Summary 56

You continued along the underground Highway. Thomas thought to take some of the worms for your own portable torches. Little of interest was seen, aside from a few more statues placed in rooms off the passageway. All were of dwarfs portrayed with the same basic cultural identity. You also discovered your bearing when you found a viewing platform overlooking the Pass. This was now dominated by a large monolith of an indeterminate material from which a pillar of flies arose.

Eventually you found a ramp leading up, which led to an exit, and another carefully concealed viewing chamber. Using this, you discovered that a large band of Marauders were camped on top of you. From conversations mysteriously being carried out in your environs, you gathered that this band was due to join an attack on Preslav, but that many were less than willing to join in. You were shocked to see pure humans apparently working with mutants. Since you had the Tsarovna with you, it was determined to appear amongst them at first light with a suitable pyrotechnic show to try and persuade them to join the Colonial forces. With suitable engineering from Thomas and Jakob, this you did. There were rather more mutants than you had realised, but after a rousing speech and very successful combat even many of the chaotics joined you against those who would have led the force against Preslav.

Unfortunately, all this work was rather undone when Wolf decided to pick up the two-handed-sword of the dead Chaotic leader, despite a direct order from the Tsarovna not to. Worse was to follow, when Wolf attacked the Tsarovna. Even worse (for the GM anyway), he almost succeeded in slaying her! Lukas pleaded for the life of the unconscious Wolf, and he was led away in chains and charged with a hatful of crimes. You arrived in Preslav, a job mostly well done, and mostly salvaged. Each of you were granted an audience, and offered a suitable reward for help in the forthcoming troubles. By and large, greed overcame cowardice and no one even contemplated running for it. Alea iacta est. Lukas picked up rumours that an efficient secret police was rounding up "the enemy within", whilst Thomas reasoned that this suggested a plan long in fruition. He was to be proven right! Your advice was sought upon Marshall Todleben, and her competence. The Ever Triumphant Army had been avoiding pitched battle, which was causing some consternation. You argued in her favour, suggesting that a mobile field army that remained active was always going to be better than an army that sought battle and lost. You also lauded Heidi, who had joined Krystyn. Both were immediately promoted, to Grand Marshall and Marshall respectively.

There was a coronation in order to appoint the Tsarovna as Grand Princess of the Wheatland Colonies. Even Wolf attended, causing some discussion within the party as to how he had "managed to get away with it". At the moment a circlet was being placed upon her head, she raised her hand and with a commanding tone said "Hold! I do not accept this title. I claim the Kingdom of Kislev, the throne of the States of Imperial Kislev, the crown of the Confederated States of Imperial Kislev, and the seals for the Imperial warrants and monopolies for the Voivodates and Protectorates of Mother Kislev. I claim this by birthright. I claim this through the abdication of responsibility of my father to an inept bureaucracy serving a coterie of alien invaders laying claim to nobility. I claim this by direct descent as a true Gospodar and declare myself Tsar-Khan-Queen. I demand your fealty." She then launched into a vindictive polemic against the mismanagement of the Colonies, and the mistreatment of all the "true Kislevan peoples" by the previous - Norscan - authorities. It appeared to go down very well as she promised that all people would be treated equally within her reign. She immediately scrapped a number of laws, including the Sigmarite pogrom, and officially recognised various Hill Men states and tribes, and the Vlachistan nomads. It was also obvious that a number of the audience had been briefed. Everyone immediately knelt, Wolf very quickly. Except Beg Jan Ligezy and Posadnik Jakub Tarnow. Both remained loyal to the Tsar, and were arrested. Titles were awarded to a host of supporters. You had very little time to discover any further ramifications, as you agreed to set out to find Khan or his resting place with a view to bringing back wealth, magical items or PR materials.

You set off by boat, on a pre-arranged route safely arriving at Akers where we start the next session. Your boat, the Leitzlute, is an Eureko chaika. Eureko is a company with some obligation to Aer Dressair, who put it at your disposal. Galabrovil and Dacae are with you. Captain Dmitri Ivanovitch Tolstoi, his crew and boat look worn but ready. It is provisioned and has something of a cargo as cover. The chaika is as per the picture on my GM screen. Thomas had asked the captain how well he knew the river, and it was decided to start the session with this when everyone was fresh. However, I'll draft the details here for you:

Your route through Mazovia with include the towns of Haendryksbuurgen, Borluut and Rassenkens, all with the traitorous lands of Ruthenia to the west. At Rassenkens, you will join the main River Zapadryeka (Istros). You then begin to move northwards through Utenhove and out of Mazovia into Nieuw Jutonsryk. Maas is the intended destination of the ship for Galabrovil and Dacae. The captain's knowledge is then much sketchier. You will pass through Olovald and Merogen to Fort Slaski, a hastily built defence after the turning of Petznak. Beyond that, you will have Petznak on the western bank, and the Hegemony upon the eastern (as it has been since Rassenkens). There are no real settlements as the locals are all nomads.

The captain has some basic information. You might find more. Borluut is in some sort of conflict with Ruthenian raiders. Maas is an enclave on the Hegemony side of the river, but is a pocket of ancient forest worth its weight in timber. However, after recent years of excellent production, the Hegemony has been killing loggers and the situation is precarious. The leader of Merogen, Valentijn van Alphen, is a seer, who has predicted the end of the world, and whose people have mostly fled with him to an underground shelter. He leased the village to Lise Pekao, a bastard daughter of one of the ruling families with a reputation for being a bastard.

Mazovia and Nieuw Jutonsryk are both leased to Marienburg cartels, and hence are more autonomous - as in officially so. They tend to be more egalitarian (in theory), everyone being a citizen, and will seem more like home (maybe). Both are effectively run by powerful families and corporations. In Mazovia Anselmo Adornes is technically the Prince through being the most powerful of the seven leaders, whilst Nieuw Jutonsryk has no such pretensions. Mazovia is richer with more pretensions; everyone will be pretty much in livery and they use the titles stavel, koninckstavel and opper koninckstavel to differentiate status, for example.

Experience (including carried over)
Jakob  55
Wolf  45
Thomas  100
Rebekah  110
Khadrum  80
Lukas  70
Bob  100

All characters gain one Fate Point. You have a vague feeling that your own future is now bound to the fate of the Wheatland Colonies. Whilst some of you, in particular, have loathed every minute here, you feel a definite sense that events are about to unfold that may have permanent consequences on everything and everyone you know. Of course, you could be wrong.

Rebbeka gain +1d6 +1d3 social level modifier. Khedrun gains a permanent +2 % to his FEL score for an impressive piece of intimidation.