone Tribe’s leader accused Keledu of surrounding them and demanded to know why the parish had arranged such a display.

Keledu welcomed Bone Baldy of the Iron Bone Tribe and brought him into the camp to discuss a new agreement. Outside, the Faith Order’s cavalry repeatedly staged charges as training, forcing the Iron Bone Tribe soldiers to stay on alert while Bone Baldy remained unaware inside the tent.

• Keledu rebuffed Bone Baldy’s explanation for bringing so many troops and invited him into the camp to negotiate a new agreement.
• Mizhene observed the Iron Bone Tribe soldiers’ vigilance, called them elites, and gave instructions to his cavalry commander.
• The Faith Order cavalry rode away and then charged back at the Iron Bone Tribe soldiers before slowing and returning to their original position.
• The cavalry commander said the charge was training for recruits, while the outnumbered Iron Bone Tribe commander restrained his angry soldiers.
• The Faith Order cavalry exchanged places and prepared to repeat the charge, keeping the Iron Bone Tribe soldiers on guard.
• Keledu led Bone Baldy into a large tent filled with food and wine, which Bone Baldy eagerly smelled.

Keledu drugged Bone Baldy, took the Iron Bone Tribe’s proposed agreement, and decided to accept a merger while planning to undermine the tribe from within. Bone Baldy left believing the merger would strengthen his tribe, unaware that Keledu intended to use the alliance for the Faith Order’s own plans.

• Keledu and Mizhene got Bone Baldy drunk with milk wine laced with Bewitching Wolf Grass, then searched his clothes and took the agreement.
• Keledu read the agreement’s demands for ironworkers, barley farming, tribute, and military aid, and told Mizhene he would accept the terms to combine the camps.
• Keledu said the Faith Order would preserve its organization, priests, believers, and armed force while undermining the Iron Bone Tribe, and required the tribe to attack the southern noble’s territory first.
• Keledu told Mizhene to ask His Reverence to send every reserve Judgment and promised the Faith Order would establish itself on the Northern Wasteland grasslands within two years.
• Bone Baldy left for the Iron Bone Tribe, pleased that it might gain the Faith Order’s people, fighters, craftsmen, and priests, and considered using mounted bandits to scatter more small tribes.

Victor inspected the construction site near Two Rivers County, where workers were making rapid progress thanks to the support and provisions he arranged. He hinted that Levant would receive a noble title, leaving the newly congratulated baron with an uncertain future at the mine.

• Workers at the construction site received sweet-and-salty herbal water and white bread, then thanked the Marquis before returning to work.
• Overseers praised Victor’s care for the laborers and said the project might finish two months ahead of schedule.
• Victor and Levant rode past the camp toward the Redrock Iron Mine without stopping to inspect it.
• Victor promised rewards and possible noble titles to those involved in the work, prompting Levant to ask whether he would be honored.
• Victor congratulated Levant in advance on becoming Baron Levant.

Victor inspected the Territory Machine Factory’s new Harvester and Packing Machine as they transformed wheat harvesting, then ordered Jimlai to prioritize producing as many Harvesters as possible before the autumn harvest. The factory’s limited supply of Diesel Engines threatened production, so Victor approved lower-powered Steam Traction Engine models alongside the eighty high-specification machines.

• Victor praised Jimlai’s Harvester and Packing Machine after inspecting their efficient work in the wheat field.
• Victor tried operating a Harvester himself, but left a messy patch of wheat before handing control back to experienced workers.
• Jimlai told Victor that the factory had made forty-five Harvesters and could reach eighty before harvest, but Diesel Engine shortages limited further production.
• Jimlai explained that Steam Traction Engines could power Harvesters at one-fifth the performance while using cheaper fuel.
• Victor ordered Jimlai to finish eighty high-specification Harvesters, switch the factory’s other capacity to producing more lower-cost models, and cut the harvest workforce by at least half.

