The War in the Core

[thekristhomas]

You're forgetting about Sithicus.

Yes, Sithicus, Valachan, Mordent and the maritime nations have yet to become involved

Mordent is quite pleased about this

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Mordent wouldn't stay on the sidelines when someone attacked Dementlieu; it's serious about the Four Towers Treaty.

Whereas the island nations might not be directly involved, I could easily see at least some of them looking on the whole situation as an opportunity, be it to raid coastal settlements during the whole confusion or to play 'hero' and secure profitable future options by influencing the flow of the war.

Azrael has a vested interest in seeing Malocchio fall, so he would get involved one way or another.

Valachan... Von Kharkov thrives on isolation, but if Darkon is involved in the war in any way, he would definitely move to make sure Azalin's influence wouldn't stretch so far that the lich could get too close. Same thing if Hazlan's influence threatens to expand; Von Kharkov has ample reason to hate Red Wizards.

[thekristhomas]

Not to mention Tepest.

Here's my take on how a Nova Vaasan invasion of Tepest might go down:
Perhaps Nova Vaasa hope to annex Tepest in preparation to help facilitate trade and possibly gain aid from Azalin against Barovia. The Nova Vaasans perceive the Tepestani as a bunch of backwards (if tenacious) bumpkins, so they don't expect too much trouble. However, fey, goblins, and other monstrous horrors of the domain work against the invaders along with the Tepestani people.

Although the Tepestani people have the inadvertant aid of their monstrous enemies in that both are fighting the invaders, the Tepestani don't see it that way. To their eyes, they're being overwhelmed. They're facing an organized threat, something they've never had to deal with before. For the first time, the Tepestani have to look outward for help.

And then a seeming miracle from Belenus occurs, they discover a mistway to a land where the natives appear to worship Belenus as they do: the domain of Nidala. Possibly religious differences in interpretation of his worship are glossed over as Faith-hold orders her enforcers to go through the mistway and aid the Tepestani. With this unexpected aid of trained warriors, the Tepestani manage to throw off the Nova Vaasan invaders and kick them out of their domain.

The Three Hags don't bother closing the borders during all of this mess. Instead merely work to increase hostilities by committing atrocities and pinning the blame on the mortals.

The Nova Vaasan forces, split in a two-front war between the surprising quagmire of Tepest and the forces in Barovia, falter and ultimate retreat from both domains. The Tepestani have apparently won an ultimate victory, for they're free from the Nova Vaasan threat for some time. However, their contact with the Nidalans may prove to be just as horrible a threat. After the foreigners are pushed out, differences in religious doctrine between how the Nidalans and the Tepestani emerges. Hostilities begin to simmer, possibly laying down the foundation for some future holy war between the two domains.

An open Mistway between Tepest and Nidala, allowing communication and cooperation between Faith-Hold and the Tepestani Inquisition?

o_o

Congratulations: I just got for-real cold chills down my back...
Faith-Hold may be a lunatic zealot, but I think she might find an appreciation for the 'thoroughness' of the worst Inquisitors. Men like Flinn might latch onto a Belenus-worship that allows for the domination of large sections of the world through a combination of zeal and military might, too.

I kinda feel like these people need to be introduced to Forfarian Druids somehow, with the Hazlani going into Immol, and the Nova Vaasi going into Tepest, it seems like a triumvirate of Belenus botherers might serve as another alliance. Seems too much to ask for another mistway near Immol or Forlorn.

It could well be that the priesthood of Belenus, whether druid, priest or Inquisitor could end up as the de facto resistance against the dominating Vaasi in the east

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Egad.

Forlorn.


Tristan may be a miserable specimen as Darklords go, but he can turn people into goblyns and commands the wolves in his domain, both living and undead.
If troops try to 'sneak' through Forlorn to bypass Barovia or otherwise come up on other domains unseen, Tristan could have a field-day. He'd need to command his clans not to eat the troops (or not all of them), but they do as he says.
Pretty soon, Tristan ApBlanc could have a sizeable army at his disposal; big enough to become a genuine contender in Core War I.

Nathan Timothy might very well object strenuously to Tristan, given his habit of commanding wolves and raising them as zombies when they die. A conflict between Verbrek and Forlorn might sound laughable on paper, but just imagine the carnage if Tristan sends groups of ravening werewolves through already war-torn country to get them into Forlorn, not to mention the damage when Tristan returns them as zombie creatures or a new type of goblyn.

[The Lesser Evil]

Blah, I thought there was a mistway of some kind with Lake Kronov or some riveer that led from Tepest to Nidala and back. But I can't find it now. I suppose one could substitute the Via Corona mistway (from Darkon to Nidala) and have the Tepestani so desperate they look for (non-heathen) allies within Darkon for help, stumbling upon the Mistway, and then finding Nidala. Barring external help, I think the Hags would eventually step in if it seemed like the invaders would conquer the land and thus ruin their fun.

In any case, I think there would be too much of a difference between the Forfarian druids and the others for them to accept the druids' assistance from the get go. The druids would likely be seen as witches by the Tepestani, and they would be too mysterious and independent minded for the Nidalans.

[thekristhomas]

Mordent wouldn't stay on the sidelines when someone attacked Dementlieu; it's serious about the Four Towers Treaty.

Agreed, but what could it do, really? They're well equipped to deal with Falkovnians, not the Lamordian infantry with top quality guns and cannon. George might chafe at his inability to strike, but Godefroy would be relieved Mordent has not been receiving the attentions of other DLs

Whereas the island nations might not be directly involved, I could easily see at least some of them looking on the whole situation as an opportunity, be it to raid coastal settlements during the whole confusion or to play 'hero' and secure profitable future options by influencing the flow of the war.

I can see Blaustein having some effect, if it chooses to harry Lamordian shipping it may gain friends amongst the Four Nations, maybe even joining the alliance. Liffe and Graben though, seem likely to be targets for Vaasi aggression, and while Meredoth could probably handle most of an invasion fleet himself (he is very powerful) I can't see the demilords of Liffe fielding much resistance. Vechor? who would be foolish enough to try, and Easan doesn't believe the rest of the world exists so it's staying neutral.

Azrael has a vested interest in seeing Malocchio fall, so he would get involved one way or another.

Maybe the werebadger manages to seize the Breadth Forest in southern Invidia before the werewolves/wolfweres get there?

Valachan... Von Kharkov thrives on isolation, but if Darkon is involved in the war in any way, he would definitely move to make sure Azalin's influence wouldn't stretch so far that the lich could get too close. Same thing if Hazlan's influence threatens to expand; Von Kharkov has ample reason to hate Red Wizards.

Valachan in it's post GC configuration is poorly situated to strike at Hazlani expansion. Von Kharkov could still be a patron of the war in the east, maybe assisting with funds or intelligence

[The Lesser Evil]

Mordent wouldn't stay on the sidelines when someone attacked Dementlieu; it's serious about the Four Towers Treaty.

I could see a few things going on with Mordent. First, ol' Willy Godefroy might encourage the fighting to spill over into Mordent so he can collect all those delicious souls for his ghost collection. (We know that he's potentially interested in encouraging a bloodbath for his interest in the antagonisms between the Mordent and Darkonian branches of the church of Ezra.)

Speaking of the Ezran church, Mordent might be too distracted by the antagonisms between those two branches to play as much of a role in Core War I. What if their simmering rivalries had already erupted into violent hostilities by the time World Core I broke out? That would be a dilly of a pickle for Mordent.

[thekristhomas]

Egad.

Forlorn.


Tristan may be a miserable specimen as Darklords go, but he can turn people into goblyns and commands the wolves in his domain, both living and undead.
If troops try to 'sneak' through Forlorn to bypass Barovia or otherwise come up on other domains unseen, Tristan could have a field-day. He'd need to command his clans not to eat the troops (or not all of them), but they do as he says.
Pretty soon, Tristan ApBlanc could have a sizeable army at his disposal; big enough to become a genuine contender in Core War I.

Nathan Timothy might very well object strenuously to Tristan, given his habit of commanding wolves and raising them as zombies when they die. A conflict between Verbrek and Forlorn might sound laughable on paper, but just imagine the carnage if Tristan sends groups of ravening werewolves through already war-torn country to get them into Forlorn, not to mention the damage when Tristan returns them as zombie creatures or a new type of goblyn.

I can see various groups of troops getting "conscripted" into the goblyn army, goblyn-wolf-men? terrifying

[Rock of the Fraternity]

If the Ezran church had started warring on itself, Core War I could potentially be a blessing in disguise for the Mordentish branch.

All the battles would disrupt attempts by the Darkonese branch to get close, and rampaging Falkovnians would kill anyone they could identify as Darkonese on sight. And if the Nevuchar Springs sect tried to go the long way around, they'd get caught up in the chaos erupting in Tepest when Nova Vaasa makes its move. The appearance of goblin beasts would persuade at least some of the Nevuchar Springs people not to move on to Mordent, but to stay right there and combat the Legions of the Night, adding to the chaos.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Egad.

Forlorn.