Victor authorized James to sweep the horse bandits gathered near Two Rivers County’s northwestern border and ordered Santos’s regiment to help guard the Border Fortress. He then visited the Research Institute’s new town, where Yonicha showed him how the settlement had grown and become self-sufficient.

• James reported that at least a dozen horse-bandit groups, numbering three to four hundred riders, had appeared near the border and requested permission to eliminate them.
• Victor ordered James to sweep the bands, capture as many bandits alive as possible, and maintain a vigilant guard while Santos’s regiment reinforced the Border Fortress.
• Victor decided to remain in the territory, trusting James to handle the operation while telegraphs kept him in contact with the border.
• Victor visited the guarded town housing the Research Institute and was welcomed by Yonicha, who was serving as its temporary administrator.
• Yonicha showed Victor the thriving settlement and explained that its popular Sandscale Fruit crop had become a local specialty and source of income.

Victor visited the newly expanded Research Institute in Two Rivers County and learned that its first phase was complete and its second phase was still under construction. After seeing the institute’s security and grounds, he chose to go straight to the experimental zone.

• Victor arrived at the Research Institute with his group and noted its high walls, iron railings, and patrolling guards.
• Yonicha explained that the completed first phase covered more than one hundred and sixty mu and included offices and an experimental zone.
• Victor entered the institute after a security inspection and saw its landscaped square and pond.
• Yonicha offered to show Victor the buildings or take him to the experimental zone, and Victor chose the experimental zone.

Victor watched the Research Institute test its new breech-loading cannon, the Thunderous Wrath, and saw it destroy distant targets with a single shell. Impressed by its power, he ordered the three artillery crews transferred to the War Department to train army gunners.

• Victor inspected the rifled, breech-loading cannon and approved its design.
• Yonicha explained the artillery crews and ammunition, and Victor ordered all three crews transferred to the War Department.
• The crew aimed the cannon, cleaned its bore, loaded a shell and propellant charge, and sealed the breech.
• The gunner fired the cannon, and its shell struck the distant targets, blasting the mannequins and wagons apart.

Victor watched the Thunderous Wrath artillery tests conclude and praised Yonicha and the Research Institute for completing the weapon. Inspecting the cannon revealed problems with its wooden carriage, and Yonicha explained that a steel carriage made the artillery too heavy to move across soft ground.

• The gun crew tested Thunderous Wrath's range, accuracy, firing rate, and endurance before firing the final shot.
• Victor applauded the completed weapon, praised Yonicha and the researchers, and promised to reward their work.
• Victor inspected the hot cannon and noticed cracks in its pry bar and looseness in its wooden carriage.
• Victor asked Yonicha why the cannon lacked the designed steel carriage and traversing gear.
• Yonicha explained that the steel-carriage prototype weighed more than four tons and could not be moved over soft ground.

Victor assessed the new artillery and concluded that its weight made it impractical for mobile warfare. He proposed using trains or ships to carry it, leaving the Research Institute to consider railway artillery and further improvements.

• Victor recalled how the Research Institute had stabilized Blazefire Gel and completed the gunpowder revolution, allowing it to focus on the Thunderous Wrath project.
• Victor inspected an experimental cannon that fired a 25-kilogram shell nearly five kilometers, but worried that its weight and demands on horses made it unsuitable for mobile warfare.
• Yonicha showed Victor an even heavier all-metal cannon, and Victor suggested mounting it on a ship or a train.
• Yonicha agreed that railway artillery could be moved around Two Rivers County for defensive battles, though it would only travel along railways.
• Victor considered lightening the cannon and asked Yonicha whether the Research Institute's firing mechanism was mature; Yonicha said fulminate of mercury production had already been mastered.

Victor proposed that the Research Institute develop an impact-fused mortar and arrange to transport it to the front for combat testing. He approved limited researcher participation, with safety and army command taking priority.

• Victor told Yonicha and the researchers to use mercury fulminate to create an impact fuse for lightweight mortar shells and a simple launcher.
• Victor proposed building a dedicated railcar so locomotives could carry the mortar to the front for combat testing.
• Yonicha asked to accompany the mortar and collect combat data, and the other researchers offered to bring a technical team.
• Victor allowed no more than three researchers to go, limited them to technical support, and ordered them to follow the army commander's arrangements.