Tristan may be a miserable specimen as Darklords go, but he can turn people into goblyns and commands the wolves in his domain, both living and undead.
If troops try to 'sneak' through Forlorn to bypass Barovia or otherwise come up on other domains unseen, Tristan could have a field-day. He'd need to command his clans not to eat the troops (or not all of them), but they do as he says.
Pretty soon, Tristan ApBlanc could have a sizeable army at his disposal; big enough to become a genuine contender in Core War I.

Nathan Timothy might very well object strenuously to Tristan, given his habit of commanding wolves and raising them as zombies when they die. A conflict between Verbrek and Forlorn might sound laughable on paper, but just imagine the carnage if Tristan sends groups of ravening werewolves through already war-torn country to get them into Forlorn, not to mention the damage when Tristan returns them as zombie creatures or a new type of goblyn.

I can see various groups of troops getting "conscripted" into the goblyn army, goblyn-wolf-men? terrifying

Consider: if Tristan finally plays it smart, he could amass a big army inside his borders and send it out at exactly the right times to mop up the battered survivors of other battles. Ship prisoners home to add to army and replace casualties, rinse and repeat. Offer possibility of treaty to whoever seems to be in the best position to win, rely on the Vader Principle to come out ahead after the Core War.

Like Harkon, Tristan is in a reasonable position to pull off a genuine upset and finally expand his holdings.

[thekristhomas]

Mordent wouldn't stay on the sidelines when someone attacked Dementlieu; it's serious about the Four Towers Treaty.

I could see a few things going on with Mordent. First, ol' Willy Godefroy might encourage the fighting to spill over into Mordent so he can collect all those delicious souls for his ghost collection. (We know that he's potentially interested in encouraging a bloodbath for his interest in the antagonisms between the Mordent and Darkonian branches of the church of Ezra.)

Speaking of the Ezran church, Mordent might be too distracted by the antagonisms between those two branches to play as much of a role in Core War I. What if their simmering rivalries had already erupted into violent hostilities by the time World Core I broke out? That would be a dilly of a pickle for Mordent.

I can imagine that the church would also have to deal with a tonne of refugees from the Home Faith and the Dementlieu Branch, maybe strengthening it's position against the Darkonian see, maybe stretching it too thin to cope with it's strident rival

[thekristhomas]

Like Harkon, Tristan is in a reasonable position to pull off a genuine upset and finally expand his holdings.

I wonder where he would seek to expand to? Forfarmax in Hazlan and Immol in Barovia seem likely choices, simply because of the Forfarians living there

[The Lesser Evil]

If the Ezran church had started warring on itself, Core War I could potentially be a blessing in disguise for the Mordentish branch.

All the battles would disrupt attempts by the Darkonese branch to get close, and rampaging Falkovnians would kill anyone they could identify as Darkonese on sight. And if the Nevuchar Springs sect tried to go the long way around, they'd get caught up in the chaos erupting in Tepest when Nova Vaasa makes its move. The appearance of goblin beasts would persuade at least some of the Nevuchar Springs people not to move on to Mordent, but to stay right there and combat the Legions of the Night, adding to the chaos.

Perhaps, in the short term. But a stalemate would not help the Mordentish Ezrites in the long term, for they would be the aggressors whom started it all. The so-called Blessed Army of Ezra has been organized around the prophecies of a man named Lacrese, whom predicts an Anti-Christ type figure coming out of and subverting the Nevuchar Springs branch. If the prophecy is true and the fiend isn't stopped, it might lead into Time of Unparalleled Darkness territory. Heck, the 'fiend" that has been foretold could easily be one of the Children of the Gentleman Caller...

Of course it's also possible some non-good force is deceiving/manipulating the entirely good people of the Mordentish branch.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Oh.

Oh!

If Malocchio loses Invidia... he doesn't want to serve Azalin, but might try to go to ground in Darkon... What if he is the one to infiltrate the Nevuchar Springs sect?!

[The Lesser Evil]

Oh.

Oh!

If Malocchio loses Invidia... he doesn't want to serve Azalin, but might try to go to ground in Darkon... What if he is the one to infiltrate the Nevuchar Springs sect?!

I could see this working if the Mordentish people acted a bit too early, before the fated Anti-Prophet actually got there. Perhaps their attack put the Darkonians in such a disarray that they were easy pickin's for Malocchio to worm his way into the upper ranks and thus assume his foretold role. (This would make the Mordentish victims of an ironic self-fulfilling prophecy).

My only difficulty here is that the Dukkar is a fairly infamous person and he seems to be more of a tin-pot dictator than a religious leader or great manipulator. Changing from the former to the latter is a pretty big change in M.O. But maybe having his butt militarily handed to him schooled him to act with a bit more subtlety?