Victor prepared to send the newly completed Type 38 Cannons to the Two Rivers front, while James led a cavalry campaign against mounted bandits. The bandits’ testimony revealed that the Barbarian Tribes had united across the grasslands, leaving Victor expecting an invasion soon.

• Victor approved a second cannon design, named the weapons Type 38 Cannons, and decided to reveal some of the Two Rivers Legion’s strength to Alex.
• James received Victor’s message about a grand gift for the front, then led 3,500 cavalrymen into the grasslands to eliminate the mounted bandits.
• James found the mounted bandits starving and ragged, and Intelligence Department interrogators learned they had been driven east by a united campaign among the Barbarian Tribes.
• James sent prisoners and an intelligence report back to Victor, who concluded that the Barbarian Tribes might soon invade Two Rivers County.

After the Barbarians showed no signs of launching a war, Victor withdrew half the border troops for the winter and grew more wary of their changed behavior. As the season quieted Woodfort City, he visited Baron Vitri, an old friend he had not seen in three years.

• Two Rivers County and the Northern Frontier nobles raised their alert after the bandit operation, but Victor's intelligence gathering found that the Barbarians were preparing for winter rather than war.
• Victor ordered half the border troops back to the territory so they could rest through the winter.
• As merchant caravans prepared to leave Woodfort City for the winter, Victor visited a plain merchant association branch to meet Baron Vitri.
• Victor greeted Vitri as an old friend, and Vitri replied that he had been too focused on making money.

Victor met with his old friend Vitri at his trading house and learned that Vitri had been marginalized within the Night Hawk Organization and still lacked an approved fief. Victor’s questions confirmed the intelligence he had gathered, leaving him more confident about the purpose of his visit.

• Vitri welcomed Victor into a lavish reception room and served him a drink made from rare Coldheart Grass.
• Vitri explained that, despite his promotion to baron, he had been pushed aside in the Night Hawk Organization and assigned unimportant work.
• A subordinate interrupted them with pastries, and Vitri complained that he could no longer command his own staff.
• Victor asked whether Vitri could leave the organization, and Vitri said he would lose the advantages that helped him trade if he did.
• Victor asked about Vitri’s fief, and Vitri revealed that his application remained unapproved and that any likely assignment would be in a war-torn region.

Victor offered to recommend Vitri to the Kingdom Noble Heraldry Institute so Vitri could receive a fief in Vela, and Vitri accepted the invitation to visit Victor’s family. That evening, Vitri arrived at the Lord’s Mansion with gifts, and the two families enjoyed the visit.

• Victor offered to jointly recommend Vitri for a fief in Vela, explaining that he wanted to repay Vitri’s past help.
• Vitri hesitated over accepting the valuable favor, but Victor reminded him of their friendship and his support during the civil war.
• Vitri asked to visit Victor’s family, and Victor welcomed him to the Lord’s Mansion.
• Victor left the trading house and invited Vitri not to keep his family waiting.
• Vitri brought gifts to the Lord’s Mansion that evening, and host and guest enjoyed themselves.

Victor secured Vitri’s cooperation and received lists of Nightingale agents in Two Rivers County and Raine Kingdom informants in the Vela Region. He ordered a discreet cleanup of the local spies and decided to personally take the more consequential list to Alex.

• Vitri left Two Rivers County after Victor promised to help him obtain a fief and prepare letters of recommendation.
• Victor learned that Vitri’s deputy had been found frozen to death, and he concluded Vitri had removed him to demonstrate his loyalty.
• Victor gave Orlando and Gattuso a list of Nightingale agents in Two Rivers County and ordered them to bring the spies under control without killing them lightly.
• Gattuso accepted responsibility for the Internal Security Bureau’s failure to discover the agents, and Victor docked six months of his pay.
• Victor read Vitri’s list of Raine Kingdom insiders in the Vela Region, including nobles, and decided to deliver it to Alex himself.

Victor arrived in Iron Tree City by steam paddlewheeler to warn Alex that the Raine Kingdom had been monitoring the Iron Birch Family and turning its vassal families against it. Alex reacted furiously, but Victor urged him to verify the list discreetly and control the spies before the kingdom noticed.

• Alex waited at Iron Tree City's docks for Victor, who arrived aboard a steam paddlewheeler.
• Victor insisted that he and Alex find somewhere safe before discussing his urgent news, then accompanied Alex to Duke Iron Birch's Residence.
• Victor gave Alex a list identifying people from vassal families who had allegedly been turned by the Raine Kingdom and revealed that the kingdom was monitoring the Iron Birch Family.
• Alex grew angry at the alleged betrayal and threatened to deal with the named vassals immediately.
• Victor warned Alex that Vitri's list might be inaccurate and urged him to investigate quietly while first controlling the spies and informants.

Vidoc reviewed the gains from his trip to Iron Tree City, especially Alex’s authorization to mobilize the Iron Birch Family’s vassal nobles. He planned to draw the Steppe Barbarians into Two Rivers County with an elastic defense, then help the Northern Frontier nobles destroy them, while Alex and Victor prepared to expand into the steppe and conceal Victor’s artillery.

• Vidoc assessed Alex’s authorization and estimated that the Iron Birch Family’s vassal nobles could contribute about twenty thousand troops to a counteroffensive.
• Victor planned to persuade the Northern Frontier nobles to support a defensive counterattack, using Two Rivers County to draw in Barbarian forces while other nobles assembled their armies.
• Victor intended to use Blue Lake Bay’s fortifications and a coordinated strike near Shattered Ice River to trap the retreating Barbarians and destroy the Iron Bone Tribe’s strength.
• Victor and Alex agreed that after the war they would encourage the Vela nobles to claim steppe lands while delaying and limiting the Raine Kingdom’s southern campaign.
• Victor decided to keep artillery secret and use Two Rivers County’s intelligence network to conceal it while he equipped the Two Rivers Legion with firearms.

Victor ate dinner aboard a paddle steamer while traveling to Iron Tree City before the Grand Canal froze. He went onto the deck and saw the busy waterway nearing its winter shutdown.

• A guardsman brought Victor dinner and explained that the ship's limited conditions allowed only a few simple dishes.
• Victor praised the head chef for his work and sent the guardsman away.
• After dinner, Victor went onto the deck and noticed ice forming along the canal's edges.
• Victor watched ships rush along the Grand Canal before winter and reflected on how it strengthened the Vela Three Provinces.

Bokas and Farnham tested the Mighty Force III by clearing snow and ice from the railway near Blue Lake Bay. After Marvin asked about railway operations, Farnham explained that the new engine would let trains run through the storm again.

• A wounded wolf found a dead gazelle on the tracks, fled as the Mighty Force III thundered past, then returned to eat and considered following the rails for more food.
• Bokas and Farnham tested the engine and snowplow while clearing the tracks, and Farnham scolded Bokas for failing to watch for obstacles.
• Bokas and Farnham arrived at Blue Lake Bay station, inspected the engine, and cleaned blood from its front after it struck the gazelle.
• Marvin met the drivers and asked how soon the railway could operate again amid the snowstorm.
• Farnham told Marvin that the tests had gone well and that the snowplow-equipped engine would clear the railway ahead of supply trains.

Baron Marvin asked Railway General Bureau representatives how soon Line Two could reopen and how much it could carry, explaining that Blue Lake Bay urgently needed firewood after prolonged snow blocked the roads. The railway crew promised to restore service within a day or two, leaving the region hopeful that special trains could deliver the needed supplies.

• Bokas asked Baron Marvin whether Blue Lake Bay was running low on supplies, and Farnham reprimanded him for the careless question.
• Marvin reassured them that the region had reserves and asked how much the railway could transport once service resumed.
• Farnham said Line Two might reopen within a day or two, with at least five special trains a day carrying people or supplies.
• Marvin explained that many settlers lacked cooking fuel and that he had arranged for Woodfort City to gather firewood, but blocked roads had prevented its delivery.
• Marvin said that two special trains carrying firewood would meet Blue Lake Bay's urgent needs, and the drivers understood why he had asked about reopening the railway.

Farnham and Bokas resupplied Mighty Force III at Blue Lake Bay Station and raced back through the snow to confirm the railway was clear. As relief trains waited to deliver fuel and supplies, Victor ordered changes to prevent future shortages in border settlements.

• Marvin supplied workers, water, and Black Oil Pine fuel to help Farnham and Bokas inspect and resupply Mighty Force III.
• Farnham and Bokas departed for headquarters, promising Marvin they would get the railway running again.
• Bokas drove cautiously past wild animals along the tracks while Farnham helped workers keep the locomotive fueled and at full speed.
• The Railway General Bureau and Government Affairs Office prepared special trains loaded with relief supplies, waiting for Mighty Force III to confirm the line was clear.
• Victor learned that Blue Lake Bay's residents had been left without fuel, reviewed the region's population and reserves, and ordered fuel reserves established in border regions.

Victor’s emergency fuel deliveries eased the crisis in the Blue Lake Bay Region, but Marvin realized the severe winter might endanger the other Northern Frontier territories and disrupt war preparations. He ordered an urgent telegram to Victor after worrying that the Barbarians faced an unprecedented White Calamity.

• Victor learned that the first special train carrying fuel had departed and ordered officials to keep the railway safe and plan commendations for the departments involved.
• The fuel train arrived at Blue Lake Bay Station, where residents and the garrison unloaded supplies that would keep everyone warm for the night.
• Marvin welcomed the relief but noted that the winter was colder and more severe than any he had experienced.
• Marvin worried that other Northern Frontier territories might be suffering worse conditions and that the disaster could disrupt their preparations for war.
• Marvin warned that the Barbarians might face a terrible White Calamity and ordered an urgent telegram to Victor.

Victor prepared Two Rivers County for an early Barbarian attack after the severe weather threatened to devastate the Northern Frontier territories and drive the Barbarians south. He left the other nobles to rely on their fortresses and focused on strengthening the defense of Blue Lake Bay.

• Saruman reported that the extreme weather would cause disasters across the Northern Frontier and disrupt the nobles’ war preparations, while Victor judged that the Barbarians’ losses would also push them toward an earlier attack.
• Victor ordered every unit to prepare for war, check its stockpiles, and request needed supplies from the War Department.
• Victor ordered Blue Lake Bay’s elderly, weak, women, and children evacuated to the interior; Saruman proposed using medical examinations and a possible epidemic as a pretext to prevent their relatives from doubting the move.
• Victor called for a joint meeting to coordinate war supplies and estimated that war could begin in February or March, well before the usual spring campaign season.
• Victor and Saruman concluded that Two Rivers County would likely face the Barbarians’ main thrust, while the other Northern Frontier territories would have to rely on their Border Fortresses.
• Victor made Blue Lake Bay the focus of the territory’s defense, kept its existing troop deployment, and ordered Saruman to prepare as many qualified reserves as possible for Marvin.

Victor convened an emergency joint meeting to prepare the territory for an early Barbarian attack, while medical personnel arrived in Blue Lake Bay to treat people affected by severe weather. Marvin learned that military leaders agreed with his prediction of an early attack and worried about the coming war.

• Victor opened an emergency meeting with military commanders, government officials, and agency heads to plan for war.
• Victor said the War Department's intelligence indicated the Barbarians might attack ahead of schedule.
• Medical personnel arrived by special train at Blue Lake Bay Railway Station and began unloading supplies with help from the local garrison.
• Marvin watched the easing blizzard and reflected on the notice he had received about Victor's war preparations.
• Marvin felt increased pressure after learning that senior military officials agreed the Barbarians would attack early.